Youth Curriculum, 5-18-25

Announcements: 

We’re excited to share that three teens from CSL Olympia are attending their first Teen Camp—the most we’ve ever had representing our community! To help with camp and travel expenses, please visit our website’s donations page and select “Give to Youth & Family” from the pull-down menu. Thank you for supporting this life-changing experience and making a difference to the future of CSL and the world.

Would you like to contribute your time, talents, or resources to help co-create and support the new CSL garden being started by our youth? Reach out to our Youth Director Adrienne Cherry and let her know how you’d like to be part of this growing vision!

Curriculum Overview:

Youth are invited to explore peacebuilding from the inside out through empathy, active listening, and self-awareness. Through storytelling, movement, and mindful reflection, they’ll practice peaceful conflict transformation as a path to greater connection and understanding.

May Monthly Theme: Empowering the Voice Within
Week 3 Value:  Negotiating Peace: Conflict Reconciliation and Transformation.
Affirmation: “With empathy and open communication, I heal through conflict and move toward lasting peace.”

Spiritual Lesson:

This week’s lesson helps children explore what it means to make peace, not just keep quiet or avoid problems, but truly listen, speak honestly, and take responsibility for their role in conflict. Through story, music, meditation, reflection, and play, children begin to understand how inner peace creates outer harmony and how their choices can help transform conflict into connection.

Mindfulness: “The Listening Tree”

Youth journey outside to ‘the five sisters’ (a group of trees where we meditate) and imagine themselves as strong trees with deep roots. With each breath, they practice “listening like a tree”—patient, quiet, and still—grounding them in peace even when tension surrounds them.

Active Listening: Book/Music/Video

• Book:  “Each Kindness” by Jacqueline Woodson
• Music: “Peace Begins with Me” by Kira Willey
• Book: “Listening with My Heart” by Gabi Garcia (younger class)
• Music: “Use Your Words” by Sara Lovell Garcia (younger class)

Creative Expression: “Boundary Mapping”

Youth draw a compass and label the four directions: Listen, Speak Honestly, Be Kind, and Take Space. Then they reflect on a recent disagreement and use the compass to imagine what peaceful actions could help resolve it.

Lessons in Action: “Peace Partner Charades”

In pairs, kids act out different peaceful scenarios (like apologizing, deep breathing, and compromising) while the class guesses the action. The twist: they must complete each charade using only gestures and teamwork.

Connecting: Ripple of Kindness Activity

Students will reflect on their ability to impact others through simple acts of kindness by writing specific kind actions they can take on paper “ripples.” As each ripple is added to a central “pond” display, the group visually creates a ripple effect representing how small actions can lead to big changes.