Youth RE

Elementary Class
(First through Third Grades)

Children in the Elementary class are encouraged to begin their experience each Sunday upstairs with their families. By doing so, the children have the opportunity to:

  • ring the church bell
  • light the chalice (with or without a parent)
  • add canned food to the weekly food collection
  • greet neighbors and friends
  • participate in our music
  • hear the Message for All Ages

Children will be escorted downstairs by their teacher and the Director of Religious Exploration, Renee Bowman.

Once downstairs, children in Elementary are guided each week by one of three teachers who volunteer for the entire school year. In this way, our children grow comfortable with these familiar faces and bonds are formed.

Our teachers this year are (from left to right), Kristi Hartley, Tessa Turnipseed, and Angie Lee.

The group first gathers together by lighting our chalice and sharing these special words together each week:

"We light this chalice, symbol of Unitarian Universalism.
We are the church of the open mind (lift hand as if opening up your mind),
helping hand (turning hands outward, as if giving something away),
and loving heart (crossing hands over heart or making heart sign).
Together, we care for our earth (make round symbol with hands),
and work for peace and justice in the world (holding hands in our circle)."

After lighting our battery operated chalice, our kids often take the time to share their joys and concerns, much like the congregation does upstairs. This can include small or large things, from losing a tooth to losing a pet. The sharing of our joys and concerns fosters an important sense of community among the children.

Our curriculum for the 2014-2015 school year centers around the themes the churchwide monthly theme. Each theme is explored through art, games, drama, science, video, nature, music, storytelling, cooking, or language arts. As a result of these rich topics, our Elementary class can be found discussing, reading, acting, drawing, experimenting, playing games, writing, creating, modeling, singing, painting, and performing. The class will pull from a variety of texts for primary and secondary resources.