Meeting for Worship Partners

The first graders recently met their fourth grade meeting partners with great anticipation!  The students gathered together in a large circle and one at a time they introduced themselves by sharing something that they thought was important about themselves.  After their introduction, they chose a block and added it to a structure being created in the center of the circle.  When someone added a block in a unique way it was met with gasps and giggles of joy as they were not expecting it.  

Once the amazing ‘community building' was complete, the students paired up and spent time getting better acquainted through books, block building, drawing and exploring the classroom. 

On the first Wednesday of the month, we gather in our classrooms instead of walking to the Meeting House.  The students gathered together this month in silence for a short Meeting and then spent time deliberately engaged creating unique and colorful leaf rubbings.  It was inspiring to see them so focused as they discovered the beauty that they could create with fall’s natural wonders.

The meeting partner experience is meant to help students learn from one another in their shared experience of Meeting for Worship. They learn from one another about stillness and shared listening and speaking.  The partnership is further developed and deepened as the Quaker theme is explored throughout the year through joint activities and service projects.  This year’s theme, Collective Purpose, will be a rich topic for our first and fourth graders to engage with together.