MAGIC SCHOOL NEWS
Our kids are beginning to earn their badges for acts of courage, kindness, persistence and creativity. Each badge reflects 5 acts of a given virtue, some accumulated at church during our classes, and others from magic at home. If you notice a child wearing a stole that has an animal iron-on badge, ask him or her what it represents and how they earned it.

March brought laughter and fun at Magic School during our second round of our Magical Tournament held on March 5. Hula hoop cooperative relay races and a hunt for clues which helped children solve a mystery about dragons kept us quite busy. The Magic of Kindness class enjoyed learning about the magic of laughter — you can enjoy the sounds of their laughter on the podcast of our service on March 12. They also enjoyed free reign with bandaids as they practiced the kindness of taking care of others, practicing with dolls and teddy bears. Finally, they looked into a “crystal ball” and made predictions based on questions of cause and effect. Our kids in Year I of Magic School have been making peace wizard comic strips, with magical heroes who bring peace despite super villains’ attempts to create conflict. Kids in Year II of magic school discussed justice and injustice, using the Harry Potter stories to help illustrate unfairness and prejudice.

SNEAK PREVIEW: COMING SOON TO A MAGIC SCHOOL NEAR YOU

• Magic Show: in upcoming weeks, our grade-school students will learn magic tricks that they will perform at a fundraising magic show.
• Interdependent Webweavers: Kids in Years I and II of Magic School will be learning about bees and will have a chance to visit Amy Clouter’s bee hive. Stay tuned for information about the date and times of this field trip.
• The Magic of Kindness Class (Pre-School - Kindergarten) have started a session on the magic of kindness as it relates to problem solving and conflict resolution.
• Candidating Week: In the chance that April is the month in which our search committee presents a ministerial candidate to us, we are prepared downstairs to be highly flexible. Stay tuned for changes in our schedule at the end of the month.

THE FUTURE OF MAGIC
Don’t miss it! Deb Levering, the religious education consultant for the Clara Barton Unitarian Universalist District will be with us on April 2 from 12:00 - 4:00 in the afternoon. She will lead us in a workshop which will help us dream big for the future of our religious education program and make goals and plans to achieve our dreams. Pizza will be served and childcare is available. Please RSVP to Alice as soon as possible if you have not already done so.

ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE
Thanks to Alan for his work teaching the kids in our Year II class. Thanks to Jennifer and Amy for their work with the kids in Year I. A special thank you to Jane for sharing some of her nursing experience with our preschoolers. Thanks also to Ted, Leonor, Wendy, and Jen for their work with this class. Many thanks to everyone who helped with our magic tournament: Tricia, Jennifer, Tim & Lisa, and Joyce.

MAY IS MAGIC MONTH
During the Month of May I invite the adults and children of our congregation to work together to bring magic into our larger community. Practicing random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty, we will all earn magic gems to help fill our magic tube located in the sanctuary. Start thinking now of ways you might do magical acts of courage, creativity, kindness or persistence and make life a little bit sweeter for your neighbors, co-workers, friends, or even strangers.

HARRY POTTER TRIVIA QUIZ
Our kids in Year II of Magic School (Grades 5-9) have agreed to participate in a fundraising trivia contest in our effort to raise money for NEADS, Dogs for Disabled and Deaf Americans. $500 will win us the right to name one of their service dog puppies. ($1,000 would win us the right to name two!) We will be looking for folks to sponsor them by pledging an amount of money for every question they answer correctly. You should be forewarned: there will be 100 questions and these kids REALLY know their Harry Potter trivia!

Yours in Faith,
Alice Anacheka-Nasemann