Church school is over for the summer!!!
I would like to extend a huge thank you to all of the volunteer church school teachers whose dedication, creativity and nurturing make Grace Church School the best church school around!
Laura Cavazzi, Kim Cross, Colleen Cummings, Diane Faris, Cathy Friesen, Kim Hamilton, Christina Haigh, Vickie Hertz, Erik Johnke, Siohban Masterson, Dave Mclary, Jeanne Murphy, Moriah Olsen, Bonnie Parsekian, Beth Paskowski, Karen Porter, Mary Jane Sexton, Claudia and Steve Wilson.
A special thank you goes out to Sandra Countee-McNeil who has been teaching for 12 years! With her son Jonathan moving on to Senior Youth Group, she is moving on to 10:30 mass and taking a break from teaching. We thank her so much for her many years of service to our church school.
And we can’t forget our Senior Youth Group led by Deb Adamy, Joe Devoe and Rachel Pettengill. Thank you for a great year leading our 9th – 12th graders.
Please call Jen Marraccino at 358-5108 if you are interested in volunteering as a church school teacher for the 2008/2009 church school year.
SUMMERTIME PROJECT
During the final two weeks of church school the children created a summertime project as a way to bring church school home with them over the summer. The project consisted of creating Episcopal prayer beads and a refrigerator magnet suggesting seven daily deeds to be done for four weeks of the summer. The daily deeds correspond with the four sets of seven beads on their prayer beads. A display is set up in the Narthax of the church describing the project. Children can:
Pick up a big of supplies if they missed one of these days of church school to create the project at home.
Track their daily deeds on a sign-up sheet on the display board
I hope the children enjoy this project and think about how the deeds related to stories that they learned throughout the year.
Jennifer Marraccino, Church School Coordinator
CYSM TRIP - THEY’RE OFF!
Participants in this summer’s mission trip set off for Nigaragua on Sunday, June 29. Please keep all of CYSM participants in your prayers until their return on July 14.
Katya Anger, Sam Berman, Caitlin Cummings,
Kelsey Cummings, Parker Devoe, Camille DiRocco, Luong Fletcher, Derek Frelow, Oliver Friedfeld, Emma Greenwood, Alex Hahn, Chris Hahn,
Kim Lindemann, Claire Masters, Dylan Sydor Adults: Deb Adamy, Charlie Cross, Gerry Kiely, Moriah Olsen
AMAZING GRACE CIRCUS CAMP BEGINS JUNE 30
AGC!'s Big Top Summer Camp is in Full Swing with Trapeze - Tightwire - Aerial Silks - Juggling - Clowning - Rolling Globeand much, much more for your child's entertainment, education and pleasure!Sessions are filling up quickly. Big Top Camp starts June 30 and runs til August 15th this year. That's 7 weeks of fun and circus...3, 2-week sessions and 1, 1-week session at the end..for ages 7 - 13 (we have a MiniCamp for ages 5 - 7). Each 2-week session ends with a Showcase of Talents of your children demonstrating what they have learned in that session.(multi-session and sibling discounts available) Go to our new website, www.amazinggracecircus.org to print out a registration form. And while you're there, look around our new site: we have many, many new offerings for AfterSchool Circus Classes, In-School Programs and our new Circus Classroom Curriculum.(Click on Programs for our new CircusPlay for K, Balance and Motion for 2nd graders and Family Fun Nights.) And great news: after a year at Cirque du Soleil's National Circus School of Montreal, Kenny Lindemann is back with us at camp FOR THE WHOLE SUMMER! Your children will love training with him.And, of course, Mary and Karen will be there with the AGC! Youth Troupe as Camp Counselors CIRCUS CAMP is in town and growing... Make sure to register as soon as you can!
Jennifer Marraccino, Church School Coordinator
358-5108/jenmarraccino@hotmail.com
CHOIRS (ON HIATUS FOR SUMMER):
All children 5 years old and up are invited to sing in the Joyful Noise Gospel Choir. This group, led by “Miss Bonnie”, meets on the 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month at 9:00 am and performs during 9:30 mass.
