Showcasing our PNWD youth talent

Anyone who has attended a No-Talent Show at con would tell you that we PNWD youth are a talented bunch. But in case you've never been to con, or if you're just in the mood for an extra dose of UUth talent, you're in luck! Some wonderfully skilled con goers have offered to demonstrate their talents - many of which have never been seen at con - especially for your perusal. Nifty, huh?

Enjoy! :)

Song lyrics by Jalen B.

Art and more art by McKayla W.

Poetry by Bethany D.

Excerpt from a novel by Haleigh M.

Kelly P. playing piano

Art and a sonnet by Logan G.

Alex P. fencing

Levi L. and Sara H-L performing a song

Poetry by Salomé D.

Photography and more photography by Alex B.

Ian G. making brownies

Poetry by Quinn H.

Demystifying Goldmine Leadership Camp

by Anne-Marie Davidson


A thought occurred to me today:  At Spring Con, we had 30 congregations in attendance.  At Goldmine Leadership School, there are 24 participants (maximum).  By any math, there are congregations without representation.  Who, I wondered, doesn't send their youth to Goldmine? 

I looked it up: in the last 3 years, 16 congregations have sent youth to Goldmine.  Edmonds, University, Corvallis, and Eastshore sent multiple youth each of those years.  That leaves at least 14 congregations with youth groups who don't have anyone who has been to Goldmine. 

I have a vision:  in my vision, every congregation that comes to Con (or has a youth group) sends at least 1 youth to Goldmine every year.  (Happily, this would mean we'd need TWO Goldmine camps every summer.)  Why is it so important?  What's so magical about Goldmine?

Undoubtedly there are aspects of Goldmine you can get at other leadership camps: namely, the focus on leadership skills.  However, even here, I think Goldmine is unique in grounding them in Unitarian Universalist history and values.  I suspect the discussion we have on Power and Ethics is a bit different when placed in a UU context than it is in other communities. 

Goldmine also spends quite a bit of time allowing youth to explore what they believe.  Each day tackles a key question; each evening, we spend time in small groups discussing our beliefs. 

Perhaps most importantly, however, Goldmine creates a intentional community.  It is not a perfect community: conflict can and does happen.  Part of learning to live in community, however, is learning how to address issues in a healthy way where the community can continue to grow.  This work of community allows the students and staff to develop incredible bonds that last well past their week together. 

Putting it all together, students develop a sense of personal power.  They understand their ability to impact their community and create change.  They go home energized and ready to take on challenges. 

This is where it comes back to the congregations: when you have someone coming home from Goldmine leadership camp, be ready to dialogue with them about what ideas they have and how they might contribute to your congregation.  Sometimes it is with their youth group, but they may also have a vision toward congregational or district level work. 

My timing for raising this is poor, as the application deadline for Goldmine is just past.  However, I hope this will encourage you to identify your youth leaders and encourage them to go next year.  I'm serious about seeing someone from every congregation with a youth group at Goldmine.  I often hear from advisors and sponsors - "How do we make the circle bigger?  How do we include more youth in leadership roles?"  Goldmine leadership camp is a great answer.  It will benefit not only the youth who attend, but your youth group and your congregation both. 

And what about your young adults?  This year, Goldmine for YAs is starting up, called Goldsmith.  Interested?  Talk to Samaya Oakley, chalicinsamaya@gmail.com. 

Destination : Romania

After almost 3 years of half discussing, pseudo-planning, and almost having ideas, the Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation youth group is journeying to our partner church in Kissolymos, Romania. Despite the steep prices of the trip (over $2000 a person!) the youth (with the help of RE director Sara Lewis and advisors Erich Brown and Kate Harrington) have finally decided to take this incredible opportunity in early August 2011. To lessen the down payments on the trip, the Youth-Adult Committee and the group as a whole have brainstormed countless ideas to raise money for the group within and outside of the church. These ideas include Parents’ Night Out with daycare service provided by the youth, a Fun(d) Run organized by Erich Brown, soup sales during Coffee hour (and most recently a taco bar!), selling Standing On the Side of Love T-shirts, cupcake and flower sales for Mother’s day, and many others planned to fund this ten-day trip. Although I and a few others won’t get the chance to go, I greatly look forward to what my fellow youth will get to experience on this amazing trip to this historical church and village.

