When I taught in the Waldorf Schools, there would be a staff meeting sometime in May, when somebody from administration would remind us, “By the way, your supply order is due next week. And I need all of your dates for the calendar by Friday.”
What that meant was, “You need to know how much paint/watercolor paper/crayons/pencils/clay/notebooks/erasers/glue/yarn/musical instruments/ you’ll need for every lesson that you’re planning to teach next year. And you’ll need to know what play you’ll be presenting and the dates of all your field trips.”
Waldorf teachers travel with their classes through the grades, which means that every year we teach an entirely new curriculum. So in the spring that I’m deep into wrapping up 6th grade, looming in my future is the 7th grade curriculum, which I know about in theory but may never have taught. Renaissance History. Chemistry. Physiology. South American Geography. Navigational Geometry. Shakespeare.
And every year this staff meeting would take me by surprise and I’d be inwardly throwing my pencil across the room and shouting, “Oh yes, I know exactly what I’m going to be teaching next January 12th at 9:45 AM!”
I had a flashback to those spring staff meetings earlier this May, when I realized that FUSF will actually be back in the Meetinghouse in the fall to present an in person, real-life religious education program. After a year and a half of being virtual, this is so exciting! But I, like so many of you, have been needing to separate myself emotionally from making long-term plans during this pandemic, because I felt like I needed to be poised to pivot on a dime, to respond to rapidly changing circumstances. The idea that we could actually move forward with big-picture program goals was…well, I didn’t want to hope too far.
When I took my hands away from my eyes and looked around, I was pleasantly surprised. The RE committee, Rev. Eric, and I have actually been working for about a year now on envisioning what we’d like our program to look like post pandemic. This thoughtful process has made it relatively straightforward to put a plan in place. So though it still feels a little scary to talk about the future, I’m happy to be sharing some of it with you here.
The Nest
First, we plan to continue to have a dedicated nursery, staffed by paid caregivers, to provide a warm and welcoming place for our babies and toddlers during Sunday worship.
The Grove
The Grove will serve children up to eighth grade with classes during the Sunday morning worship service. There were three areas that the RE committee wanted to incorporate into this program:
- Continuing our innovative “Faith Among the Trees” program, providing children with the opportunity to connect with nature.
- Providing curriculum classes in line with the UUA’s recommendations for religious education.
- Providing opportunities for the children to connect with the projects and passions of the larger church community.
To that end, we have created a program that combines tried-and-true UU Tapestry of Faith curricula with intergenerational worship, plans to make connections with our FUSF social justice initiatives, and one Sunday each month dedicated to outdoor experiential learning. Classes are multi-age/multi-grade, but grouped according to developmental stages to provide the twin advantages of large cohort groups and engaging content. A detailed description of the curricula is posted on the church website.
Elderwood High School Youth
I am delighted that Sarah Atamian will be leading our High School Youth group this year. Plans are underway for some fun summer activities and regular meetings beginning in the fall.
Other programs to watch for: Summer Day Camp registration will be coming out soon. We are planning to convene a Junior High Fellowship group. Yes, we are planning OWL classes! Yes – creating opportunities for children to sing and act and participate in worship are also in the works.
Yes – we are moving onward! We may not know how many sheets of paper we’ll need or how many jars of paint, but we know that we will be able to figure out those logistics – together.
It has been such a pleasure being your DRE this very unusual year. I’m looking forward to what’s next.
Onward!
Warmly, Diana Tesni
Director of Religious Education