SPOTLIGHT ON: BUILDING BRIDGES

Gail Moede Rogall, Member of the Children’s RE Ministry Team

Building Bridges (BB) is the CRE class offered for 6th graders (11- and 12-year-olds) at FUS. Sixteen students and four volunteer teachers (two each week) make up this Sunday 9 am class. Students learn about religions from around the world including Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Christianity, Buddhism, Paganism, and UUism. It is a wonderful way for students to learn about the core beliefs of various faiths and some of their traditions, important texts, and symbols.

Religions are placed along a timeline and introduced chronologically, which helps give context of religious developments and evolution. Though the focus is not on religious history and more on nurturing positive outlooks toward other faiths and the people who follow them. Often a short video is shown at the beginning of each unit.

Reenie Euhardy, currently one of the four BB teachers, has been a volunteer teacher in CRE for many years. She says, “Teaching sixth graders is appealing to me and there are always new things I learn (or relearn!) about other religions. The children are old enough to participate in thoughtful discussions and have opinions; having students readily speaking up in class is a pleasure.”

In addition to Reenie, this year’s teaching team includes Jane Nelson Worel, Scott Harrington, and Mo Lancaster. Teachers help create an environment where respectful exploration and questioning (go UUs!) are encouraged, and where differences are encountered with open minds and hearts.

Goals of the Building Bridges curriculum are to:

• Increase knowledge of religions practiced around the world and in local communities

• Understand how religion addresses basic human needs

• Foster acceptance of the diverse forms that religious expression takes

• Build awareness of the diversity of followers within every faith; understand that to know someone’s religious identity is not the same as knowing what that person thinks, believe, or practices

• Support the faith development of participants

• Empower youth to better appreciate human diversity and connect with others and be able to respectfully discuss important matters with people with whom they disagree

• Nurture open-mindedness and critical inquiry

The class so far has visited Temple Beth El during their study of Judaism and the Deer Park Buddhist Center during their study of Buddhism. They will also visit the Madinah Islamic Center, the Shiva Vishnu Hindu Temple, Blackhawk Church, and Blessed Sacrament.

During my recent visit to the Building Bridges classroom, they were starting a new unit learning about Sikhism. When asked what they enjoy most about the class the students seem to agree that they enjoy the site visits. “I like learning about different religions. I didn’t even know Sikhism existed,” relayed one student. “Every religion is unique,” said another student.

“Each unit begins with a video, designed for middle school children, which introduces that faith,” Reenie explains. “Lesson plans engage the students with activities and discussions, often incorporating stories and quiz games to enhance learning.” (con’t on page 9)