Christian Education

Dear Members and Friends of CUCC,

It is with much excitement that I assume the role of Christian Education Director.  I plan to utilize my past experience as a program director combined with my passion of religious education to continue to create a thriving, creative, and fun program for the 50+ children and youth in our community. 

Due to the fact that my experience is with a traditional church school model, I have decided to discontinue use of the workshop rotational model for this year and have recently purchased a lectionary based, UCC suggested curriculum calledWhole People of Godfor our use starting in September.  It is a wonderful curriculum that is very user/teacher friendly and comes highly recommended by many churches of our size.  I will be spending the next two weeks preparing for our first Sunday, September 10th so that those of you who choose to sign up to teach early in the year will have the information you need in time to review and prepare yourselves.  In addition, I will be changing the classrooms around creating welcoming spaces for each of the different grade levels; the children will have an assigned room that they go to each week where they will be able to show off their creations on the many bulletin boards we share with the preschool. 

Of course, the facility and the curriculum are only a small part of the children’s experience at church school.  The teachers (both parents and non-parents) from the congregation are the heart and soul of a great church school experience; I look forward to working with all of you as we create together a loving and safe environment for our youngest members.   Based on the responses from the July’s questionnaire, there will also be a change in the teacher commitment/schedules.  Many of the respondents felt that missing church four weeks in a row was too much, so I have developed a team teaching approach where two teachers will sign up for one grade level,  for an eight week period.  Only one teacher will be required each week, so the team can decide how they want to cover the session.  It is my belief that having consistency with one or two friendly faces sets up the classroom for success in both behavior and in the opening up of communication to discuss issues in a safe and trusting atmosphere.  Finally, in response to safety precautions and the need for having more than one adult in the rooms, I will also ask for two volunteers for each session to be floaters.  Their responsibility will be to join me in floating around to the different classes helping out where needed. 

Below is a list of the dates for the first two sessions, as well as a tentative breakdown of the classes by grades/ages.  As I will not know the actual numbers of children in each level until the classes begin, this is subject to change.  Please spend a few moments over the next week thinking about how you will be able to help out in our church school this year.  If you would like to sign up for one of the first two sessions, please call me right away at 303-448-9092 or 303-641-7673 or email me at dbearkkp@comcast.net.  One of the CE Commission members will be available Sunday, September 3rd with a sign up sheet as well as a sample of the new curriculum for your review. 

Class Configuration (subject to change based on numbers/special needs)

Nursery – (Ages 0-3) staffed by paid youth

Pre-School (Ages 3-5) 

Kindergarten, First, Second

Third, Fourth, and Fifth

Sixth & Seventh

Eighth & Ninth (Confirmation Class)

Senior Youth Group

Dates for Session #1 & Session #2

A team of two teachers will sign up for each session.  They will coordinate their schedules so that each week is covered by only one teacher.  Additionally, two extra people will be needed for each session to be floaters.  

                     Session #1 **                                                  Session #2

                        9/10                                                                 11/5

                        9/17                                                                 11/12

                        9/24                                                                 11/19

                        10/1                                                                 11/26

                        10/8                                                                 12/3

                        10/15                                                               12/10***

                        10/22 ***                                                        12/17

                        10/29                                                               12/24

             **  The need for Session #1 teachers for the pre-school, K-2nd, 3rd-5th, and                            6th&7th  is IMMEDIATE!!!!

                    Please call today if you can volunteer for these dates.

            ***  All teachers can attend church on these Sundays.  The children will instead

                    participate in a special all ages presentation led by CE Director.

As you can see, there are many programmatic changes that we will be experiencing so if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call or email me at the numbers listed above.  And as you are also probably aware, there is much preparation to be done in the next few weeks to facilitate the changes, but please know that I am committed to a great start to this year and look forward to the many weeks we will share together building a safe, strong, creative, and fun place for our children to explore the incredibly awesome world of community, spirituality, faith and God. 

Blessings to all,

Karen Kent-Pyle

Christian Education Director, Community UCC