FPCS Children's Work Committee

Children's Work Committee Annual Report -

2001 SEPTEMBER - JUNE SUNDAY A.M. PROGRAM:

Registration and Attendance: (9/01 - 12/01) The program offers age-specific classes for 3 year olds through 6th grade. Registered - 169. (121 active having attended at least once through December and 48 inactive including baptized but not attending.) Mean average weekly attendance between opening Sunday in September through December was 76 children. The largest number of students attending was 94 on both opening Sunday (9/9) and the first Sunday in Advent (12/2). Attendance awards were given on the last day of the Sept.-June 2000-2001 program to children with no more than 5 absences. On June 10, 2001, 24 children received recognition, compared with 32 in June 2000.

Staff

18 classroom teachers
13 classroom assistants
4 Sunday a.m. office administrators
2 nursery room coordinators (9 & 11 a.m.)
2 assistant nursery room adults
3 nursery assistants
1 Sunday a.m. Program Coordinator

Each class has two adult teachers and at least one youth assistant. This staffing pattern provides teachers with more planning and program flexibility, more consistency in the classroom and a higher student-teacher ratio for those children needing more one-on-one help.

Nursery and Cradle Roll: The nursery provides care for all infants and toddlers up to age 3 whose parents attend the 9 or I I a.m. worship service or teach during the 9 a.m. program. Occasionally, choir members who sing at I I a.m. bring their children to the nursery. The intent of this care is to encourage socialization, to keep the children safe, to provide nourishment, if appropriate, and to assist with diaper changes and bathroom visits. During 9 a.m., there is a rotating staff of 3 adults with additional help provided by youth assistants. The attendance high was 5 in September through December, with average attendance for the fan at 3. A total of seven families have brought their infant or toddler for care at 9 a.m. this fall. Lorraine Bird schedules adult volunteer coverage for the I I a.m. nursery, which is used infrequently. Special thanks to those volunteers who have provided hospitality and care at I I a.m.

The cradle roll consists of children under 3 years who were baptized at this church. During baptism, a copy of The Beginner's Bible is presented to the parents in recognition of the promises made both by the congregation and the parents to nurture the child's faith. Following the service of baptism, a Cradle Roll certificate is sent to the family. On first and second birthdays a card is sent. At age 3 children are encouraged to attend Sunday School, entering the 3-year-old class.

Curriculum: Denominational resources Covenant People and Bible Quest are used in the Sunday School. Woven into these resources are basic Bible stories, age-appropriate excerpts from "A Brief Statement of Faith or a question from the new children's catechism, and a spiritual practice, such as journaling or praying with scripture (lectio divina). These resources were designed to incorporate current educational theory on multiple intelligences and the role of spiritual disciplines in faith formation. The curriculum materials are supplemented by resource materials in the Children's Library, including teacher resource guides, craft books, video tapes, games, puzzles and audio tapes.

Teacher Workshops: In September, teacher training was held with leadership provided by the Rev. Jeff Geary, Associate Pastor of Setauket Presbyterian Church. Our staff met to exchange ideas, become familiar with year two of the new curriculum, and explore the spiritual disciplines in the curriculum under the guidance of the Rev. Jeff Geary. Super Sunday: Held in lieu of regular Sunday School classes, these special events offer ageappropriate learning centers focusing on specific themes. During March, a Super Sunday was created to focus on Lent. Along with learning about the liturgical season, each child made a friendship bracelet to share with a new friend in El Salvador.

JUNE - SEPTEMBER SUNDAY A.M. PROGRAM:

Infant and toddler care was provided (with air conditioning) in the nursery by volunteers in 2001. Children who had completed one full year of pre-school through age seven met for a broadlygraded class in an air conditioned first floor pre-school room. Presbyterian Publishing House summer curriculum, Bible Time, Anytime was used to provide lessons and take-home leaflets. Staffing was provided by seasonal adult staff and youth assistants. Worship bags were provided for children attending worship with their families. The bags were updated weekly with lectionary and worship related activity booklets and take home craft pages to encourage faith dialogue at home.

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL:

This year the Vacation Bible School was a wonderful experience for all God's children involved. Each day 122 children and 54 staff members participated in activities that reinforced the theme of the week, Soncreek Junction. Our nine lead teachers along with their assistants lead their classes in relevant Bible stories in Acts.

