On Friday, January 29, 2021, the MYP hosted their annual MoveNight Event over Zoom Conferencing. The event was rectored by Dina DePaola & the Team Members were Nan Adams, Eileen Haggerty, Kerin Carty Kriegsman, Mary Leavens, Tom Leavens, Diana Roach & Cathy Bischoff Weinbaum. The film that we watched was “Dumbo,” the recent live action version directed by Tim Burton.
Dina started the event with an icebreaker, asking the teens, “If you could be in the circus, what act would you like to be?” After some discussion, we watched the film together over Zoom.
Some of the movie’s messages were led to great discussions in Small Groups/Breakout Rooms: Our differences help make us special Do you agree? How do you see that reflected in your own, everyday life? How do the characters Dumbo demonstrate courage and empathy? Why are these important character strengths? Some of the themes of the original movie are the importance of community, family, and hope. Can you share a time when any one of those themes helped through a difficult time?
For our concluding Prayer Service, the teens were told that we will pray and reflect on God’s gifts of love, family & community. A reflection was shared: “Jesus gave His followers a new commandment to love one another, just as He loves us. This is how we show we are followers of Jesus – by our love for one another.” We ended with the teens saying with the words, “God’s love shines in us,” in response to a number of positive action reflections. This was another great MYP event and an opportunity to bring our community together during this difficult time of social distancing!