Sunday School classes are full of exciting lessons and activities during this season of Lent! Fresh materials are getting started in the elementary school classrooms while the preschoolers continue to explore the world according to Boz the Bear. Confirmation classes are rolling right along with Pastor Bob and some of our middle schoolers, and it is business as usual with the middle schoolers in Chris McClelland's room and LT's High School class.

Mary Gieb's adult class has begun a new Lent study entitles "Living with the Mind of Christ," by James Harnish, and the Estes room is sharing their trials and tribulations as parents and as Christians with one another as they concentrate on a study called "The Life you've Always Wanted." Please feel free to drop in on these adult Sunday School classes. They start at 10 a.m. and everyone is welcome - come when you can!

The Sunday School classes also offered $100 to the InterChurch Ministries Voucher Program in January! Way to go! In case you haven't heard, they are now making contributions, via a friendly competition, the benefit the Heifer International organization. This offering will continue through the end of our spring classes, and the winning class will earn the privilege of deciding how the money will be spent toward this exciting endeavor.

Kids on a Mission have been busy as well. At press time, we are wrapping up the first of John Wesley's Three Simple Rules, "Do No Harm," and we are beginning to work on "Do Good." They have done a variety of crafts in preparation for their art show, including cross mosaics, butterflies, and Valentines for the residents at Westminster Presbyterian. We have been collecting for Haiti UMCOR kits and plan to assemble two dozen to be sent along. They also learned a bit about Lent, and if you attended Ash Wednesday service, you may have even seen a few new smiling faces!

Junior Church kids continue to delight in Mrs. Medina's lessons and games each Sunday after the Children's message in the second service; they are beginning to discuss various Christian symbols and Lenten activities as well!

Confirmation Class

Rev. Lewis has begun teaching the Confirmation Class for this spring. Please keep the youth in your prayers as they study the Christian faith and prepare to become professing members of the Church. On March 26th they will be taking a field trip to Pittsburgh to the Conference Center, including an opportunity to meet Bishop Thomas Bickerton. Also planned are field trips to various churches of other denominations, and if possible, a trip to a synanogue to learn about the Jewish roots of our Christian faith. In March they will be studying what is a Christian and what is the Church, then our Jewish, Christian and Methodist heritage. Joining the youth will be adult Friends-in-Faith who will serve as mentors and friends. Keep them all in prayer.

SUMMER CAMP

Camp information is out!  Woohoo!  Summer is inevitably coming!!  If you would like more information, a brochure, or if you have scholarship inquiries, please call Sandy Hess.

Lakewood Preschool News

What a fabulous February we had! The three year olds have been doing a fantastic job. We have been working on scissors skills, shapes, colors, numbers and letters. The students have grown up so much since the beginning of the school year!! They have a great understanding of classroom rules and are doing a super job listening during circle time and learning centers! The students had a super time with the parents who volunteered to plan their Valentine's Day party. In March, the students will begin a unit on THE JUNGLE. We have lots of fun books to read and wonderful art projects to complete. We will continue practicing our small motor skills, introduce some new prepositional words and practice writing our names. It is sure to be another fun and exciting month in the Three Year Old Classrooms!!

The Preschool rooms have been busy as usual. They also enjoyed a Very Special Valentine's Day party with parent volunteers. They continue to work on their alphabet, numbers, phone numbers, small motor skills, large motor skills, prepositional words, and addresses. The Weeklong PreK class has also been introduced to syllables and the concept of more than, less than, and equal to. In addition, Mrs. Zenobi's Weeklong PreK class performed a singing program for parents this month. They all did a FABULOUS job!! After their program, the children got to decorate cookies with their parents. They made the cookies themselves, during cooking class in February!! The themes in the preschool rooms during March include: The Jungle, The Forest or The Circus. They will also be discussing St. Patrick's Day and Easter! Our special events in March include GADGET BAND and our Easter Party. Gadget Band is always a fun activity for the students, as they gather musical items from their very own kitchen and bring them to school for a musical parade!! The Easter Party is sure to be a success, as well!

Our Science Enrichment class had a special guest in February! Mr. Science came to class! Mr. Science helped the students to learn about solids, liquids and gases. Their faces lit up as Mr. Science did some cool experiments with them!! During March, the students will discuss the WATER CYCLE, conduct more science experiments and continue to explore the world of science!