The teachers and I would like to welcome your family to Gwynedd's First Day School program. First Day School runs September 7th, 2008 through June 14th, 2009. Please join all of Gwynedd for Meeting for Worship at 9:30am and then First Day School begins at 10:45am and goes until 12:00noon.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Pauline Rosa-Martir Schepperd
Youth Program Coordinator
Cassandra.night@verizon.net
215-855-2284
Overview of Youth First Day School Curriculum, 2008-2009
The overall goal of the Gwynedd Youth FDS program is to offer religious education; space for personal spiritual experience and service opportunities, all of which serve as stepping-stones along individual spiritual paths.
The FDS curriculum that is shared with your youth in their FDS class offers diverse programming and is based on guidelines that the teachers and I established in order to create a FDS program that will allow the children as they progress over the years from First Day School grade level to the next, to be gradually exposed to age appropriate materials allowing for more personal growth in spirituality and a deeper understanding and commitment to Quaker testimonies.
The year is separated into three main areas of focus that guide the rest of the curriculum:
Spirituality, Quakerism, and Bible Study
****Each teacher brings to the classroom unique skills and interests just as each child and teen is encouraged within the classroom to share individual talents and gifts. It is in this context of mutual growth that religious education begins.
--I have therefore listed within each area of focus each teacher’s overall objective for the time they will share with your youth in the classroom.
Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec will focus on spirituality. The focus is to explore individual understandings of “a worshipful state of mind”. Guided meditations, centering exercises, yoga, art experiences, worship sharing, junior meeting for worships, feeling called to speak and prayer will all be used as keys to open doors to discussion on how the spirit is at work in our lives.
K-2nd – Gail Moxey will explore spirituality with an emphasis on caring for the Earth.
3,4,5th – Jeannie Hansberry will use color, texture, art and motion and music to approach meditation, prayer and meeting for worship. They will use interaction to others, awareness in nature, and exercises in journaling and listening to develop personal spiritual toolkits to give them a foundation to worship as well as approaches to every day life.
3,4,5th- Liz Evans will be taking them on a spiritual journey through the art of puppetry, exploring their own spiritual struggles and those of Quakers that came before them.
Middle School - Stacy Kent Wyckoff- the middle school class will be involved in personal spiritual exploration. This quest will require them to explore their religious community as well as explore ways of connectivity into the larger community and their world. They will also continue their partnership with the Rwandan Village.
January, February, March will focus on Quakerism and what it means to our youth to be a Quaker and follow Quaker practice. Examples of topics are Quaker History & Famous Quakers, Quaker Values/Beliefs/Testimonies, how the meeting is structured (Meeting with a concern for business, Committee work) and Quaker organizations.
K-2nd – Pulling in Quaker testimonies, Marie Crawford will continue with the theme of Caring for the Earth with a special reading of Little Yellow Pear Tomato. It’s about a child that plants a tomato plant and realizes how a little bit of everything around him goes into making the plant grow. His Father and mother, the sun, the rain, even the bugs all play a part. All revolving around a sense of inner connectiveness. The K-2nd will then plant these tomatoes with the high schoolers in their Healthy Garden.
3,4,5th – Susan Miller - Grades 3-5 will take an overview of important Quakers in history
with an emphasis on what values their lives embody. Since our religion broke the mold by emphasizing specific values such as humility, simplicity, and nonviolence, it is definitely a struggle to understand how to practice them. These noteworthy Quakers may shed some light on this & offer us guidance. We will touch on the Underground Railroad via a board game that traces some of the lives of those who made it happen.
Middle School- Exploring various religions in the community: Marybeth Garrett – They will be continuing their study of various religions and services in our community by learning about, comparing and contrasting them to Quakerism. In order to do this, they will visit places of worship in the community they did not visit last year but also return to a few places to take part in particular youth programs and Sunday School activities.
April, May and June will focus on Bible Study. Topics might include Bible discussion, Jesus’ life, what makes a Christian, exploring other denominations in our Community, world religions, historical path of influence leading to Quakerism, biblical callings, faithful response to contemporary culture and its challenges.
K-2nd- Continuing with Gail Moxey’s theme, the children will explore Jesus and his compassion for the Earth.
3,45th- Naomi Donovan will explore major Bible stories old to new. They will also explore how we create stories to explain our own spirituality and humanity. They will also navigate the bible to see how the bible is structured.
Middle School – Faith Paulsen - The class will read Bible stories together, then discuss them, using great art from different centuries and cultures to reflect on their significance and relevance. Students will then be encouraged to express their own responses
through art and/or writing.
