Beyond Sunday morning and evening religious education classes, high school youth can participate in other group activities on evenings and weekends throughout the year, such as:

• Social events
• Overnights
• Camping trips
• Service projects
• Youth retreats
• Local, district, or national UU youth conferences and events

Social and Political Activism Group – “SPAG”

Sunday, 12:30-1:30PM
This UUC forum allows politically minded youth to network with other passionate youth and take action to improve the world around them. “SPAG” is the backbone of social justice projects for the youth group. All 9th- through 12th-graders are welcome.

SPAG recently hosted area UU youth at University Unitarian Church for a weekend retreat. The event was an “Art-Attack” on the neighborhood, and they wrapped trees with knit graffiti, adorned trees with CDs, and performed other random acts of beauty.

Summer Opportunities

Every summer brings chances for fun and growth, including:

• Youth backpacking trip
• Goldmine Unitarian Universalist Youth Leadership School
• Weeklong service work camps, sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
• Youth Abroad Program, every other summer

Youth Abroad Program

This international adventure for youth gives witness to the 6th Unitarian Universalist principle of working toward a world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all. The experience nurtures an understanding of diverse communities and social activism. Our hope is that it will transform both the youth who participate and those whose lives they touch.

The program is grounded in the premise that young people who have significant international and human rights experiences during their formative years are far more likely to have an increased awareness of and commitment to issues of social justice, and to be sensitive to other cultures. The five objectives of the program are to:

• Provide opportunities for youth to learn about and experience life in another culture and country
• Offer a chance for participants to meet and hear stories of people who have experienced genocide and human rights violations
• Introduce these young people to groups that are dealing with issues of interest to youth, including human rights, sweatshop labor, natural resource management, and ecology
• Develop youth leadership within UU churches, so that youth see themselves as global citizens, responsible for pursuing social justice and honoring the interdependent web of all existence
• Give the youth a chance to tour the host country and visit its places of historic and cultural importance

As part of this initiative, UUC organized the first delegation to visit Guatemala during the summer of 2001. Four delegations of high school students have now visited our sister community of La Quetzal in Guatemala, to engage in this cultural exchange - the last one in summer of 2007. Upon their return, they bring stories about their experiences to share with the congregation.

For more information about any of these or other youth activities, contact either of our youth program coordinators, Amanda Ayling or LeAnne Laux-Bachand.