Children and Youth
Sunday School
Infants - 2s
Our youngest children experience and learn of God’s love through age-appropriate play, music and stories. Sydney Bass, our regular nursery child care provider, and other volunteers provide care. The class meets in the Infant/Toddler room on the first floor of the education building.
PreK/Kindergarten (Ages 3-6) (and the age change is deliberate since we have had some kindergarteners who were 6)
Sara Anne Berger, Josh Andrzejewski and Cheri Nutty leader our preschool class. This class meets in the first room off the breezeway on the first floor of the education building. The class uses the Wee Believe curriculum, written by the Presbyterian Church (USA), which is designed to nurture the development of faith through age-appropriate Bible stories.
Grades 1-5
Our elementary class, led during the fall by Melinda Mottley and Sophia Chou, uses the We Believe curriculum developed by the Presbyterian Church (USA) to engage students in interacting with Bible stories in a variety of ways. Parents will have the opportunity to access web-based materials to connect what the children do in church school with home life.
January Term
The preschool and elementary classes will combine from Jan. 10 - 31, 2010 for a mission studies focus that will help them learn about the ways our Presbyterian church is working in other countries. They will experience life in four countries where we have mission personnel through Bible stories, games, cooking and visits from some of our international students.
Youth
This fall the Youth will be studying Fundamentals of the Christian Faith. Noell Rathbun will be leading the classWorship Hour Care
Children are always welcome to worship with us. Should you desire child care, it is available for infants and toddlers in the Nursery and for ages 3-5 in the Pre-school room. Both are located on the ground floor of the Education wing. Pagers will be given to parents.
Elementary school-age children are invited to sit at the tables in the children’s worship space on the right hand side of the sanctuary during the sermon or any other part of the service. Parents may sit in the pews nearby to supervise and engage their children in worship. Of course, children are also welcome to sit with their family in the pews – wherever they are comfortable in the sanctuary!
Children at GPPC
Youth at GPPC
What motivates you to accept a recurring responsibility at GPPC? Over the years the reasons have been varied for me. Sometimes I accept responsibility because I love the activity or I love the people involved, sometimes I feel a sense of call, sometimes I think I SHOULD take on a task, sometimes I think no one else will do the job if I don’t. The latter was the case when I heard myself suggest to a friend that she and I take responsibility for weekly teaching of the Sunday School class for elementary grades this year. It’s a great job and no one else can have it until next year! We have invested far more time outside of class planning and preparing materials than we spend in class each week. We have considered the diverse learning styles of the class and have managed to surprise ourselves at how engaged each child has been Sunday to Sunday. We’ve been enriched as teachers by sharing responsibilities with Josh, our intern, and with Union-PSCE students who want to “practice” with our very interesting students. I am grateful that I took a risk; I have been surprised by the bountiful harvest of enthusiasm and participation. - Eleanor W.