Extensions to our FDS programming:
Music - Kindergarten through 5th grade youth are very fortunate to have the opportunity to rejoice the spirit through song each week with Carl Baron. He leads them in singing songs of peace, of Bible Stories, the environment, Quakers and our unique history, faith, and animal songs.
Youth and Militarism - Joanne Penn and Gary Lapreziosa bring “Youth and Militarism” into each of the grade levels. Their discussions will center on learning to "think for oneself about war and peace”. In examining the causes of war and peace, all grade levels will be encouraged to (1) expand their awareness of and to discuss the rampant and growing militatization of U.S. society and government and how it may affect their futures; (2) to explore Conscientious Objection through thinking and writing, which requires that they discover their own personal convictions (3) to get to the “thinking for our self” part, which it is hoped will prepare them for a time when they will have to make critical life choices.
Take Your Classroom to Meeting for Worship - The last Sunday of most months will be “Take Your Classroom to Meeting for Worship”. This is an opportunity for youth to worship with their peers. They do centering exercises together before going into regular meeting. The goal of this program is to help your youth feel more comfortable exploring silent worship and begin to understand what worship means to them.
Intergenerational Workshop in February – Susan Miller - Values Auction, it is an actual auction in which groups of about 5 are given $100.00 to bid on: Health, Peace, Courage, Power, Talent, Fame, Wealth, Love, Joy, & Wisdom. The overall objective is to practice (& model) both thoughtful decision-making and cooperative group process, in this case in an intergenerational group. This requires listening, planning, and having a back-up plan.
Service Projects and Trips - Another very important aspect of the FDS program is service projects and trips designed to build spiritual confidence, friendships and offer opportunity for our youth to practice their faith and make a difference in the community. There will be various opportunities throughout the year for your youth to participate in these projects including Christmas and Earth Day service projects. These may occur at Gwynedd or outside of Gwynedd. Also, as part of this program the Middle Schoolers will continue their upkeep of the “Rainbow Trail” and the High Schoolers will continue to oversee care of the “Healthy Garden”.
Further:
Middle School and High School programming differs in that the students are beginning to share who they have become spiritually and faithfully and are offered ways to express this through discussions and projects that stretch them to consider how their faith and beliefs affect their decisions as they place themselves in the world around them.
High School – Several students in this class visited Wales this summer, which sparked interest and great opportunity to explore the historical roots of Quakerism. Sustainability, Green power and Peace will also be important topics this year. Beyond this the class will rely on the Quaker decision making process to guide them in designing their Religious Education experience. This involves choosing religious and spiritual topics of interest that the class as a whole wants to explore. Often this leads to service projects as our young friends grasp their own faith and begin to realize what it means to live through moral and spiritual guidance.
CLASS ASSIGNMENTS, 2008-2009
The class that your child attends corresponds with whatever grade level they are entering this school year 2008-2009 in their regular schooling.
K-2nd (Room D) – Gail Moxey (assistant: Elaine Jenkins)
3,4, 5th – (Room B) – Jeannie Hansberry, Liz Evans, Susan Miller, and Naomi Donovan (Assistants: Gary Lapreziosa and Vicki Hain Poorman)
Middle School- 6th-8th grade (Ping Pong Room upstairs) – Stacy Kent Wyckoff, Marybeth Garrett, Faith Paulsen
High School -9th-12th grade – (Classroom at top of stairs) - Mark Manta (Substitute - Ran Bakshi)
The teachers and I make a great effort to keep doors open and discussion flowing between teachers and your family and myself. There are several places you can go to stay informed. The first is of course reading your Weekly Parent FYI, which I email by each Wednesday and may contain info about things done in First Day School the past Sunday and/or activities the classes will be doing the following week. So please get in the habit of checking your email each Wednesday. There is also a Youth Info Board outside the kitchen with FDS creations, photos of past events and upcoming event info. There is a Teen Info Board at the top of the steps leading to the middle and high school classes that will offer a myriad of opportunity for youth to get involved with activities both at Gwynedd and outside of Gwynedd as well as photos taken at events. There will also be a Youth Corner Section in the monthly newsletter. Please read this with your youth so you both are aware of things going on in their classes and at Gwynedd. Your teacher may also email you and your youth time to time as necessary to keep info flowing. Please feel free at any time to email me with ideas for FDS projects or topics of discussion. You are welcome to bring your talents into the classroom as well and can discuss this with your teacher at any time.
