BEACON (Updated 2009-03-29)
Many of the teens went to the all age CON in Miami last month and had a great time! They have been working hard to plan the Social Action CON this month, Chick-CON of the Sea, when they will concentrate their efforts on cleaning up a beach. About 7 teens and several adults went to the District Assembly in Sarasota, where they camped out on the grounds in a huge teepee. Kayli Carter presented an awesome and well attended workshop: “Guiding Florida Toward the Future of Youth Ministry—BEACON Youth.” Rachel Christensen followed up with a group discussion later in the afternoon, “The Next Steps in Youth Ministries.” The District Board had decided that they need to have youth representation and have asked BEACON to help them select two youth to attend their meetings and have a voice in the near future, while they are in process of changing their Bylaws to allow for a youth position, which should be in place for a vote next year. This was largely due to the presentation made by Kayli and her father Cleve at the last District Board meeting, when they were examining how the District is responding to the UUA call to be supportive of our youth and in what ways they could be effective. We are sure proud of all of you!
News: Updated 2009-01
The youth group hosted a “for contribution” dinner prior to the wonderful David McElroy show, “A Christmas Carol,” and will continue to take donations toward the Knoxville Fund for the UU churches affected by the shootings last year. They enjoyed their annual lock-in, holiday party after all their hard work!
There will be a Trans-In CON this month, for those who are new to CONS, hosted by Sarasota. The group is growing, involved and thankful for your support and interest.
News: Updated 2008-11-05
On the Change from Beacon to Beacon
As announced over a year ago regarding changing the name from Beacon to something new, at the Leadership conference “CONtrol Freaks,” the name was changed to Beacon.
There was an excellent brainstorming session at the conference, where the youth were asked to yell out any and all words that they associate with Beacon. These words ranged from silly to serious, and by the end of it there were over 300 words on the board.
After the brainstorming session, a small group of youth organized the words, and pared them down to less than 50. They wrote these words on big pads of paper, and hung them up so people could vote on the most important ones.
After the voting was done, Graham Christensen (Youth Co-Chair), Cleveland Williams (Adult Co-Chair) and advisor Chris Bonner took the highest-voted words, and organized them into three separate groups: Energy, Growth, and Goals.
On Sunday morning during Closing Circle, the youth voted on the name. There were several people that didn't like the name Beacon and wanted to stick with Beacon. This is understandable, due to the immense amount of time and emotion built into what was Beacon, and changing can be very difficult. We're confident that this is the right thing to do, and hope that it is understood that the time and emotion was into the organization, not the name. There is no name that suits everything that the group is – we found that out when we brainstormed.
Back from The Mountain….22 of the Beacon (formerly known as Beacon) group traveled to The Mountain Retreat and Conference Center in Highlands, NC October 24 - 26. We had 17 youth and 5 advisers traveling in two vans. A long day of travel on Friday led on to the workshops of group leadership, community building, and exhausting hiking, at least for the older advisors! Cold weather, beautiful changing leaves, cold cabins, great food and wonderful time spent with the two staff assigned to us had us all smiling all the time. Sunday's end to the adventure brought mixed emotions as we packed up to leave and look ahead to the 10 hour trip before us. Look in the youth room over the next few weeks as pictures and other memorabilia will be sure to find their way to the bulletin boards and walls. eric
News: Updated 2008-09-27
Five adults & one youth rode together to an adviser training in Gainesville, where we met with others (about 30, total) who were looking to become trained to be strong adult advisors for congregational youth groups. We participated in the training and offered information about Beacon activity in the state. We invited them to consider Beacon as a way to have their youth groups be active with other youth in the district, and as a healthy component to their local youth group, in whatever form they offer. We made great connections with people from five other churches, people who sound like they are interested in getting involved in Beacon. It was terrific!
UUUS hosted a TransIn CON last month and will be hosting a leadership training CON from Oct. 10-12 here at UUUS. They leave for their retreat weekend at The Mountain on Friday, October 24th...thanks for all your support!
News: Updated 2008-07-03
Summer brings a slower schedule for our teens...they still enjoy their Sunday evening meetings and usually plan several outings and lock-ins, but there are no CONS during the summer months. They celebrated Josh “Animal” Reid’s high school graduation and were proud of Miranda Harmon’s two week trip to Japan...she just returned and must have many terrific stories! We are sending 2 teen representatives to GA for the first time...Abi Kirby and Kayli Carter will be attending with the UUUS contingent to Ft. Lauderdale. The group is looking ahead to their planned trip to The Mountain in the Fall and will be washing cars and baking goodies to help “grow” their fund. Their goal is to enable every teen or advisor who is interested in going to be able to do so. They appreciate the great generosity and support of the congregation, just as we appreciate and celebrate our wonderful Beacon! Enjoy the summer!
