Each week I will publish this newsletter to keep you informed about our middle and high school youth groups.

I will share announcements, recaps, what's coming up, and any other information including reminders & upcoming events. Please let me know if you have any additions, ideas, or suggestions.

I truly value your input and dedication to the Faith Formation of our youth! -Beth

This year we will be using Symbolon For Teens via Formed.

By clicking the link below you can view the series along with the leader guide, participant, and parent sheets. We will complete one session every two weeks rather than weekly, so that we can incorporate other activities that compliment the segments.

1) Go to formed.org/signup

2) Enter our Zip Code, 99705

3) Enter your Name and Email Address

4) Check the email account entered and follow link.

We began our first session of Symbolon, The Journey of Faith.

Youth shared their longest journeys and learned about the disciples who did not recognize Jesus until "...he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him..." Luke 24:30-31.

We discussed how receiving the Sacraments helps us to 'see' Jesus in our lives.

We were reminded of the Holy Trinity and that as the Catechism says, "God is one but not solitary."

We will learn more about the Holy Trinity and that God is a God of love.

We will get creative with an activity and (if there's time) a new game!

Please remind your youth to bring their ideas of service projects for our parish!

This year we will not be using a specific cirriculum or program, but instead will cover many areas of Faith with the input of the group. Along with learning more about a Saint each week, I have asked the youth to propose topics that interest them. We will conduct activities in line with all of this to include crafts, games, social events, and service projects.

We began our meeting with a great discussion about what the youth would like to do as a group this year. They all had some incredible ideas and we are all excited for what's to come!

Next, we made our own 'little flower' while we watched a video (linked below) to learn more about St. Therese of Lisieux. Finally, we played Catholic Trivia Jeopardy and WOW! The kids collaborated as teams and really knew their Faith Facts!

We will be learning about the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary and it's origin.

Changing our meeting time means we can use the Fellowship Hall.

So the group decided we need to have a POTLUCK this week!

Each youth will bring their favorite food item with a recipe to share.

ALL of the youth in both groups were very interested in Group Retreats!

We are leaning towards a Day Retreat for Middle School, and an Overnight Lock-In for High School.

We will announce details as soon as we have them!

A topic the High School youth were very interested in was Fundraising.

We discussed the fact that because our budget is small, we may need to ask each youth to pay small fees to participate in certain events. I suggested fundraising to offset costs and they had lots of good ideas, but they also directed the conversation to fundraising to provide for those in need!

We will be chatting more to determine our plans, and keep you posted.

I chose to be St. Nick's Youth Minister to provide Faith and Fun with Friends for our youth groups, but to do that there will be times that I need assistants. It is vital that we have individuals who will serve as an example of the Catholic Faith for our youth.

The fabulous Elizabeth Tynes will continue as the assistant Cathecist for the Middle School/ Edge Group, but we would like at least one more volunteer for the Sundays she may not be available.

I have spoken with Mother Salvation, and we are going to chat more soon to coordinate one Sunday per month that the Sisters can assist with our High School Youth Group.

Ideally we would have a Core Team consisting of at least 4-6 volunteers (preferably more), allowing for 1-2 assistants present for youth group activites one Sunday per month.

I will be inviting a few folks in our parish to join in those positions, but I would appreciate your suggestions of anyone who may be a good fit for our Core Team!

Once the group decides, we will begin planning and scheduling events and service projects within the community.

These will take place at locations in North Pole and Fairbanks, and we will strive for these to occur during our scheduled meeting time of 4-6pm on Sundays.

While I can fit quite a few in our family's vehicles, we will need additional transportation.

Please let me know if this is something you may be able to provide for the group.

The first session will be an Overview of the program this Sunday (Oct 8th) from 1:30pm-3pm in the Youth Room. It is mandatory for both the Catholic parent and candidate to attend the sessions.

Youth who have not yet registered or are still discerning confirmation are invited to attend.

All youth ministry volunteers must have current certification for the course of Serving Vulnerable Populations and a Criminal History Record Check on file with the Diocese.

More information can be found by visiting Adult Training on the Diocese of Fairbanks website.

Diocese of Fairbanks - Adult Training - Fairbanks, AK

Call or Text 907-978-4786

Email stnicksym@cbna.org
Office hours are as follows:

Sunday 10am-7pm

Wednesday 3:30pm-5:30pm

I hope you enjoyed this first edition of SNYM News!

Please never hesitiate to contact me for any reason.

I will always make myself available.

I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the youth of our parish

and look forward to working with all of you!

In Christ's love, Beth