Welcome to Annapolis Friends Meeting
Young Friends Program

Our search reveals the inner light in every child.
For me that means revealing the wondering in each child
in its different forms; the marveling, the searching to understand, and the seeking of one's path.
-- Harriett Heath

Annapolis Friends Meeting (AFM)

The Annapolis Friends Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends welcomes Young Friends of all ages as an important part of our spiritual community. The Religious Society of Friends holds as the basis of its faith the belief that God endows each human being with a measure of the Divine Spirit. All have the capacity to discern spiritual truth and to hold direct community with God. In group worship, personal vision is made clearer by the inspiration and shared experience of those present.

Nursery Care

Annapolis Friends Meeting recognizes our youngest friends as a blessing to our community. Parents are welcome to bring their youngest with them into meeting for worship, being mindful that we practice silent worship. We also offer nursery care, recognizing that parents may need a time of silent worship when they can focus on the silence, knowing that their children are in a safe place. To that end, nursery care is available during meeting for worship (11 am Ð12 pm) throughout the year. It is provided by members of the Annapolis Friends community, including older Young Friends (13 and older), parents, and other adult Friends who enjoy spending time with our youngest. If you are able to add to the pool of caregivers who provide care once a month or every other month, your participation is welcomed and encouraged, but it is not required. Each of us has different needs and different gifts we can offer to the community at different times in our lives.

Our nursery care program offers children time to play. If the weather is fine the group may choose to spend time in our Family Play Area. In the nursery itself children may play with toys, listen to story books, draw, and enjoy a snack. We do not offer formal religious education for this age group, but as Friends we let our lives speak by the choices we make, including the choice to be present and provide care.

The nursery is located on the left at the end of the hallway, with relevant caregiver schedules and responsibilities posted on the bulletin board across the hall. Please contact Sylvia Oliva, the nursery coordinator, for more information (410-224-6708).

First Day School Vision

First Day School grows out of Meeting for Worship in providing more formal guidance for our younger friends. Friends feel that specific instruction in religious topics is vital in the preparation of the human spirit for a whole life. Our goals in First Day School are:

• To provide religious education in:
  • Quaker history and testimonies
  • The Old and New Testaments
  • Familiarity with other major religions, developing our awareness that, worldwide, we are all children of the Divine.
• To lovingly promote Young Friends' spiritual growth, strengthening their awareness of the presence of God and encouraging them to find and follow the Light within and find the Light in others.
• To give Young Friends experience in Quaker practices and to foster fellowship among the Young Friends themselves and with adult members and attenders of Meeting.

The First Day School Experience

First Day School starts at 11am with Meeting for Worship. Young Friends are encouraged to join their families in Meeting for the first fifteen minutes of worship. After about fifteen minutes, one of the First Day School teachers rises and leads the Young Friends to the classrooms. Young Friends rejoin their families at the close of Meeting, when all join hands in a circle and introduce themselves prior to weekly announcements.

We offer First Day School classes for all school age Young Friends. The curriculum for school age Young Friends includes a foundation of Quaker history and practices, Bible studies, an introduction to other faiths, and additional topics as we are led to explore.

Please contact Elise Albert (410-553-6021) for more information regarding the combined middle and high school class, or Sarah Blaser (410-867-6904) for information regarding the elementary class.

Kyle

Young Friends

The term Young Friends refers to the children of Annapolis Friends Meeting. Young Friends have their own clerks and participate in their own Young Friends Meetings for Business, where they plan social and service activities, and address issues of importance to Young Friends.

Past activities planned by Young Friends include service activities such as the making of origami cranes to send to the Peace Park in Hiroshima, the organization of contributions of holiday food and presents for local families in need, and the annual decoration of holiday cookies and caroling at a local rehabilitation center.

Social activities have included intergenerational activities such as the annual meetingwide fall camping trip at Catoctin Quaker Camp, and the annual Christmas program, which has ranged from the production of seasonal plays, to musical programs for voice and instrument, to last year's peace program where Young Friends handed out paper peace doves for Friends to post in public places. Additional social activities have included an annual Halloween party, bowling, sleepovers, and talent shows.

Friendly Adult Presences (FAPs) act as facilitators for Young Friends. Young Friends clerks and FAPs also work in partnership with the Children's Religious Education Committee (CREC) to optimize communication and provide a cohesive program of religious, social, and service activities. For more information on Young Friends, please contact the current clerks or the FAPs, Wes Jordan (410-721-1839).

