Ethical Society of Northern Westchester

Bringing out the best in others and thereby ourselves

"Bringing out the best in others and thereby in ourselves." -Felix Adler
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Ethics for Children

January 12, 2016 by Firefly

 

WE’RE HIRING!

Teacher/Curriculum Coordinator – Part Time

Do you take joy in teaching and nurturing children and youth? Are you creative and curious by nature, and a critical thinker who is reliable, organized, and flexible?

Our Sunday Ethics for Children Program provides a fun, inclusive, and expansive educational experience for children ages 5-14, focused on the importance of individual worth and responsibility, respect for one another; respect for the earth; and becoming a vital part of the community.

Click here to view the full job description & details

Our Philosophy

Ethical Education for Children (EEC) has been central to the Ethical Culture movement since our founding in 1876. Our classes take place on Sunday mornings and run concurrent with the adult program. The children start each Sunday meeting with the full membership, including a brief description of the adult platform topic, and then pursue their own ethics education in a safe and separate space led by our ethics educator.

 

Our Sunday Ethical Experience program welcomes children 

in grades K-8 (ages 5 – 14) and meets on Sundays, 11:00 a.m. – Noon.

Academic year runs September through June.

 

Ethical Experience Sessions 

For our ESNW children, we provide a Sunday educational experience based on our Ethical Core Values which stress the importance of individual worth and responsibility.  Respect for one another, respect for the earth, and becoming a vital part of the community are essential to being an ethical human being.   

The children participate in our Seasonal Festivals, at times providing music and other performances for the adult meetings. In the Spring, the whole class prepares and presents a full Sunday Platform of their own – The Children’s Platform. This past year our students performed “The Fisherman and his Wife”, adapted as a reader’s theatre play and directed by Sandra Tica, Sunday school mom and ESNW member. In 2018 the children wrote and performed their own play “Journey to Togetherness”, which is now available as a self-published children’s book. The program also includes other activities such as community service, picnics and local field trips, and culminates with a final graduation project at age 13-14.

We offer a child-centered, humanist approach to:

  • Exploring positive values
  • Respecting individuals
  • Inspiring social responsibility
  • Celebrating both individual difference and cultural diversity
  • Building community through social action
  • Developing leadership skills
  • Fostering independent thinking
  • Encouraging ecological concerns
  • Learning about other religions and cultures
  • Appreciating a naturalistic, scientific approach to knowledge and understanding

Tuition charges are on a sliding scale to ensure all who are interested can participate. We request that families contribute $250 per student for the academic year (September-June). Additional contributions are always welcome.

Learn more about our program! 

Visit us during our regularly scheduled Sunday meetings or 

contact our Office Manager at esnw@esnw.org or call 914.941.3544.

 

Our Approach to Ethics Education

Anne Cunney, MS, has served as the lead ethics educator at ESNW since 2015, developing an ethics curriculum for children from ages 5 to 14 based on the Ethical Culture Core Values, using the foundational tenets of a discipline called Narrative Medicine.

What is Narrative Medicine?

Narrative Medicine focuses on the development of attentive listening, active sharing, and compassionate representation of personal narratives through close reading and narrative stories of various forms of expression, including poetry, prose, spoken word, dance, and visual arts.

Ethics Educator Background & Training 

Anne began her career in healthcare communications and then became a graduate of the Columbia University Master’s Program in Narrative Medicine. As part of her career in healthcare communications, Anne was responsible for physician and patient research to uncover insights into opportunities to improve the disconnect that occurs during discussions about illness and treatment. Recognizing that careful listening was a skill often missing from these interactions led her to enroll in the Narrative Medicine Master’s Program at Columbia.

After graduating from Columbia, Anne worked as the principal investigator in a short-term study on the benefits of Narrative Medicine in creating improved staff inter-relationships, retention and patient care at Isabella Care in the Bronx. Following this, she spent a year as a direct care professional in a home for developmentally disabled adults. 

In addition, Anne has developed a curriculum called the Magic of Storytelling that builds on the foundational tenets of narrative medicine to bring the experience of listening, sharing and caring to public elementary school children. She continues her work with healthcare professionals as section faculty staff for the Columbia University Narrative Medicine Certificate program.

Ethical Culture Core Values

  • Ethics is my religion.
  • Every person is important and unique.
  • Every person deserves to be treated fairly and kindly.
  • I can learn from everyone.
  • I am part of this earth; I cherish it and all life upon it.
  • I learn from the world around me using my senses, mind and feelings.
  • I am part of the world community, which depends on the cooperation of all people for peace and justice.
  • I can learn from the past to build for the future.
  • I am free to question.
  • I am free to choose what I believe.
  • I accept responsibility for my choices and actions.
  • I strive to live my values.

 

Graduation

When students reach the 8th grade (age 13-14) they embark on a final graduation project culminating in a presentation by the graduate to the membership.

Ethical education programs in our societies have a graduation tradition akin to the coming of age ceremonies of other religions, such as the Jewish Bar or Bat Mitzvah or the Catholic Confirmation. In our tradition, the graduate is asked to think for themselves, apply and formulate their thoughts on a topic of their choosing that is related to one or more of our humanistic values. Click here to learn more.

Filed Under: home Tagged With: children, education, ethics, philosophy

Upcoming Platform Talks & Events

View our full calendar here

News & Events

“AN ETHICAL ADVENTURE” ESNW Annual Children’s Program with Jillian Lopez, Curriculum Coordinator and ESNW Ethics for Children Students

May 25, 2025 By Robin

Attend In-Person at 108 Pinesbridge Road • Ossining, NY OR Click here to attend the platform … [Read More...]

“MANAGING THE DC CHAOS” with Dennis Parker Executive Director, National Center for Law and Economic Justice

May 23, 2025 By Robin

Attend In-Person at 108 Pinesbridge Road • Ossining, NY OR Click here to attend the platform … [Read More...]

“ECHOES OF FREEDOM: A JUNETEENTH JOURNEY” with Joyce Sharrock Cole, Ossining Village Historian

May 22, 2025 By Robin

Attend In-Person at 108 Pinesbridge Road • Ossining, NY OR Click here to attend the platform … [Read More...]

“SIMPLE GIFTS–Hearten and Encourage Us, Gladden Us, Give Us Strength and Joy and Gratitude” with Dr Robert Berson

May 17, 2025 By Robin

Watch the full platform here. Sunday, May 25th,2025  When we look at our world these troubling … [Read More...]

FIGHTING THE “GOOD” FIGHT AS A “GOOD” SOLDIER– With Ashley Choate, Cadet, U.S Military Academy at West Point

April 7, 2025 By Robin

Sunday, April 13, 2025 at 11:00 AM: What does it mean to be a good soldier—and how should such a … [Read More...]

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Quick Contact

Office Manager, Robin
914.941.3544
esnw@esnw.org

Our Address

108 Pinesbridge Road
Ossining, NY 10562

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