I know many of you do AWANA for your Bible studies. (which is why I am placing this in the homeschool thread - hope that is ok!) I am starting an AWANA group at our church this fall. I have only briefly been a part of AWANA, so I have many questions. We received a packet of info in the mail and I am planning to have a missionary come to our church and help us get started. However, I need to get an idea for how the classes work and move throughout the evening. I was wondering if some of you could comment on your program and give me an idea of how it works. For instance, do your children move from class (story/workbook time) to gym to ?? Do they have a craft time? Snack time? Worship time? I know each church does it differently. We are not a big church - around 100 people. But any ideas/help would be great. Thanks! ~Jessica Also - do your kids pay dues? how much?
We've been to churches that have weekly dues and those that just have the parents pay the dues all up front (or twice per year). I personally prefer to pay it once or twice rather than having to remember to bring 50 or 75 cents per kid each week. As for how they move around....some depends on age and the size of the facilities. As you and I have discussed, I have been in 5 or 6 different AWANAS thanks to Uncle Sam. I'm currently a Sparks leader, we start in the gym with the other Sparks, T & T, and Trek kids to have flag time, prayer, AWANA song, etc. We then move to a classroom for our handbook time (each grade has a separate classrm). Then we have council time (green meadow time/story time), then we have game time, following by awards/dismissal time. Other churches we've attended have done it in different orders. Most of the time it revolves around who has game time in what place at what time. THen the other times are done according to that. Our current church as a gym but it only has one game circle. Our last church just had a big carpeted fellowship hall but it had 2 game circles (which was awesome). We have crafts and snack once a month (or so) instead of council time (or in addition too). Our council time includes all k-2nd grade Sparks but at other churches they were done grade by grade. We're in a smaller program than before (although still about 120+ kids in all of AWANA here). Cubbies don't tend to move quite as much unless the difference is short and Puggles usually don't move out of their room(s) at all. HTH.
Rhonda - I can always count on you! Can you explain the difference between 'handbook time' and 'council time?' What do you mean by 'game circle?' Thanks for the info!!!
Handbook time is where the kids say the verses they've been practicing for a leader. Council time is storytime/devotions (some churches use their own, some use the ones from AWANA with a felt board). The game circle is what is used by the Sparks and T & T kids for game time. It has different colors for each team. Some churches don't have a game circle and just mark off an area with painters tape when they want to practice specific games that require a circle.
Ours works pretty much the same as Rhonda's. She explained the three main parts: Book time, council time (Green Meadow for the Sparkies), and game time. These can be done in whatever order you like. In our club, T&T does games then Council. The Sparkies do Green Meadow first, and then games. They both use the same space for games!
The awana at my church works pretty much like Rhonda's and Jackie's. I think AWANA does lay out a plan for you to follow. The kids pay their own dues at my church but we let it slide a bit. IT is 50 cents a week or you have the option of paying like $20 something or $30??? a year. The kids also pay for their own books and vests. Again, we don't withhold from those who cannot pay. It is an outreach, so you will get kids with parents who just dont' pay or can't pay.
Some church's have to be more strict with kids/parents paying for books/vests, etc but dues are typically the thing "that slides"....based upon my experiences. I do know that there have been times where a family couldn't pay for all the items at once and just paid as they could (we had a family at our last church with 12 kids....9 of which did AWANA)...or other individuals kind of "scholarship"'d those items. Really depends on your church and its budget. It is a great program! Awesome that you're willing to get it kicked off!
We are not currently invloved in Awana, but our church here is planning to start a program in the fall. The ones were involved in in the past ran pretty much like stated before. My kids have been in churches that did not require any fees and they supplied the books/vests, and they have been in a church in which we paid for everything plus dues. This is MY OPINION- I think it's fine to have the children pay for books and vests. I do not think a church should ask for dues. I think that a church should support its ministries financially. (I'll probably be blasted for that.) I also think that there should be scholarships for those who cannot afford the books/vests/dues. Awana can get expensive, especially for those who have several children. I was previously a Cubbies leader, and the www.awana.org site has some great resources. There are message boards for leaders, commanders, secretaries, etc.-- A very helpful bunch!!
No blasting here!! You are right. Sadly, some churches just can't fully fund it but the kids deserve to have the opportunity for it. I'd rather a church start one (even if they can't fully fund it) then have them do nothing for those same kids, kwim? I know you ladies all understand that. But I'm with you....whenever possible....let the church fund as much as possible. I know most churches will give a new kid a vest/book even if the parents can never pay. Who wants to explain to a 6 year old who has worked hard and never gets to church any other time, that they can't get one after completing their Sparks Gate pamphlet......not me.....I'd rather pay for it privately on the side (anonymous scholarship or something).
