Awana Student Leader

What is Awana?

Awana is a worldwide non-profit ministry and organization that focuses on providing programs and activities focused on evangelism and discipleship to kids ages 2-18. The Awana program at my church has sessions every Sunday throughout the entire year where we have activities and games as well as lessons and bible studies. My responsibilities as a student leader in this program included giving lessons to students, running activities for the students to do, and babysitting children in the nursery. I learned a lot by being constantly put in situations where I had to prepare to teach others and plan out activities. It taught me time management and communication skills that I use to this day.

My Crafty Summer

During the summer, there is a special program run called Summer Awana. The program is more interactive and focuses on providing activities for the students to keep them engaged. In the summer of 2019, I was put on a small team of three people in charge of planning and running the arts and crafts portion of the program for all the kids. I was caught off guard because I was used to doing more behind-the-scenes types of tasks. We met every Saturday that summer and planned the craft out, prepared the materials, and set them out so they were ready when the kids came the next day. Then on Sunday, we would explain how to do the craft and help students who needed help. We took turns leading the craft but on days we weren’t leading the craft we were put in charge of organizing set-up and clean-up. Some examples of crafts I led were making animals out of paper plates and making pinwheels.

I Taught Kids and Learned A Lot Too

This was a very rewarding experience for me. I experienced what it’s like to work with a group for an extended amount of time. It was important to check in often on the others in the group to see where they are and keep them accountable. It was also fun to learn how to collaborate on ideas and what the best approaches for teaching were. Running activities also helped in my public speaking skills. I wasn’t used to talking in front of larger groups but running the activities made me more confident in that area.