Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church

CEDAR LANE UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH

JUNIOR HIGH YOUTH GROUP

July 2008

To Junior High Students and their Parents:

It is time for 7^th and 8^th grade students to join Cedar Lane�s Junior High Youth Group and continue the fun and reward of being a Cedar Lane student. To help you get started, attached is the Group�s Schedule for this fall. The Group�s goal is to create activities that keep our junior high youth interested in Cedar Lane and have lots of fun in the process. And with a lot of help from many, many kids and parents, we usually succeed.

Activities: This past year, here are some of the things we did:

Rafted the Shenandoah River near Front Royal, VA
Enjoyed a weekend retreat at Camp Tockwogh on Maryland�s Eastern Shore�performed high ropes course, did wall climbing, rode motor boats in the Bay
Hiked the Billy Goat Trail along the Potomac River in Maryland
Skied at Wisp Ski Resort in Western Maryland for a weekend�62 students and chaperones participated
Spent a weekend in New York City seeing the sights and enjoying the city life
Went caving in West Virginia for a three-day weekend�explored four caves
Hiked Old Rag Mountain in Virginia�an extremely challenging experience
Slept-over With the Sharks at the Baltimore Aquarium
Ate pizza and watched movies at the Chalice House at Cedar Lane

Student Responses: For a lot of our students, these are very new and demanding experiences. One of the students, who did the rafting, caving, skiing, and hiking trips, had this to say:

�I never would have guessed that in one year, I have exceeded my physical abilities, faced my fears, and made friends with people I would have never suspected in my life.�

Another student was thrilled by the caving trip: �Caving was the scariest, most terrifying thing in my life. I enjoyed every second of it.�

Manna Food Packing: In addition to all of this fun, the Junior High Youth Group has a serious, social service project�packing food boxes at Manna Food in Rockville. This has been a JHYG responsibility for fifteen years and the students have met their obligation with the joy of doing an exceptionally good deed for needy families in Montgomery County. This work qualifies for service hours in the county schools.

Religious Education Classes: The Junior High Youth Group is in addition to the Religious Education classes taught each Sunday for 7^th and 8^th graders. While the Youth Group is purely voluntary, as you can see, we try to organize enough fun and challenging events that students will want to attend without being pushed.

Objectives: The objectives of the Junior High Youth Group are simple. Activities are intended to allow Junior High kids to get to know each other, advance their socializing skills, learn ethical lessons of sharing and caring for each other, perform public service for our community and church, and have fun in doing all this.

Schedule of Events: Look for the Junior High Youth Group�s schedule that accompanies this letter, mark the dates on the family calendar, and come to as many events as possible. Before each event, an announcement will be mailed to the student with information about the activity. If you have any questions, please call us at the numbers below, or contact Susan Archer or Glenis Bellais at the Church (301-493-8300).

Junior High Youth Group Coordinators:
John Daniel (301-946-5509)
Kimberly Clarkson (301-587-3051)

Fall 2008 Schedule Winter Spring 2009 Schedule

Caving Flyer

Caving Permission Form

Caving Contract