Even in this busy year of planning and fundraising, the youth group has carried on with even more than our usual load, having helped plan Fall Con 2010; taking a high school Our Whole Lives class; collecting donations for homeless youth; preparing for next year’s Articulating Your Faith course; planning an end-of-the-year sleepover, bridging ceremony for the seniors, and welcome party for next year’s Freshmen; and gaining FOUR new youth! It’s been the busiest year I’ve ever seen for the OUUC youth group, but definitely one of the best. I’m anxious to see what next year brings! Maybe that camping trip we’ve been talking about for at least 4 years!

by Ian Grendon (Olympia)

Alaskans are UU’s too, (We also come to CON, And we Dig it.)

Before one of our Alaskan youth came to GoldMine last summer, little was known about Unitarian Universalism in Alaska. When Chris Jenkins showed up at GoldMine last summer, there was shock among the crowd. “I didn’t even know UU’s were up in Alaska!” one GoldMiner piped in...Others asked the typical Alaskan questions--do we live in igloos (the answer is no), others asked about Sarah Palin...(not going there,) and yet still others were curious about how UUism worked up in Alaska.

U.U.ism, like everything else in Alaska is a little different. We’re kinda independent. We do things our own way without being told what to do. I’m here to talk about what UUism looks like in Alaska.

There are three distinct U.U. Churches in Alaska. One is Fairbanks, Alaska. One in Juneau, Alaska (Serena, one of our youth who went to SeptiCON lives there), and the “megachurch” is in Anchorage, Alaska where the majority of Alaskan CON-goers came from.

Our church in Anchorage is pretty much like every other church. We have a phenomenal DLRE, Rosene Beachy who works tirelessly to educate our young minds about Unitarian universalism. She’s the only reason Chris went to GoldMine in 2010, and we owe her more than she will ever know. We have the regular gambit of UU programs. We educate ourselves about our sexuality in OWL. We have the Coming of Age program where we learn about ourselves and question our principals, and we Bridge into our fellowship and the greater community as a whole every year. And this year, we are becoming part of the larger UU community in the Pacific Northwest District.

One Alaskan went to GoldMine last year, and six Alaskans went to IndividUUality (Fall CON) in 2010. Before that, Alaskan’s hadn’t been to a PNWD event in over 10 years.

Alaskans kind of did our own thing. We ran our programs and held youth group but didn’t really feel a part of the whole big picture of UUism throughout the world. Now, we do. It took a lot of work to get us here, but we finally feel a connection to the greater UU community.

When six Alaskans went down to Fall Con in 2010, we came back energized, and fired up to get our entire youth group down to CON (there's 28 of us). When we got back and told our youth group about it, there was excitement about CON, but a little skepticism that we could get all of us to CON--it was a lot of money in plane tickets at over $400 a piece.

Then, Kendra, one of three youth group leaders told us about Krispie Kreme donut sales as a fundraiser. (We don’t have a Krispy Kreme in AK). Months later we flew in 1,000 dozen Krispie Kreme donuts to Anchorage and sold them to neighbors, and strangers at Fred Meyer, and any other place we could think. (Again, being Alaska, people will drive from nearly anywhere to get Krispy Kremes).

The fundraiser was a fantastic success. We sold all of about 90 dozen donuts and we raised over $4,500, and got Sixteen Alaskans came to SeptiCON with the help of companion fares, and a bus driver named Digger, this year.

And you know what? We had a great time, and can’t wait to come back!

Everyone had a fantastic time at CON. We loved the fact that there is a greater community in the world spreading love and the seven principals among youth. We love the fact that you can come to a community and feel welcomed no matter what you look like, or how you act.

It’s true. Alaska is far away from the rest of the District. But, Alaska has come a lot closer to the district. All it took was a single voice of action and leadership...All it took was for one person to say “I want to be a part of the larger fellowship. I want to be involved with the UU church in the lower-48. I want to take a leadership role in the church.” And that’s exactly what we did. We love this community a lot. We love our district and the youth that are a part of it. Alaska is back on the map, and we look forward to being a bigger part of the Pacific North West District for years to come.

Anchorage YRUU Youth Group