There are activities in addition to Sunday Morning classes that we offer for school-age youth. At this time, activities have been altered to reflect our need to gather virtually. Contact our Director of Religious Education, Steve Cooper, for details.
Chalice Lighter’s Training Workshop
3rd – 6th Grade October 20, 2024 1-2:30pm (lunch included)
Each year we invite students from 3rd through 6th grade to be trained as “Chalice Lighters” — those who light our flaming chalice at the beginning of each worship service. Purely voluntary, the training takes place in a Sunday afternoon workshop followed by an installation ceremony during a Sunday service. A parent is required to attend the training as well.
Transition, Affirmation and Graduation
11th & 12th Grade
(Next offered 2024-25)
The Transition, Affirmation and Graduation Class is designed for our high school juniors and seniors to be both the culmination of their years of involvement in the church’s religious education program for youth and the bridge to their participation in the life of adult church. The program revolves around the five basic components of religious education: community building, learning, leadership, social action, and worship and creating/updating their credo statement.
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Each student will partner with an adult mentor with whom they will learn more about DuPage Unitarian Universalist Church and the wider world of Unitarian Universalism. During the year each student will also develop their own personal belief statement which they will share with the congregation at a group led worship service in the spring.
Participants will meet as a group with their mentors one Sunday a month for lunch and discussion. Separate student/mentor meetings and activities will take place at a mutually agreed upon time each month.
Our Whole Lives: Sexuality Education
An important program offered for our children, in age-appropriate curricula during elementary, middle school and high school, is the UUA’s Our Whole Lives (OWL) lifespan learning classes – a comprehensive view of sexuality, healthy relationships and respect for yourself and others. The program provides orientation and guidance for parents to have meaningful conversations with their children as well.
All OWL classes are offered in-person only.
Kindergarten and First Grade (1:15– 2:15pm) Jan 26 – Mar 16, 2025
Fourth – Sixth Grade (1:15– 2:30pm) Jan 26 – Apr 13, 2025 (excluding 3/23 & 3/30)
The Our Whole Lives (OWL) program for elementary age youth is guided by two principles: parents have primary responsibility for sexuality education with their children and sexuality education begins at home and continues through an open and honest communication between parents and children.
The OWL classes take children through age-appropriate activities and provide a support system for parents. Lessons and activities are led by UUA trained OWL facilitators.
*PLEASE NOTE: Parent and child orientation is required for both programs (Jan 12, 2025 1:15 – 3:15pm.
Eighth and Ninth Grade (1:15 – 3:45pm) Oct 6, 2024 – May 18, 2025
(1st & 3rd Sundays)
This comprehensive program on human sexuality provides accurate and appropriate sexual information in a safe environment. With the help of trained adult leaders, the participants will develop good communication skills with each other and with adults about sexuality, build positive and healthy attitudes about their own sexuality, and learn how to make responsible decisions about their sexual lifestyle and sexual behavior.
This class will be closed to newcomers after November 3rd, 2024
* NOTE: A parent orientation is required for youth to participate (Sep 22, 2024 1:15 – 3:15pm).