The week would not have been possible without the love and dedication of our lead coordinators. Debby Crennan, in Arts and Crafts, Pam Farino, in Fun and Games, Lauri Adams in Snack, planned and prepared, with some help, 122+ age appropriate projects, activities and snacks for the children that related to our theme. Hillary Garcia headed up our Nursery for our staff members who have children too young to participate. Our music staff, Dawn Agostini, Claudia Falk and Lori Yastrub, created a wonderful closing program leading the children in 10 songs, with our youth 9 providing the thespian support. Some of the costumes were loaned to the program from the 325 anniversary pageant committee. The children of our church family and community spent the first week of August learning acceptance of all people in God's family.

VBS again proved to be an excellent outreach into the community with almost 50% of the children as non-members. Some non-members also provided adult program assistance. After the completion of the VBS musicale on Friday night, we had many compliments, but the most significant was requests by parents to participate as staff next year!

This year our Missions Project was to stock the shelves of the "General Store". During the week, the children were asked to bring in an item for the shelves of the "Soncreek General Store". These items were gathered and brought over to the Smithtown Food Pantry on Sunday, August 5th

One new item this year was a high tech slide show of pictures taken throughout the week. The parents and children enjoyed seeing all the activities and themselves on the "big screen", with appropriate music to accompany the pictures. All agreed it was an excellent tool for publicizing next year's VBS. We look forward to showing this again in the spring at the VBS fair.

SPECIAL EVENTS:

CWC organizes and/or co-sponsors several opportunities throughout the year to help strengthen and build family relationships, to provide opportunities for intergenerational activities and to celebrate "rite-of-passage" faith events in the fives of children. Among these are:

Pancake Breakfast: was held in February during the fellowship hour as an opportunity for intergenerational fellowship and parent networking

CWC Book Fair - Held between the services as an opportunity for members to look at and donate new items for the children's library.

Special Lenten Programming - CWC provided a workshop for children, "Building a Peaceful Neighborhood" concurrent with Lenten programming provided for adults and youth by the Church and Community Committee.

Easter Egg/Bible Treasure Hunt: Both held on Palm Sunday. Because of wet weather, younger children did their "search" for eggs in the Fellowship Hall. Normally held outdoors, the Bible Treasure Hunt for upper grades was held in the Sanctuary after 9 a.m. worship.

VBS Fair: held in the spring during the fellowship hour as a preview of VBS activities. While adults heard about the program children were treated to a sampling of crafts and games.

Awards/Recognition: "graduating" 6th graders, children with outstanding attendance and entire teaching staff were given gifts or awards during 9 a.m. worship in June.

Church School Open House: held on three Sundays during the fall in the classrooms between the services. Parents and friends had an opportunity to experience some learning activities with their children, learn about the new curriculum and enjoy snack and fellowship together.

4th Grade Bibles: In October, 4th grade students receive a copy of The Good News Bible during 9 a.m. worship. After worship, a celebration and open house was held in the classroom.

Preparing the Presence: CWC provided two craft tables. The ornaments made were brought to a local nursing home by members, teachers and parents of the confirmation class.

Children's Advent Worship Service: Held at 9 a.m. on the third Sunday in Advent in the Sanctuary. The worship service was developed by Sue Henchey and led by the children of the Sunday School and the Rev. Dr. Wood. This was followed by a "Happy Birthday, Jesus" themed fellowship hour, complete with birthday cake and gift bags with nativity-themed goodies.

MISSION PROJECTS:

Mission is the responsibility of the entire congregation. Accordingly, mission projects are supported by many committees and groups within the church. In 1998 our session voted to Join with other churches in our Presbytery who are members of the El Salvador Partnership. Much of the mission work of the Sunday School from January to June is directly involved in fulfilling the promise made by us to that partnership and the communities served in El Salvador. Other mission areas with CWC support include UNICEF, Church World Service, Smithtown Food Pantry and our Advent Adopt-an-Angel program.

This report was created by the following members of the Christian Nurture Team of CWC: Timmi Nalepa, Kyla O'Brien and Lorraine Bird (Mission Projects Cocoordinators), Janice Meaney (Special Events Co-coordinator), Laurie Barry and Janet Volikommer (VBS Co-directors), Velma Teichert (Registrar and Nursery Cocoordinator), Marie Zupka-Ludder (Family Ministry).

Respectfully submitted,
Marie Zupka-Ludder
Chair, Children's Work Committee