Exploring Our Values Through Poetry - A Tapestry of Faith Program for Youth High School

Sep 24, 2026

Upload by Dipper

A youth high school faith program using poetry to support Unitarian Universalist spiritual practice and personal development. It frames poetry as a worship call and a profound tool for becoming more conscious, emphasizing themes such as observation, inquiry, unveiling reality, hope and hopelessness, afterlife, and tenderness. Featuring a sequence of workshops, the program connects learners to shared human experience through poems from around the world while strengthening compassion toward self and others.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryPresentations

FormatPDF

Pages158

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

Workshop 1: Listening and Speaking with Poetry: An Introduction

Workshop 2: Surprised by Beauty

Workshop 3: Keenly Observing Nature

Workshop 4: Who and What Guides Us?

Workshop 5: Finding Our Mission

Workshop 6: Conscious Love: Better Than Any Fairy Tale

Workshop 7: Difficult Times

Workshop 8: On a Lighter Note

Workshop 9: Faith for the Journey

Workshop 10: You and Me

Workshop 11: Transformation

Workshop 12: Poems on Stage: Exploring Poetry Out Loud

Workshop 13: Planning a Poetry Slam

Workshop 14: The Poetry Slam

Workshop 15: To Tell the Tale

EXPLORING OUR VALUES THROUGH POETRY A Tapestry of Faith Program for Youth High School BY KAREN HARRIS © Copyright 2008 Unitarian Universalist Association. This program and additional resources are available on the [UUA.org](UUA.org) web site at [www.uua.org/tapestryoffaith](www.uua.org/tapestryoffaith). ABOUT THE AUTHORS Karen Harris has taught poetry in public schools as a high school English teacher for about 16 years. As part of poet Robert Pinsky's Favorite Poems Project, she also trains English teachers interested in learning new ways to incorporate poetry into their curricula. She has also taught beginning teachers at Boston University's School of Education, where she is pursuing a doctoral degree in Education. Karen is keenly interested in the intersection of literature and spirituality, especially as it regards teenagers' development of compassion toward self and others. She currently teaches at School-Within-a-School, an alternative democratic community of students and teachers that is a part of Brookline High School in Massachusetts. In addition to literature, Karen is passionate about music; she sings, writes songs, and plays guitar for the Boston-based band Edith. The band has produced two critically acclaimed CDs. Married to artist Morgan Cohen, Karen also loves being a mom to their two kids, Abby and Emmet. They live outside Boston, where they worship by reading spiritual texts (including poems, of course!) with their kids, going on lots of hikes, and sporadically attending a couple of different Unitarian churches and a Quaker Meeting. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Editors Susan Lawrence and Jessica York enriched this program with their contributions of additional activities. Judith Frediani guided the development throughout the process, and Nancy Burnett copyedited the finished manuscript. TABLE OF CONTENTS WORKSHOP 1: LISTENING AND SPEAKING WITH POETRY: AN INTRODUCTION............................. 16 WORKSHOP 2: SURPRISED BY BEAUTY...................................................................................................... 25 WORKSHOP 3: KEENLY OBSERVING NATURE .......................................................................................... 34 WORKSHOP 4: WHO AND WHAT GUIDES US? ........................................................................................... 46 WORKSHOP 5: FINDING OUR MISSION........................................................................................................ 58 WORKSHOP 6: CONSCIOUS LOVE: BETTER THAN ANY FAIRY TALE ................................................. 66 WORKSHOP 7: DIFFICULT TIMES.................................................................................................................. 77 WORKSHOP 8: ON A LIGHTER NOTE............................................................................................................ 89 WORKSHOP 9: FAITH FOR THE JOURNEY .................................................................................................. 98 WORKSHOP 10: YOU AND ME...................................................................................................................... 107 WORKSHOP 11: TRANSFORMATION .......................................................................................................... 122 WORKSHOP 12: POEMS ON STAGE: EXPLORING POETRY OUT LOUD .............................................. 132 WORKSHOP 13: PLANNING A POETRY SLAM .......................................................................................... 141 WORKSHOP 14: THE POETRY SLAM........................................................................................................... 149 WORKSHOP 15: TO TELL THE TALE ........................................................................................................... 153 Note: If you add or delete text in this program, you may change the accuracy of the Table of Contents. The Table of Contents is an auto-g

FAQs

What is the purpose of this poetry program for youth high school students?

To use poetry as an accessible and profound tool in spiritual practice while helping students become more conscious and develop compassion toward self and others.

How does the program describe poetry’s role in worship and spiritual growth?

It presents poetry as a call to worship and as a means to observe, inquire, reveal reality, and reflect on themes such as hope, hopelessness, and the human condition.

What topics are covered across the workshops?

The workshops span listening and speaking, beauty, observing nature, guidance, mission, conscious love, difficult times, and culminating activities like planning and performing a poetry slam.

Sep 24, 2026

Upload by Dipper