Year-End Award Time
It's the time of year to look ahead to your Year-End Award ____ (you fill in the blank). You might call this event your Year-End Award Program, Banquet, Supper, Ceremony, Club Night, Parent Program, Sunday Night Service, Recognition Night, etc.
Whatever you call it — make it a night to remember! It's a wonderful time for your Awana club to graciously present the gospel to unsaved parents. So you'll want to design your year-end award time to attract parents. There's plenty of help available in Awana published materials. Look at the Awana Encyclopedia of Ideas (pages 147-168) or Powerful Programs for Parents for ideas. You'll also want to check out this issue's feature article: "The Last Night — Plan It Right!" for help from a veteran Awana missionary about this special night.
Yours for the kids,
Dale & Jodi
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"First of all, I'd like to thank all the little people who made this award possible …" |
The Last Night—Plan It Right
Here's a plan of action by Dale Gerard, Awana missionary for Southern Minnesota, for you to try at your club on that important last club night — award time.
1. Make your awards display look attractive.
- Make an awards table. Put it in a prominent place.
- Take all awards out of their boxes. It's a must! What parent wants to come and see his child get a box?
2. If your church has screen and a projector, then:
- Show two to three minutes of photos from your club's Bible Quiz, AwanaGames™, or club night activities.
- Show major awards (Sparky, Excellence, Timothy, Meritorious, and Citation awards) on the screen. You can build up to the major awards and present them at the end of each club's portion of the program.
3. Have clubbers participate in some way. Clubbers can:
- Sing their club theme songs plus one other song.
- Quote Bible verses.
- Play an instrument.
- Hand out programs as people enter.
- An adult with a roving microphone can ask several clubbers what they liked about club this year.
- Be sure to have clubbers prepared with some answers so they are not all the same.
- Some scripted questions can be asked that involve a prepared clubber quoting a Bible verse.
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4. Don't hand out last week's awards (stickers, jewels, attendance awards). Try to give them out the last week of club or tell clubbers to get them from your club secretary after the program.
5. If you give a "participation" award of some kind so that all clubbers attending receive something, consider using a photo of their handbook group or club that you print on a "certificate of appreciation."
6. To keep the program moving:
- Don't call out the name of a clubber that you know isn't there.
- Ask your audience not to clap after each clubber's name. They should hold all applause until each group - such as all Sparkies - receives their awards.
- Gently remind them not to clap if clapping begins after an individual clubber gets an award.
- Honor leaders without adding to the length of the night by:
- Listing their names, club and length of service in the printed program.
- Give each leader his or her service pins during the previous week's Large Group Time
- Having a special leader's appreciation dinner on another night
7. Above all, be sure to have a five-minute gospel presentation. You have unsaved parents who will attend that may never come to a church service. Don't miss this opportunity!
Attention ALL Awana Leaders!
We are thrilled to announce an exciting update coming for next year! Please read on and pass the word along to your director, commander or other leaders.
JV is now Trek!
24-7 Ministries, the youth ministry arm of Awana, introduces Trek — the new middle-school program that takes the best of Jr. Varsity (JV) and makes it even better!
STOP! Maybe you don't have JV at your church. Maybe you're not even sure what JV is! Even so, please take a moment to consider the following:
- Think of the benefits you appreciate about your Awana clubs: strong biblical materials, effective evangelism and discipleship tool, tons of fun, great outreach for your church, and more.
- Trek gives you all those same benefits in a great-looking, flexible program for middle-school students. You've seen Awana work in your church. And more than 4,000 churches currently use JV to reach their students. Why not check out Trek?
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What's Better About Trek?
- Great new look & feel!
- All program components cover the same topics
- Three years of equally strong curriculum
- Simplified, flexible award system
- And much more!
What's the Timeline?
The Trek update was announced in spring of 2005 to all churches using JV. The good news is that Trek is now on its way! Here's what you can do to learn more:
Now: Read more and sign up for e-mail updates: www.24-7ministries.net/trek.
May/June: Your area Awana missionary will be trained on Trek and equipped to train others on Trek. Locate your Awana missionary and contact information here.
Early July: Check out your Awana Ministry Guide as soon as it arrives to see all that Trek has to offer! (You can also shop our Ministry Guide Online: www.awana.org/mgo.)
August/September: Make it a priority to attend an Awana Leadership Training Conference for training on Trek. (We'll send you a note this summer with a link to our online conference finder.)
Questions? Send us an e-mail: trek@awana.org
| Game Ideas: Play with Your Food |
Food games are probably already part of your Awana club year with festivities like pie-eating contests and root beer relays. But what about having a "Food-A-Rama," where food is used, but — for the most part — not eaten! See The Best Awana Games Ever! for is a whole category of food games. Here are a few games to whet your appetite.
