The First Day School’s Corner of the World: December 2023
Head of First Day School, Charlotta Koppanyi
Winter is here… we got snow on the ground and the thermostat indicates below freezing. While most of us have a roof over our heads, there are too many who do not and we can see that everywhere. I also hear the concerns for the unhoused during our joy and concern sharing from families. Our children are well aware of the reality many children live in. While it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the suffering in the world, it is also important to recognize the small things you can do each day. One step at a time…
Our Mitten Tree is up and our students will be collecting donations of mittens, gloves, hats, scarves, socks, and jackets on Sunday, Dec. 3 and Dec. 10. All donations will be given to our partner organization by the Peace, Justice & Earth Care Committee.
The Annual Holiday Puppet Show, followed by Potluck hosted by the RE Program, is set for Sunday, December 10. We hope you can join us for this very special event. While you enjoy the food and fellowship, please take a moment to appreciate the table decorations the students made the last Sunday of November. These ornaments are fragrant, decorative with some health-based aspects. Some say it is a Victorian tradition others say it goes further back. What could it be? Join us and find out!
This year both Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, and New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31, fall on a Sunday. Families are welcome to join Meeting upstairs as no RE program will be offered.
On Nov. 26th Liz shared a new story with our students, Journeys to Christmas: An Advent Story for Friends, an adaptation of the Godly Play Advent story, created for Friends by Melinda Wenner Bradley. Stories we share with our Primary students – and for some classes for all students – are either from the Faith & Play or Godly Play curricula, some are adapted and a few are created by us or other friends. In Intermediate and Middle School, we have come to the close of our Old Testament stories. As we start the new year our focus will be on learning, discussing and experiencing the New Testament stories. On a personal level, I cannot wait to join the Intermediate class again and work on our village! It’s so much fun and I love to see how the students quickly get involved in creating 3-dimensional aspects of the stories we read from the Bible. As share these stories, we also ask for the students to view them through the Quaker lens and how we practice our Quaker beliefs. The Quaker Religious Education Collaborative offers workshops and conversation circles. I attended a (free) conversation circle on Nov. 30 on the subject of Radical Acceptance of Children in Quaker Meetings. More on that in the January article.
The Fire-pit and Story Telling with Friends event was rescheduled and we are looking at dates either in January or later in the winter. We are also hoping to be hosting the “Quake” in mid-January. And mark your calendar for the ILYM Annual Session 2024, Wed, June 19 – Sun, June 23. The best thing with December? Winter Solstice Thursday, December 21, 9:27PM CT!
For 2024 I wish for peace and ceasefire around the world, for finding what unites us more than what separates.
