April-Becoming-Week 5

Dear UU Parents and Guardians,

Our first in-person service is planned for May 9th!!!

The month of May will include services where children are welcome to attend. We will provide in-person childcare for 5yrs and under. We will stick with Sunday school ONLY ONLINE for May. 
We will be trying for June 2nd to be our first in-person Sunday School class...AND we still will offer online Sunday school for the foreseeable future. 

We will be first opening at 25% capacity. Please keep an eye on emails from the office for information about registering for the services. If you don't get into the in-person services, please continue to watch Sunday online, or join us on Thursday evenings for our music-based services. 

As we consider re-entry into the building - many hands make for light work. 
If you are willing and able to be a flexible volunteer and roll with the punches as we navigate re-opening, our children and youth really need dedicated (and vaccinated) adults from our church in their lives. 

I will be looking for: 
Online teachers for K-5 and Middle/HS
In-person teachers for K-5 and Middle/HS
In-person assistants for K-5 and Middle/HS
'Floaters' who are willing to be SUPER flexible on Sunday mornings and 'go WHERE needed WHEN needed'

Please contact me for more information - we will have a training for volunteers THIS Saturday May 1st, so the more people we have express interest in volunteering by then, the better! This is the link to register for the training (it is not a commitment to volunteer - just if you are interested and want to learn more about precautions, etc) https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfWFTMD98MgFpAPsRcqR54TyfI5tXc5wnos0DbOkalSRwta2Q/viewform

What will our format look like? 
Our Middle/HS will continue to meet online until 5/26 and in-person in June if we meet at church with our steps C and D for re-entry plan. 
Our K-5th group will meet online at 11am if we are in the 'low-yellow' or higher with the Covid dial. 

K-5th grade in-person will have a focus on UU Principles, with a fun addition of MAKERSPACE items! We'll be outside as much as possible, and when we are inside, we will focus on CONNECTION and CREATION. It will be SO FUN! 

Check out this article by Religious Educator, Joy Berry, about the benefits of Makerspace https://www.uua.org/re/blog/makerspace-a-new-way-in-religious-education

Plans for Re-Entry Into the Church Building Are Underway
Check out our newsletter for more information
https://www.unitarianlincoln.org/newsletter.html
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The church has a new website - and I have a BLOG! 
All the weekly emails since the start of the pandemic in March 2020 have now been uploaded for easy access. 
Monthly Soul Matters themes and the summer series on mindfulness can all be seen according to date. 
You can access the emails on our church's website here: https://www.unitarianlincoln.org/chelseas-blog
*Sunday School *

Approximately 30 minute program geared towards K-5, but is open to all ages
Sundays at 11am
We typically have a chalice lighting, story, guided discussion, and/or activity such as a scavenger hunt or art project to be done at home as part of these lessons.
Link: https://zoom.us/j/805185601        Password: unitarian

*Middle and HS *
We are joining up with the Omaha youth groups - 

Wednesdays at 7pm

Please email me for more information

DISCORD for Middle and High School
We invite all Middle and High School students from Omaha and Lincoln to join us for discussion and community through this app.
'Would you rather' questions - Thoughts along our monthly Soul Matters themes - 'Big questions' related to UUism.
Also - a "Pet Page"!!! So much fun.
***Be aware that once joining Discord, it opens up the app to multiple pages which will need to be moderated by students themselves and their parents/guardians for security.

https://discord.gg/3NuSj6f
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*Parent and Guardian Chat:*
The chance for parents and guardians to check in with me for 'open office hours'
Every other Thursday 8pm and every other Wednesday noon (I close the meeting after 15 minutes if no one checks in)

Wednesday the 5th at noon

Link: https://zoom.us/j/5036046295

Thursday the 13th at 8pm
  https://zoom.us/j/5036046295    
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Family Open Circle: 
Information can be found on their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1081904435272577
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Videos This Week: 

Chelsea's Story-
Drum Dream Girl
https://youtu.be/42Jvzm1ziww
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POP! Preschool Curriculum
Attached you will find 3 worksheets to accompany the videos for this month's preschool curriculum lesson for APRIL 
Introduction
Video 1
Video 2
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K-5: Soul Matters Theme: Becoming
These materials come to us from the Soul Matters Curriculum team

Family Worship Ritual 1 - On Becoming

Family Worship Ritual 2 - On Becoming
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Bonus Resources for Parents With the theme of: Becoming

Articles & Reflections

How Will History Books Remember the 2010s?
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2019/12/27/how-will-history-books-remember-the-2010s-089796
Exploring how the story of our time will be told...
 
The Top 10 Stories that Shaped the World
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20180521-the-top-10-stories-that-shaped-the-world 
 
5 things people still get wrong about slavery: debunking slavery’s greatest myths.
https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/8/22/20812883/1619-slavery-project-anniversary
 
A Story Inherited, Jabari S. Jones
Full piece found at https://www.uua.org/worship/words/reflection/story-inherited
 
“Not belonging here” is a story I have inherited, an American inheritance. I was born and raised here, yet to some I am and always will be from “somewhere else.”…

The Myth of the Absent Black Father, Teddy Burrage
https://blackgirlinmaine.com/parenting/the-myth-of-the-absent-black-father/
 
Debunking the Myth of the Middle Class
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/video/debunking-the-myth-of-the-middle-class/
 
notes from BALLE talk, Adrienne Maree Brown
http://adriennemareebrown.net/tag/narrative/
 
Butchering the Mythic West: Setting the story straight about America’s frontier, John Freeman
https://www.altaonline.com/books/fiction/a34839129/john-freeman-butchering-the-mythic-west/?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits
 
On Neil Gaiman &  Why Scary Stories Appeal to Us, brainpickings
https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/03/20/neil-gaiman-ghost-stories/