Highlights of Junior Yearly Meeting at 2020 Sessions

Here are impressions from some of the Friends who cared for children in Junior Yearly Meeting during Sessions in 2020.

Before 8:30 a.m., staff and families appear on the screen. Kids of all ages. Some parents sit with their kids, some putter about in the background. The chaotic noise of everyone saying hello gets quiet as the host mutes everyone, faces disappear as the morning's picture book is screen-shared. Even though I can hear only the voice of the reader, and see only a few tiny faces in the sidebar, I feel the presence of the whole group, gathered in the Spirit. I cry with happiness as the girl and her mom in the story find joy even in a day where everything they had planned went wrong—because the important thing is that they are together.  At the end, some of us hang out, eagerly awaiting the next part of the program. Whiteboard time! The kids begin to draw intently on the screen-shared board. Colorful artwork appears, then bits disappear as someone rethinks their choices and starts over. Kids ask other kids politely to erase unwanted lines that obstruct their own drawings, the other kids always comply, often with an apology. "Thanks!" say the artists to each other. Too soon, it's time to say goodbye.
~ Lianna Tennal

Image of a Zoom whiteboard with childrens' drawings on it

The Zoom Whiteboard created by JYM-ers and staff

When we first started planning, I didn't think we had enough people to pull it off, but then watched with amazement as people stepped into the roles that were needed, bringing the perfect gifts to each.  Everyone joined together to provide the kids with a joyful experience that contained many of the elements of our in-person experiences: stories, songs, games, art, and community. I do believe our JYM community is strong enough to survive just about anything, and certainly mightier than a pandemic.
Janet Dawson

This year’s visit with Cuban Friends was really complicated with them on phones held by NEYM Friends translating to us on Zoom. At the very end of the call, a JYM child raised a question about how racism is dealt with in Cuba. Those Cuban women took the question so seriously and were determined to get back to us. We only had a couple of kids present the night they called back, but we were really interested in their answer!  It felt like an impossible juggling moment that actually happened with grace and good fortune.
~ Laura Street

I loved being part of the staff and was ecstatic that my granddaughter Emily wanted to participate, whether she was at my house, in the car/truck to hockey practice, on the beach or back at her home in Walpole. 
Cynthia Rankin

 

A young girl snuggled in blankets using her iPad

We loved the photos of Ivy’s wonderful, pretend ‘dorm room!’

The 5- and 6-year-olds were very shy at first, not wanting to be in the full frame of the Zoom window. Some even asked a parent to speak for them. They transformed as the week went along, staying fully in the Zoom window, and chatting with each other as they shared stories, pets, toys and things in their homes. 
Lynn Taber

Lynn started each night saying something like. "Everyone, take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Ok, let's get started and get in our boat. We can pull together (remember that we are in a pretend boat all together) by listening to each other, paying attention to each other and working together.“ The children would all then row with their arms—on Zoom! Our last evening, we shared how pandemic masks are a way to show love to all by not sharing germs. The children made grocery bag masks just for fun. We hoped to leave them with a sense of how wearing a pandemic mask when they return to school in the fall is an act of love for others.
Pamela Drouin

 

A screenshot of a Zoom meeting with children wearing masks

JYM children display their masks