Director of Religious Education

Roots Class (K-2nd grade) w/Marie:

Following the CYRE team meeting, the children were very (very, very) excited to hear that the grownups are thinking about a way for us to have an in person gathering that could be safe for everyone. I explained that this is still just in the thinking about a plan stage, so we can decide if there’s a way to do this. Here are our ideas:

-take lots of carpets or blankets or chairs to show where each person can be
-wear a mask. We know all about how to wear a mask 
-we could play a game
-most important: snacks. We suggest cupcakes with rainbow icing and pumpkin pie 

Seedlings (3rd – 5th) & Wildflower Youth Group (Middle & High School) w/Piaf & Solveij:

This week we came back to the topic of the 8th UU Principle: We must work together for diversity and against racism and oppression. Last time we discussed this topic, the consensus was that this Principle is needed and should be adopted by UUs even though some of the other 7 Principles speak to this idea. This time, we thought about the timeline of this process. The kids/youth felt that this matter is urgent and came up with several reasons why they want it to be adopted right away. Next time we meet, we’ll check in with where we are in this process at Wildflower and how kids and youth can be part of the process.

We also each thought of a time when we had put one of the 8 principles into practice in our lives. Finally, we ended with a collaborative storytelling game! Stay tuned for exciting plans for outdoor meetups this spring and summer 🙂

Roots Class (K – 2nd grade):

Marie was out today so I filled in. It is always so fun to connect with our youngest group! We began with our check-ins and then talked about our 7 UU Principles. Could we think of times that our church family has followed these? We remembered collecting supplies for people after the snow storm and also voting about the new minister a while back. Then we watched a funny Pixar short about birds on a wire who are definitely not following our UU Principles. Finally, the kids taught me their closing song “When My Heart Is in a Holy Place.”

Seedlings (3rd – 5th) & Wildflower Youth (Middle & High School):

This week, Solveij’s partner, Jesus, led a poetry workshop in which everyone created several lines of poetry that were compiled into a collaborative poem that explored identity and what our young people want the world to know. After RE, several kids/youth met up to dig the holes for mounting the mural at Wildflower and record some of the videos that will be part of the youth-led service on March 28.

Roots Class (k – 2nd) w/Marie:
Hello, I hope everyone is doing okay after the storm. Today we shared our experiences and heard about creative ways we stayed warm, got some snow play in, and heard about helping and being helped by others. 

Seeing a Roots student and her mom last Sunday was a wonderful surprise for me– many Wildflower members brought supplies to help a community in need near our church, and we sorted and loaded those supplies from a big blue tarp in my front yard for transport to the community. 

Seedlings Class (3rd-5th) w/Piaf & Wildflower Youth (Middle & High School) w/Solveij:

This week we began by checking in about our experiences with last week’s snow storm. Then we continued a discussion we had begun at our last meeting about video games. In what ways can they bring us connection and joy? In what ways do we need to monitor our consumption and press for more diverse and inclusive games? Finally, kids & youth shared song ideas for the upcoming Young People’s Service on March 28. 

Roots Class (K – 2nd grade) w/Marie:

Hello all, rose and thorn check-ins centered around where we’re all at with quarantine. So glad to hear about some of the people we love starting to get vaccines! I’ve been having some sad-about-things days and cheering myself up by starting to work in the garden again. Today’s story was Up In the Garden and Down In the Dirt by Kate Messner. While I find myself so impatient for days where we can be together in future months, a whole garden of our world put there, it is comforting to be reminded that while we see bare still-winter empty beds that “Down in the dirt is a whole busy world of earthworms and insects, digging and building and stirring up soil. They’re already working down in the dirt.”

Seedlings Class (3rd – 5th) w/Piaf & Wildflower Youth (Middle & High School) w/Solveij:

This week we discussed the state of our mural project, which is very close to being installed at Church! We looked at several possible places to mount it and the group decided where they’d most like it to be. Stay tuned for a future email with a chance to sign up for the hole-digging & socializing 🙂

We also talked about the possibility of having this group lead a service in the future to introduce the mural to the larger congregation and also speak to issues that are important to them. We’ll continue brainstorming on this in the upcoming weeks.

Finally, we played a round of digital pictionary.