OWL About It! (June 2023)

NOW AVAILABLE! OUR WHOLE LIVES FOR GRADES K-1, 2nd Edition

The secular “OWL-only” version of OWL for K-1, 2nd Edition is now available! Order from uccresources.com or uuabookstore.org today!

Still to come: OWL for K-1, 2nd Edition – UCC Version with Sexuality and Our Faith included in the manuscript and OWL for K-1, 2nd Edition—UUA Version with Sexuality and Our Faith included in the manuscript. This should be available later this summer. If you have ordered the secular version, you will be able to request a pdf of the faith version at no cost. Contact Rev. Amy Johnson at JohnsonA@ucc.org or Dr. Melanie Davis at mjdavis@uua.org with questions.

COMING SOON!

Field testing for Young Adult OWL coming this summer and fall!

If you:

  • Have folks trained to facilitate Young Adult OWL
  • Have a group of 8-15 young adults (approximately 18-35 years old)
  • Are able to run 7 or more workshops between late summer and end of the year
  • Are willing to fill out feedback forms about what to keep, change, or drop
  • Are willing to run the new material as is given to you and give us the above feedback

We want you! Please contact Amy Johnson at JohnsonA@ucc.org or Melanie Davis at mjdavis@uua.org to let us know you’re interested today!

NEWS!

2023 Fall Online OWL Training dates now available! These will be open to everyone beginning in September! You can find application windows and links at www.uua.org/re/owl and Our Whole Lives Training Schedule. These trainings are more intensive in number of hours than an in-person training. They are spread out over 3 weeks (two 2.5-hour Zoom sessions per week, as well as some asynchronous work in between sessions, and a Saturday class to end with). Asynchronous work is front-loaded for before the training begins and the first week of the training.

NOTE: Spaces are limited, and spots fill quickly. If you are an experienced OWL facilitator and are willing to serve as a mentor to new facilitators starting new OWL programs in their churches, please contact Amy Johnson at JohnsonA@ucc.org or Melanie Davis at MJDavis@uua.org.

The UCC and UUA honor church and congregation autonomy while also recommending that before in-person Our Whole Lives programs and trainings resume, programs and trainings be scheduled in accordance with your state and local health department recommendations.

A growing number of in-person trainings have resumed, and you can find information about them here and here. 

FREE RESOURCES!

“Under Your Wing” video series for parents of young children, hosted by Marshall Miller and Dorian Solot, authors of the 2nd edition of K-1 OWL. Under Your Wing: Our Whole Lives Sexuality and https://www.uua.org/re/owl/videos-k-1 Resource list here.

UCC version of Parents and Caregivers as Sexuality Educators is available here. UUA version is here. Watch the webinar about this Parents and Caregivers program here.

Monthly OWL Taking Flight webinars occur the 1st Wednesday of the month from 12-1 ET. Register at www.ucc.org/owl or www.uua.org/re/owl. All are recorded. A playlist of past webinars is here. To see resources shared in each webinar:

  • click on the webinar you’d like to see on the playlist.
  • Under the screen where the webinar plays, where is shows the number of views, you will see a Show More link.
  • Click on that and you will see any resources shared in that webinar.

FAQ: New Format for Our Whole Lives Sexuality Education and Sexuality and Our Faith

Why are some OWL curricula now sold as loose-leaf pages instead of bound books?
Not binding the books means that we can provide you with replacement pages as soon as we learn that corrections, updates, or additions are needed rather than waiting for inventory to be depleted and new books to be printed. This allows us to provide you the most up-to-date and accurate content possible as well as to make changes quickly based on feedback around diversity, equity, and inclusion.

How will I know when replacement pages are issued for my loose-leaf copy of OWL?
Replacement pages will be published online at www.uua.org/re/owl/facilitators and Facilitator Resources. We encourage you to check online for replacement pages in real time as you are planning your workshops. To update your copy of OWL, print out the replacement pages and swap them for the old pages. The curriculum is paginated per workshop to allow new pages to be added without renumbering the pages for the whole publication.

In the UUA InSpirit Bookstore and UCC Resources, I see the OWL curriculum I want but not Sexuality and Our Faith. What should I do if I want the UU or UCC content?
Typically, the secular edition is published first. If you want the religious content, you should wait and order the UU or UCC edition when it becomes available.

I already purchased OWL for Grades K-1, 2nd ed. in loose-leaf format. How do I acquire the UU or UCC Sexuality and Our Faith content when it becomes available, and what will it cost?
OWL K-1 is the first OWL product in the new format. We expect to make the UU and UCC editions available in late summer 2023 for a cost of $58. If you have already bought OWL K-1 without realizing that Sexuality and Our Faith is no longer a separate companion book, please send your receipt to owl@uua.org or owl@ucc.org and request a free PDF of the UU or UCC edition.

Why are some OWL levels in the new format while others are not?
As manuscripts for new editions are completed, they will be rolled out in the new format. Eventually, every OWL level will be published in a loose-leaf format for secular, UU, and UCC editions.

Will there still be entire new editions periodically?
Yes. Every level of OWL will be periodically reviewed and updated for content, but being able to issue replacement pages means that you don’t have to worry that the edition you’re using is terribly out of date.

The July 2022 webinar was about Framing Conversations About Restarting OWL Programs. If you are considering offering an in-person Our Whole Lives program, we highly recommend you watch this webinar, which includes lots of thoughtful information about what to consider and how to structure your re-entry time. The entire webinar playlist is here.

We continue our work to incorporate a more intentional anti-racism lens into Our Whole Lives curricula and training. This work is in process. In the meantime, please see our Anti-Racism resource section for families, and check out this video about how comprehensive sexuality education impacts anti-racism work. If you have questions, please contact Amy Johnson, UCC Minister for Sexuality Education and Justice, at JohnsonA@ucc.org or Melanie Davis, UUA Our Whole Lives Program Manager, at mjdavis@uua.org. We remain in service and in solidarity with you!