Youth Curriculum, 5-25-25

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 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 explore the importance of using their voice to express truth, needs, and feelings in ways that support both personal growth and community change. Through storytelling, mindfulness, music, and movement, they learn that breaking silence can lead to trust, healing, and a more inclusive world.

May Monthly Theme: Empowering the Voice Within
Week 4 Value:  Overcoming Silence: Individual and Collective Liberation.
Affirmation: “I break the chains of silence with courage; my voice empowers myself and others to claim liberation.”

Spiritual Lesson:

This week in youth classes, we’re exploring what it means to break the silence for personal and collective liberation. Through play, story, and reflection, kids will learn how using their voice can build trust, spark change, and help create a more loving world.

Mindfulness: “Voice of Light”

Youth will begin with a grounding meditation, closing their eyes, placing their hands on their hearts, and visualizing their voice as a radiant light that helps themselves and others. With soft humming and breath, they will affirm: “My voice is a light. My voice matters.”

Active Listening: Book/Music/Video

• Book:  “Malala’s Magic Pencil” by Malala Yousafzai
• Music: You Say (Lauren Daigle) | One Voice Children’s Choir cover
• Book: “Say Something” by Peter H. Reynolds (younger class)
• Music: “Use Your Words” by Sara Lovell Garcia (younger class)

Creative Expression: Breaking the Silence Stones

Youth be invited to write a word or phrase representing something they’ve been afraid to say aloud—a feeling, truth, or need. The stones will be placed in a collective bowl, symbolizing the shared act of courage in breaking silence and claiming one’s truth. Youth take a random stone and write an empowering phrase on the other side. Everyone collects their stone.

Lessons in Action: Liberation Walk & Shout

Youth will participate in a dynamic “liberation walk,” where they move around the room or yard while holding cards with empowering phrases. At designated stops, they will shout their phrase (e.g., “I matter!” or “I will be heard!”), then continue walking. The activity ends with a powerful group call-and-response: “I speak for myself!” “I stand for others!”

Connecting: One Thing I Can Say This Week

Youth will close by naming one truth or feeling they want to speak this week, whether to a parent, teacher, or friend. Together, they will repeat the closing affirmation three times: “My voice is power. My voice brings healing and change.”