As an RE team, when we chose the theme Faith In Action for our church year, we had no idea how timely it would be. To further our growth as a faith community, we added two new programs,  Service Sunday and UU@Home. These programs have been designed to compliment our theme, guiding our youth in action and service in our community, as well as the larger community and world.

On our first Service Sunday, on October 22nd,  we participated in a nation-wide UU White Supremacy Teach-In. Through advocacy and research, two essential elements of service learning, our youth grappled with topics such as racial identity and privilege.  Next, we met with members of the Refugee Resettlement Committee(RRC) and learned about their work with the International Rescue Committee.  As a community, we learned what it's like to live in impoverished and war-torn countries, and discussed how it would feel to move to someplace completely different.  The RRC challenged us to find and befriend refugees in our own schools and communities. In January we learned about the Sanctuary Solidarity Network and First Church’s place in Utah’s history of providing sanctuary. We tied quilts and made beautiful collaborative paintings to make the residence in our own church a bit more welcoming.  This month Nuzzles & Co. came (with puppies!) to teach us about their efforts to find homes for animals throughout Utah. The youth also enhanced their knot tying and braiding skills by making dog and cat toys to donate to the shelter.  We hope to continue the year with equally enriching service opportunities.  We are continuing our service project from last year, Sandwich Sunday.  For those of you who are new, the youth prepare 40 sack lunches for homeless teens at the Volunteers of America shelter each month.  In March a speaker from the VOA will be telling us more about where our sandwiches go and the community it’s serving.  

April will be The Big Give! The goal of the Big Give is to encourage our youth to reflect and evaluate the community partners we’ve teamed with, and give big to them!  Step one: Make a box!  In RE, we will be making our own Giving Boxes.  We’ll brainstorm ways they can earn money for their Giving Boxes asking them to bring the boxes back to church a week before Easter Sunday.  Step two: Learn to evaluate a charity.  We will discuss each of the community partners we learned about this year and each child will decide which partner to give their hard-earned dollars to.

And finally, UU@Home is a brand new class for families to explore being a Unitarian in fun ways--together!  We hope to seek ways to bring home the things we discuss each week at church.  We’ll learn more about the 7 principles, practice some gratitude, and maybe throw down some family yoga.  Find us in Little Chapel on the last Sunday of each month at 10:15!   Our youth have been eager learners and active helpers! It is a gift and a joy to lead them!

Our teachers are amazing!  As the lower school closes out another curriculum block, the RE team would like to thank our teachers once again!

• Infant-Three year olds: Erin Cowley, Betsy McHugh
• Preschool: Beth and Coleen Jennings, Bethany Moos
• Kindergarten-2nd Grade: Kevin Emmerson, Jennifer Heartel, Kris Lander
• 3rd-4th Grade: Jojo Lui, Megan Anderson
• 5th-6th Grade OWL: Britt Rose, Kendra and Raleigh Smith, Matt Wilson
• COA: Carrie Black, Kaden Colton, Paul Kuttner, Kristin Quinn
• High School: Derek Gersdorf, Cooper, Rob Richardson, Dot Verbrugge

RE Calendar:

• March 5: Family Fun Night
• March 11: Sanctuary Sunday, Service Sunday, Sandwich Sunday, OWL 5th/6th Second Session begins
• March 18: High School Service
• March 25: Child Dedication, Jr Choir Singing