Spoon Swoon
- Put plates or Frisbees® on chairs at both ends of a team color line. Have an equal number of items (grapes, M&M®s, marshmallows, etc.) on the food holders.
- Give each clubber a plastic spoon. At the sound of the whistle, the first clubber scoops up one piece of food with his spoon then passes it — with the spoon — to the next teammate.
- The food is passed from spoon to spoon until the last player puts it in the empty plate at their end of the line. Only one item may be passed at a time.
(Note: No hands are used at any time! If food is dropped it has to be picked up using the spoon; all passes are made spoon to spoon; the first player picks up each item using the spoon.)
- When a team is done, they can sit down, stand up and yell, or do something goofy that you set up for them to do!
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Discipline tip
Believe it or not — you can have orderly transitions and the kids can still have fun.
- Give points for the quietest team coming into Large Group Time from wherever.
- Stagger the order that teams leave as they go from one place to another.
- Have neat rows of chairs set up ahead of time. (You might say to yourself: "But, we have a carpeted room?") Discipline is always better with clubbers on their own chairs. It defines their space and sitting up helps children maintain attention.
Handbook Tip
You know it's getting near the end when you hear there's no one else to invite to club to pass the recruiting section. Here are several Awana-approved alternatives to bringing a friend to club — that keep your clubbers focused on outreach:
Visiting & verses
- Visit new or absentee clubbers two or three times with your leaders (or a parent).
- Visit (with a parent or leader) children who attended Vacation Bible School, but did not come to Awana.
- Memorize extra verses.
Put out the invites
- Invite five friends — ask them to sign a paper saying you've invited them to club. Give the paper to your leader.
- Write a letter to a friend explaining what Awana is; give a simple salvation message and an invitation to club. Your leader should read the letter and you should send it to your friend.
- Bring friends to church.
Do some outreach
- Do an outreach project such as going to a nursing home to visit or sending cards to the residents.
- Provide 25-35 club publicity fliers for the clubbers to pass out. Parents need to sign a piece of paper saying that the clubber completed the task.
- Provide gospel tracts to the clubbers and tell them to pass them out. Parents need to sign a piece of paper saying that the clubber completed the task.
- Purchase door hangers from the Awana Ministry Guide and give them to the clubbers to hang on doors in the church neighborhood or in another designated neighborhood.
- Encourage clubbers to wear their uniform to school and be prepared to explain Awana to classmates who ask about it. They must have a note from a parent or teacher saying they wore their uniforms.
Take Me Out to the Ball Game!
Two Awana missionaries (and there may be more) are sponsoring an "Awana Night" at their local Minor League baseball stadiums.
Ron Glynn (Rong@awana.org) is hosting an event in Des Moines, Iowa. Dean Birdsall (Deanb@awana.org) is hosting two events, one in Eastlake, Ohio, and one in Akron, Ohio. For folks who live in those areas, please contact Ron or Dean for details. It sounds like a great Awana summer outing for families!
No matter where you live, be sure to keep in contact with your Awana missionary via his Web site, electronic newsletter, or mailed newsletter for news on future summer events.
Awana Ideas
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© 2006 Awana Clubs International This newsletter may be reproduced without permission only by churches registered with Awana Clubs International.
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www.awana.org
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| Visit: Awana Leader Resources
Use Awana clipart to promote your Awana ministry! You can use it as long as your church is registered with Awana. Here are links to clipart for: Cubbies, Sparks and T&T.
Memory Packets
For the clubber who remembers everything! Here's something extra: Bronze, Silver and Gold memory packets. Each .pdf set is available in KJV, NIV and NKJV.
Memory Books
Do you have some clubbers (under the age of ten) who need some extra credit materials? These memory books will keep them engaged in God's Word.
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The MGO is the Ministry Guide Online—and it's the online place to find everything you need for your Awana club!
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Leaders, you are instrumental in helping children and their parents. The Rorheim Institute 2006 Shepherding Parents Seminar can help you become a better leader because it will assist you in impacting the lives of your clubbers even more! Are you are parent? Then go to a Shepherding Parents Seminar in your area as a leader — and a parent! Your family will benefit — and so will your Awana clubbers.
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Rock-Solid Kids, by Larry Fowler
As an Awana leader you are involved in the one of the most important ministries of the church today — children's ministry. This book will tell you why your work with children is so critical. Companion study material to Rock-Solid Kids is available for purchase online.
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MGO
