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Changing the Culture ofUUAA Religious Education

Building Better Kids

Building Community

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UUAA RE Mission

To create a Children and Youth Religious Education Program that is spiritually meaningful and fulfilling to

all involved

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Beginning with the End In Mind…

• Kids will have a deeper/broader program to develop their spiritual/religious understanding

• Kids gain friendships through being together more• Adults gain friendships through more adult

interaction with kids of same general age• Adults express their spirituality in action• More dynamic program will attract more folks to

UUAA

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Barriers to Getting There

• Too much work on too few people results in– Teacher burn-out– Less optimal lessons/experiences– Lack of community lack of participation

• People don’t plug in either because:– They’re not asked to help– They feel they’ll be dumped on– They don’t feel capable of being a teacher

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Let’s Fix It

• If EVERYONE has to contribute then– No worry about being dumped on– Many more opportunities to plug-in (events, outings, service

projects) that are right up someone’s alley– Far more age-level interaction friendships / community

• Provide for more spiritual expression through doing meaningful things for our kids

• Dynamic program == continued participation/growth

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New Operating Principles

• One volunteer per child/youth in the program – Shared responsibility / ownership

• Each person takes a major role every 2-3 years and a minor/supporting role all other years

• Draw others from non-RE adults and RE youth (e.g., mentoring, special classroom presentations)

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Structure

Minister of RE

Lower El(K, 1, 2, 3)

Cluster Coord.

Upper El(4, 5)

Cluster Coord.

Middle School (6, 7, 8)Coord.

YRUU(9, 10 , 11, 12)Coordinator

Teachers(~3/class)

Classroom Asst.(~12/class)

Event Coord.(2 / Year)

Event Staff(~6 / event)

RoverCoord.

Rovers

CommitteeChair

CYC

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Cluster Coordinators

• 4 Hours / Month• Recruits teachers, event coordinators (from RE

parents and congregation at large)• Liaises with classroom teachers, council and MRE

to assure issues/needs being met• Coordinates scheduling classroom assistants• Consults on curriculum selection

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Classroom

• Teachers– 4 Hours / Month– 3+ / Class– Teach every 3-4 weeks– Enjoy outings/events (no leadership/work)

• Assistants– 1 Hour Every 6 weeks– 1-2 assistants in classroom each week

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Cluster Events

• 2+ Events / Year / Cluster• Coordinator

– ~20 Hours of work– Plan events (FNL, Outside)– Recruit staff from parents– Handle budget

• Staff– ~2-5 hours of work– Help execute event (MC/assist, setup tables, clean floor, wash

dishes, traffic cop, etc.)

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Rover Coordinator / Rovers

• Rove 1/Month for ~2 Hrs.• 1 Rover Per Service (9:15-11:00, 11:15-1:00)• Runs errands for classrooms that assistants can’t. Deals

with kids who can’t be in the classroom. Assists with outside (onsite) activities/hikes when needed.

• Oversees game room from 10:30 to 11:00 and 12:30 to 1:00 and enforces its policies

• Fills in for assistants, teachers when unavoidably absent.• Directs new folks to registration and classrooms

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Others

• COA Coordinators (2) • COA Mentors (15-20+)• YRUU Coordinators• Special Presentations

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Assuring Participation

• All parents will be communicated to directly when signing up that they must participate in supporting program in some way in order to have their kids in the program.

• Signed registration with rules of engagement and ways to contact

• Badges for kids (can’t be in classroom without one)

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Roll Out

• Recruiting for next year starts next month• Programs worked on over the summer• Startup in the fall

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In the End…

• Kids will have a deeper/broader program to develop their spiritual/religious understanding

• Kids gain friendships through being together more• Adults gain friendships through more adult

interaction with kids of same general age• Adults express their spirituality in action• More dynamic program will attract more folks to

UUAA