♪ The Parish Choir is an intergenerational ensemble which welcomes members from the 4th grade up. The choir sings on the 1st and 3rd Sundays at the 9:30 service with a rehearsal at 9:00 am. As well as learning the music for that morning we also use it as a springboard for brief liturgical and theological discussion which is particularly geared to our young members. Contact Bobbe Wanamaker at 358-5523 or Bob Barrows at 358-1297 ext 13 - or just come up to the choir gallery on Sunday morning.
SENIOR YOUTH GROUP (ON HIATUS FOR SUMMER):
the Senior Youth Group is designed for teens in 9th – 12th grades and meets on Sunday evenings at 7:00pm at the facilitator, Deb Adamy’s house at 202 Glenbrook Rd. in Upper Nyack. All teen are invited to attend and bring a friend if they like.
The Senior Youth Group consists of three components:
1. Fellowship – an opportunity to connect with one another through games, discussion and activities.
2. Community Service – reaching out to meet the needs in our community, e.g. fundraising, Midnight Run, etc.
3. Spiritual Growth – creating a safe space for teenagers to question, challenge and inspire each other to grow spiritually.
We look forward to your participation. For more information, please contact Deb Adamy directly at 353- 8922.
E-mail List – We are trying to use e-mail as much as possible to keep church school families informed of important happenings. If you are not on our e-mail list, please send your e-mail to jenmarraccino@hotmail.com and twoodcock@gracechurch.org – thank you!
Jennifer Marraccino
Church School Coordinator
IPC SCHOLARSHIPS
Every year the Inter Parish Council awards scholarships to graduating high school seniors. Students who are interested in applying for the coming year need to submit their application by September 30. If you would like more information or an application form, please contact Barbara Fleisher 735-7410 or bjfleisch@aol.com.
Jennifer Marraccino, Church School Coordinator
WEEKLY UPDATE OF PARISH ACTIVITIES
If you would like to be added to the list for a weekly email update of parish events and activities, just email :twoodcock@gracechurchnyack.org
The Youth Commission assists the Rector and staff in planning, coordinating, and implementing all youth programs in the parish. Its purpose it to provide programs so that children and youth may come to know Christ within our supportive community of faith and may claim a personal role in our worship, spiritual life, witness, mutual service, and social outreach. The Church School and Youth Groups are designed to involve parents and other interested adults who give of their time, talent and knowledge to help our children grow socially, emotionally, and spiritually at Grace.
The Church School, which starts with pre-kindergarten and runs through 5th grade, offers a unique experiential approach to religious education and instruction. Classes meet immediately following the 9:30am family service, and focus on introducing children to our spiritual community through interactive programs of Bible stories and activities. Parents volunteer in a variety of ways, serving as teachers, assistants, and helpers for special events. There are also two Youth Groups, designed for older children, that are active and growing at Grace. The Junior Youth Group (6th—8th grade) meets on Sundays at the same time as Church School. The Senior Youth Group (9th—12th grade) meets one evening per week and also includes involvement in church activities. One of the goals of the program is to enable the youth of our community to create their own vision of what the Youth Group should be, how it should operate, make decisions, and achieve their goals. A multi-fold focus comprised of Theology and Spirituality, Service to the Church and Community, and Fellowship is realized through a series of modules facilitated by Youth Commission Members and parish volunteers. The Youth Groups plan many different community-building activities including outings, movies, ski and canoe/camping trips.
Youth Commission members are involved in the planning and implementation of a variety of events, including the Christmas Pageant, Shrove Tuesday Pancake Dinner, and Way of the Savior. There are many different ways to be involved. For more information on the Youth Commission or volunteering in the Church School, please contact Commission Chair Claudia Uccellini (358-4228) or Church School Coordinator Jennifer Marraccino (358-1297)