As far as dues go, our church is in a very poor neighborhood. We are hoping many of those children will come - which is why I asked about the dues. We do not think that many of them will be able to bring the money. And we don't want them to feel weird. At the same time, our church is struggling financially. So I am just looking for suggestions on how other churches handle this. I have 4 kids (3 will be in Awana) so I understand how expensive it can get for a family. We do have a SS budget that we can put towards start-up costs. The board will have to decide how much we need to have from each family, and we always make scholarships available somehow.
The AWANA missionary should be able to offer some suggestions too. If your church can cover the cost of the patches, jewels, etc....and can fund any part of the books, etc.......that's probably the best way to get it kicked off. You might even be able to let the participants know that this year is the special kick-off year....so that next year if you need to have dues, etc....it won't come as a big shock. Also, we've been at churches where they had to limit the number of participants due to funding or adult help. Now, I'll add that they only limited the Cubbies because we were at a remote military installation with 3 million preschoolers who parents loved to "dump and run". So we limited it to 24 AND their parent HAD to volunteer at AWANA. That's the only reason my oldest was a 3 yr old Cubbie...because I helped. Some clubs don't offer the older clubs (or younger). You have to decide what fits the best. Some skip Puggles and Cubbies and start with Sparks. Others don't do the clubs after T & T. If you need helpers, then having the older kids help is often necessary (after completing their T & T years). Our church has Trek for middle schoolers but the high schoolers help with Sparks & T & T and have special things for them on an alternate day/time.
Our church is relatively small, but we do run AWANA for Cubbies, Sparks, and T&T. I am the T&T Council Time leader, and I'm in with the 5th/6th grade girls for Handbook Time and I also go in to help out with Game Time [mostly just there to deal with any disciplinary issues and be another adult in the room]. Our AWANA program has one overall commander who finds 3 leaders--- one for each AWANA group. Those leaders then find leaders for their own divisions to work with the kids. We have secretaries for each of the 3 AWANA groups as well. Our kids pay 50 cents per week in dues. All our kids get uniforms [Cubbies and Sparks get vests while T&T get shirts]. Getting the kids to WEAR the uniforms is a different issue! We do theme nights each week; the first Wednesday is usually 'AWANA Pride' night where you get extra points for wearing your uniform. We are planning on doing things a bit differently in T&T next year. We'll have music for council time every 1st Wednesday [that's been true this year for ALL the AWANA groups]; after that, we'll have a Wednesday night where we watch a short video clip and tie it with a devotional [there's a GROUP book for this] and we'll have a Wednesday night for a science project with a devotional and we'll have a Wednesday night for a craft with a devotional. All groups have 30 minutes for each station: Handbook, Council Time, Games. I'm considering talking to them about paring down the Council Time to 20 minutes to give a bit more time to Handbook. We've had T&T kids who come late, and that's caused problems with kids finishing books. Maybe the extra 10 minutes every Wednesday will help.
Another cost is the end-of-year trophies. These are EXPENSIVE!!! Also, all T&T'ers get a free End-Of-Year trip for those who completes their book. This is free for clubbers; there is usually a cost for parents/siblings. This year, we're going canoeing. Dues help pay for that. Also, we have a good number of clubbers who quiz. After the quizzing is over, all quizzers are treated to free pizza. Again, I would assume the money would come out of dues. I don't have a problem with paying dues. And so many kids pay up-front at the beginning of the year, that it would be easy for a person without the means to be graciously "excused". It's not like the kids are checking every week to see who did or did not bring in their dues. We do not have a Trek program where my kids attend AWANAS. They have allowed Rachael to do it on her own for the past two years; she will be continuing in the Varsity program. This past year, she and a friend (who actually attends that church) wanted to quiz. They found two other girls who were doing Trek independently, and a couple from the church graciously volunteered to be the Coach. We knew how much it cost for registration fee, and planned on splitting the cost between the four families. The coach went to the church, and the church agreed to pay the fee (!!!), even though only one of the girls attended church there. (Though Rachael is one of "their" AWANAS kids, which would make it two!) We told Marc that we didn't think the church should be expected to pay, but he said they wanted to. I did have to pay for Rachael's trophy this year. It was about $30, a Citation Award. (The other girl doesn't have to pay; her family recycles the one that had been given to her two older sisters, and eventually her little brother will get it, lol!)
We haven't had to pay for our girls Sparks plaques yet but its factored into the "dues". I would gladly pay extra for them though. They worked hard for 3 years to get them. We also do theme nights about once a month....crazy hat night, crazy hair night, crazy sock night, backwards night, inside out night, etc. Our previous church had beach night (in winter of course)....and a few other different ones (can't seem to remember them right this second). Our clubs run like Shelley described....one commander, 3 directors (or 4+ if you have Puggles, Trek, etc). Then we have games leaders that may or may not also be leaders for handbook/council, etc. I was a Sparks secretary at our other church as well as a 1st grade leader. It's nice if the Secretaries don't have to do double duty depending on the number of kids but sometimes that isn't possible. AWANA really is a pretty organized program in that they have such specific "plans" that can be tweaked but don't leave you hanging either (if that makes sense).