Job Assistance needed by one of our Beacon youth, John Sinclair: seeking PT/FT job. Graduated Winter Park High School 2007. Currently attending Valencia Community College, music major. Perhaps clerical, food service, hospitality, driver, etc.? Contact John with any ideas or leads at: sincj07 @ gmail.com
News: Updated 2008-01-01
our Beacon group has been busy! They manned (and womaned) several tables during the Recycle Day, earning some money toward their Mountain trip. They hosted a fabulous lasagna dinner that was held prior to David McElroy’s wonderful presentation of A Christmas Carol, (kudos to the Christensen’s for a delicious feast!) to add money to the Mountain fund. They handled the advertisement and set up for the show, ushered and cleaned up! They enjoyed their annual Solmaskahzaa party and have been planning for their upcoming CON, to be held here at UUUS on January 18-20. They will be returning to The Mountain for a weekend retreat, leaving January 25th and returning on the 27th. They plan to host a car wash during services prior to that date, as a final money making venture. The monies they have earned are being used as group funds to ensure that all who are interested in going to The Mountain will be able to go. If you’d like to donate anything further to this wonderful trip, contact any youth advisor! Thanks for your continued and loving support of our youth group!
News: Updated 2007-10-29
Our youth hosted a mini-CON in October and will be enjoying a CON in Ft. Lauderdale November 9-11th. They have taken on the responsibility for promoting the holiday show on December 15th (the one man Christmas Carol by David McElroy) and are discussing having a dinner prior to the show as a fund raiser. They are also discussing offering child care for one shopping day over the Thanksgiving holiday, a Drop and Shop event. Watch for further announcements. The Beacon group hosts an all ages CON in January, then plans to go to The Mountain, to recuperate! The support of the congregation is appreciated!
News: Updated 2007-10-06
he Youth Group hosted a successful Social Action CON last month, with an outstanding
turnout! Thanks for all the hard work. There was also a Trans-In CON the following week. The group is
looking forward to working on the firepit project and there will be an all age CON in Sarasota the weekend
of October 12-14, 2007. Kudos to our own Daniel Burns and the Trinity Prep drama group for a fabulous
job with La Cage Aux Folles...hope many of you got to see it!News: Updated 2007-04-12
Beacon News….our Beacon group hosted a Social Action CON March 16-18, "CON to the Dogs." It was well attended by members of a number of youth groups around the state. They worked on Saturday at a local dog rescue facility, washing, walking, socializing the dogs waiting for placement in new, permanent homes. Everyone had a great time!
Many members of the Beacon group are participating in the Relay for Life, a walk for the cure for cancer, for the second year. They have been holding various fund raisers and appreciate all of the help and support shown by the congregation. The walk is at Timber Creek High School, on April 27/28 and their goal is to raise $1000. Kayli Carter is the team captain and will be happy to give you more information. Watch for more fund raisers and be generous.
News: Updated 2007-01-29
Our Beacon group had a great time at the MexiCON in Gainesville in mid-January and is getting ready to embark on their trip to The Mountain, a UU Retreat in North Carolina, leaving on Friday, January 26th and returning Sunday, January 28th. This is a special event and we will share their adventure with you in the next Connection. The whole Beacon group want to thank all those who have so generously supported their efforts to raise funds for this trip, whether you had your car washed, brought a child to be cared for, or bought yummy baked goods! Without the love and financial support of our wonderful congregation, the group would have been unable to make this trip! Your contributions allowed the group to cover the many expenses involved, including renting a van, gas and trip expenses, and providing scholarships so that all who wished to go would be able to go. A heartfelt thanks to everyone!
Beacon GROUP PLANS TRIP TO THE MOUNTAIN….
ABOUT THE MOUNTAIN. . . The Vision: to be a relevant institution for generations to come, actively working with others to create communities committed to peace, justice, civility and compassionate behavior. The Mountain is a unique center located in the breathtaking beauty of the Appalachians, in the southernmost section of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in Highlands, North Carolina. With spectacular views, ancient white oak forests, and simple, modern housing and meeting facilities, challenge course, walking trails galore, and a first-rate labyrinth, The Mountain is a perfect site for personal and group retreats, conferences, meetings, leadership trainings and community building events. Open year-round, The Mountain offers unique programs and camps for youth, seniors and every age in between. From spiritual renewal to intensive learning, to fun and adventure, The Mountain has it all! For more information on The Mountain, see: http://www.mountaincenters.org
The youth group is going to The Mountain the weekend of 1/26-1/28/2007. We'll be departing from UUUS at 7:00 AM Friday morning, returning Sunday evening. We'll be doing a Leadership Training course while we're there. We'll tie that into a social action project in the community in the coming year. The cost is $100 per youth at The Mountain, plus travel costs. We are accepting donations.Many members of Beacon held a "drop and shop" event to raise funds for this trip. If you would like to make a contribution toward the expenses, talk with any youth advisor (Eric and Rachel Christensen, Bruce Schwartz, Cleve Williams and Kim Carter-Williams and Julie Emmer) or a youth! This is a special experience and a wonderful opportunity to visit one of our UU treasures. There are many UU camps and retreats around the country...you can see a listing of them through the main www.uua.org website.
