Update 6/5/19: MORE VOLUNTEERS ARE STILL NEEDED WITH THE TEEN AND CHILDREN’S PROGRAMS, as soon as possible: A fantastic way for adults to experience Annual Session and have your registration fees waived as well. Learn more below in the original invitation:
——-
Dear PYM Friends:
Can you think of a Friend who’d be a good fit to volunteer with children or teens at Annual Session? Please send this message to them!
One fantastic way for adults to experience PYM Annual Session is alongside younger Friends, either as a “Friendly Responsible Adult Presence (FRAP)” for Junior Yearly Meeting (teens) or as a Children’s Program “Teacher.” Come join us Friday, July 12 through Wednesday, July 17, 2019 near Petaluma, California, USA!
Application form and information about volunteering as a FRAP or Children’s Program Teacher are online for download. Deadline May 22nd or until filled.
Application & Information Packet for Youth Workers 2019 (Word Doc)
Besides getting the cost of registration waived, adults who spend the week in the children’s and teens’ programs regularly come out oozing joy and excitement about these lively core communities within PYM. Youth and adult Friends build relationships that strengthen and enliven our diverse, multi-generational Religious Society of Friends today and into the future. Read more about being a PYM Youth Worker or Adult Ally to Youth.
Did you know: Children and teens may come to Annual Session without their parent/guardian by having an adult sponsor designated on the Consent Form for the event?! Please encourage the young people in your Meeting or Worship Group to attend, and help them find a sponsor if their parent/guardian can’t come (sponsors must be trustworthy individuals age 18+ and willing and able to take on responsibility in case of medical, behavioral, or any other need as a proxy for the parent/guardian). For youth who have few or no Quaker peers at their local meeting or at school, participating in regional gatherings is often a highlight of their year and the basis for a lasting connection to Friends’ community.
Reminder: any requests for exceptions to the age-based placement guidelines for the programs must be made to the program’s clerk at least 6 weeks before the event. Standard placements are as follows:
- 0-12 years: Children’s Program
- 13-year olds may choose between Children’s Program and JYM
- 14-17: JYM
- 18-19 year olds who are in high school or recently exited high school may choose JYM
- Any minor not enrolled in JYM or Children’s Program must be under the supervision of their parent/guardian/sponsor at all times
REGISTRATION AND GENERAL INFO ABOUT ANNUAL SESSION:
Financial assistance is available — apply early.
The theme this year is “Dwelling in Truth and Trusting Divine Spirit” as described in the Clerk’s Call to Annual Session 2019.
Youth will engage with this theme through games, singing, movement, workshops, interest groups, worship, worship sharing, service, play, and rest.
Questions about the teen or children’s programs or the volunteer application process? Wondering in which program a young Friend would best fit? See more info on the JYM and CP pages or contact their Clerk(s):
Children’s Program:
Clerk: TBD
Coordinator: Nate Secrest (Redwood Forest) <secrestnm@guilford.edu>
www.pacificyearlymeeting.org/youth/children/
Teens (Junior Yearly Meeting, aka JYM):
Adult Co-Clerks of JYM:
Muriel Strand (Sacramento) <ecoengr@comcast.net>
Sarah Armstrong Jones (Big Island) <sajonest42ne1@yahoo.com>
www.pacificyearlymeeting.org/youth/jym/
And Young Adult Friends (ages 18-35+) also have a web page and group activities at Annual Session:
www.pacificyearlymeeting.org/young-adult-friends/
Sent on behalf of JYM and Children’s Program …. in your service,
Alyssa Nelson, PYM Youth Programs Coordinator