Young Friends Facilities

First Day School Library

We have a great Young Friends's library, located in the large classroom at the end of the hall, where Young Friends or their parents can check out books on a wide variety of topics, including Quakerism, other religions, diversity, families, and nature. If you have questions, or would like to recommend a book for purchase by the library, please contact the first day school librarian, Cairn Krafft (410 257 2379 or cairnkrafft@comcast.net).

Family Play Area and Meadow

Our Family Play Area provides a lovely setting for use during First Day School, nursery care, and other times. It includes a climbing structure, sandbox, bench and picnic table in a shaded area near the meetinghouse. The meadow adjacent to the Family Play Area is available for soccer, tag, and other games. When the weather is fine the play area is often used for first day school classes, or nursery care during first day school or Children's Religious Education Meetings. Recognizing that there are hazards inherent to an outdoor play area in a wooded setting, we request that its use be limited to times when an adult (or Young Friend at least 15 years in age) can play a supervisory role.

Community Service Opportunities

Service projects form a strong component of our program for Young Friends, with opportunities for Young Friends to plan and participate in projects designed to strengthen our neighbors both near and far.

For a number of years we have partnered with an elementary class at an inner-city school in Philadelphia, providing the school supplies, and hats, scarves, and mittens or gloves that we take for granted, but these families can't afford. Our Young Friends also exchange letters and drawings with the Philadelphia students, and last year we were able to make the trip to Philadelphia to meet our friends, share a potluck feast and get to know each other better.

This project has brought us closer as a meeting community, as we work together to address the needs of our friends in Philadelphia. It has offered our young friends in Philadelphia the message that there are those outside of their family and local community who care about them. And it has enriched the lives of our Young Friends by showing them it is possible for us to take actions to make a difference in the world.

Additional service projects have included participation in the CROP walk for hunger, the UNICEF Halloween drive, a local program providing families with holiday food and presents, and decorating cookies and caroling for patients at a local rehabilitation facility. The spirit leads. Way opens.

Baltimore Yearly Meeting is the larger Quaker organizational and regional body to which Annapolis Friends Meeting (a monthly meeting) belongs. BYM offers a wonderful summer camp program for children ages 9 and up (www.bym-rsf.org), where campers can enjoy outdoor and arts activities in a fun, caring, and uniquely Quaker environment. Financial aid is available through the meeting to help make summer camp possible for all of our Young Friends.

BYM also offers weekend conferences for those in high school (Young Friends) or middle school (Junior Young Friends). Annapolis Friends Meeting supports the participation of our Young Friends in these programs, helping to arrange carpooling, and paying registration fees through the Young Friends Opportunity Fund (for more information about this fund, which is available for other spiritually-enriching programs as well, talk to Elise Albert, clerk of the Youth Programs Subcommittee, at 410-553-6021). Young Friends and Junior Young Friends conferences are listed in the calendar section of the BYM website (www.bym-rsf.org).

Youth Safety at Annapolis Friends Meeting

Annapolis Friends Meeting has a concern for the safety of its youth. AFM has developed a Youth Safety Policy, which is posted on the bulletin board outside of the large classroom, and is available for all parents and guardians. This policy explains the supervision standards which include two teachers or caregivers per classroom for nursery and elementary age, and the other general safety precautions.

If you have questions about youth safety at Annapolis Friends Meeting, please contact either of the Co-Clerks of the Children's Religious Education Committee, or the Pastoral Care Committee (Kathy Saunders or Margaret Candler).

Children's Religious Education Committee (CREC)

The Children's Religious Education Committee (CREC) is comprised of meeting parents and other members and attenders interested in our children's religious education. There are many ways in which members may choose to contribute to the work of the committee, including attending committee meetings once a month, teaching a class, providing a second adult presence for a

class (part of our Youth Safety Policy), or participating in service projects or social activities such as the annual AFM fall camping weekend hosted by CREC. Want to find out more? Talk to Mardy Burgess or Carolyn Rogers, the Co-Clerks of the Children's Religious Education Committee, or any of the children and parents you encounter. We will all be happy to answer your questions and welcome you to the community.

Jessa

Contact Information: