Personal Progress

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PERSONAL PROGRESS

PERSONAL PROGRESS SKITS: - - I wanted to keep the girls thinking about doing their personal progress, so I was doing little skits about once a month during our opening exercises. They were intended to last about 3 or 4 minutes, I had one of the girls do it with me the first two times, after that I gave them the ideas and let them do the presenting. For the first skit I made a silly map on the back of a crumpled up paper bag (cut open). It showed the "Forest of Indecision", "The Mountains of Homework", "The Mists of Too Much TV", and whatever else I could think of. It had a big dotted line drawn on it to show the path and a big X for the place where the treasure was buried. We also folded huge (oversized) red hats from bulletin board paper. We wore them so that we would look like sailors or pirates or... anyway it caught their attention. I did a little monolog about how we had traveled through all these places and experiences but we had finally found the treasure place. Meanwhile the Young Women was pretending to dig and just said "yeah" to everything. Then we pick up the treasure box, open the lid and discover personal progress books inside! Wow, we would live happily ever after! (etc.) We also folded little red hats from construction paper as a hand out and wrote "Dig up your Personal Progress book! It's a great adventure!" They loved it. For the second skit I got one of each of the necklaces, displayed them in a nice way and did a QVC style pitch for "purchasing" them. I always aim to be brief and kind of funny (it suits my style). Jyetta

PERSONAL PROGRESS PLAQUES: - - Young men receive patches, etc. for their scouting progress. We wanted our young women to feel equally important for their Personal Progress. This is how we came up with a 8 1/2 x 11 inch wooden temple plaque for each girl to hang in their rooms. It is shaped in the frontal image of the Salt Lake temple, since that is in the Personal Progress book. It is painted white. Then we divided it into three levels. On the Beehive and Mia Maids levels there are seven windows to the left (representing BH 1, or MM 1) a doorway in the center with Beehives (or Mia Maids) written on it, and seven windows on the right (representing BH 2, or MM 2). On the upper level there are two windows on the left (for L 1 projects), a center doorway with Laurels on it, and two windows on the right (for L2 projects). We found a candy mold of the young women's recognition award (the candy mold came from: Bakers Cash and Carry (801) 487-3300 in Utah), poured plaster of Paris in it, let them dry, and spray painted them gold. This is glued in the center spire of the temple.
We found jewels in the colors of the young women values.The girls receive the jewels in our opening exercises once a month when they complete two goals in a value area. We invite parents to come in to see the girls receive their jewels from the Young Women's president. The Laurels receive 1 jewel for each Laurel project.
Our Young Women's presidency pulled an all-nighter to get the plaques painted, etc. But it was worth it. We each did a portion that we felt comfortable with, since we all were not crafty. The initial cost to get them started seemed like a lot (about $80.00 for 30 girls) but later we only had to purchase extra jewels. We make more plaques every year for new girls. As a girl enters the young women's program she receives her plaque, as well as her personal progress book. Please email me and I will send you a picture of the plaque. Valerie

HOLIDAY THEME ACTIVITIES: - - We have recently planned some activities around various holiday themes. For February, we celebrated Chinese New Year. We learned how to make egg rolls served with sweet sour sauce, fried rice and fortune cookies. The evening was completed by watching the Disney movie "Mulan". The girls were encouraged to go home and share what they learned to earn Personal Progress value - Beehive 1, Good Works #4 or Beehive 2, Good Works #4 or #6. We are planning to celebrate St. Patrick's Day by discussing the sacrifices that many families made to come to America. Each girl will make something to eat and share from the country of their ancestors. We will share stories and they are encouraged to bring pedigree charts, thus helping to complete Personal Progress value - Beehive 1, Individual Worth #2 or Beehive 2, Individual Worth #2 and #7. The girls love this time together and look forward to the next holiday-themed activity. These are fun activities to learn and appreciate one another and accomplish a few Personal Progress values too!

SKIT IDEAS: - I wanted to keep the girls thinking about doing their personal progress, so I am doing little skits about once a month during our opening exercises. They are intended to last about 3 or 4 minutes, I have had one of the girls do it with me the first two times, after that I will give them the ideas and let them do the presenting. For the first skit I made a silly map on the back of a crumpled up paper bag (cut open). It showed the "Forest of Indecision", "The Mountains of Homework", "The Mists of Too Much TV", and whatever else I could think of. It had a big dotted line drawn on it to show the path and a big X for the place where the treasure was buried. We also folded huge (oversized) red hats from bulletin board paper. We wore them so that we would look like sailors or pirates or... anyway it caught their attention. I did a little monolog about how we had traveled through all these places and experiences but we had finally found the treasure place. Meanwhile the Young Women was pretending to dig and just said "yeah" to everything. Then we pick up the treasure box, open the lid and discover personal progress books inside! Wow, we would live happily ever after! (etc.) We also folded little red hats from construction paper as a hand out and wrote "Dig up your Personal Progress book! It's a great adventure!" They loved it. For the second skit I got one of each of the necklaces, displayed them in a nice way and did a QVC style pitch for "purchasing" them. Jyetta

MUSEUM FUN: - We have planned a Saturday Activity with our YW at a museum. Since we live only 1 hour away from the Getty Museum, we chose that one. We sent one member of our YW's presidency to the museum where she bought numerous postcards depicting the different sculptures and art. Two weeks before the activity, we passed these cards out -- one to each YW who will be attending. It was up to her to read up and research "Her" piece of artwork. Then on Saturday, we went to the museum and as we toured, the Young Woman recognized "her" artwork and gave the rest of us a report on it. It was a great way to learn and pass off a few Personal Progress Goals!

VALUE QUILTS: - Our ward is doing Value Quilts once a month for PP Night. This activity includes making one block of the quilt each month with it being completed by November for display at YWIE. Each YW is making her own quilt and some are painting, some are cross stitching, some are applique. It is amazing at the various ideas and talents they have. This allows each girl to shine. All of the fabric was donated by sisters in the ward and we did purchase a few fabric pens and paints. We also called in a specialist and she and her mom make everything look so easy the girls are always pleased with their blocks. The moms have agreed to purchase the batting and the quilt back for their daughters so that these can be finished completely. This project has cost less than $20 and provides an activity that helps them focus on one of the values each month and the girls really look forward to this. ~Michelle

MONTHLY PP NIGHT: - In our ward we have one week of mutual a month to concentrate on Personal Progress. During this night the girls bring their personal progress book (they get a treat if they remember!) and are asked to bring something to work on for one of their goals. We have also decided to have a theme for this night - our first one is a "P night" for "Personal Progress Pig Out". Each girl must bring some food that starts with P to share. It is a really fun laid back night as the girls sit around and chat while they are working on whatever they have brought and we have music going and food etc. WE also interview the girls on this night - a couple each week Lisa

PERSONAL PROGRESS AND READING SCRIPTURES: - We used small oil lamps one year. They were probably about 3 1/2 inches not counting the handles... ( These lamps were the kind you could put a candle in the glass, they had no wicks in them) They were to encourage the YW to read their scriptures every day... The girls would put a small colored bead in the lamp for each day that they read their scriptures during the previous week..a pearl bead was put in for each PP goal..( If I was to do this again I would probable use a larger bead in the same color as the value goal instead of the pearl .) The beads were in the YW colors and were in a large clear glass candy jar.. (the kind you sometime get nuts in at ?Christmas time.) The girls would take care of their own lamps when they first came into YW on Sundays..... The lamps sat on top of the piano and the sunlight would shine through those lamps so beautifully as they started to fill... with those colored beads...... . The lamps were decorated on a corner of the handle with small ribbons in each of YW colors hanging down and a card with a picture of the YW Torch and their name on one side and the YW values and the other...In the beginning of the year there was lots of bead use...slacking in the summer and picking up again at school time...It also encourage us leaders to our commitment of reading the scriptures everyday and filling our lamps... setting a example for our girls...Yes, our lamps sat right besides our yw. At the end of the year we could see how filled our lamps were....How well our light was shining?... . Jan in IN

VALUES -- TREASURES OF THE HEART: - I have a small paper mache treasure boxes for each girl-I was thinking that she would paint or decorate it in some way at the first of the year and then as she is able to pass off the memorization of the definition, scripture for each value, and completed at least one goal in each area, she would earn a jewel in the value color to glue onto her box.

"YOUNG WOMEN ACTIVITIES" BOOK: - There is a wonderful book called the "Young Women Activities" which has some great ideas for Personal Progress. We are doing an activity from this book. We are having a ward car wash FREE! It's called "Service Carwash" and the YW can sign off Beehive 1-Good Works # 8; Beehive 2-Good Works # 3; and Mia Maid 1 Good Works # 5. We are also making "Temple Boxes" later down the road. The YW will bring a shoebox and put white material around it and then decorate it with whatever they want. This will hold all their handouts they receive on Sundays.

INTEGRITY: - We did the Mia Maid 1 Integrity goal #1..We painted a little wooden plaque we purchased at Walmart in whatever color they wanted..decorated a little border, then attached this saying. "They who know the truth are not so great as they who love it; and they who love the truth are not so great as they who live it. Chinese proverb. " They all turned out so great and they love doing it. I also read a couple of stories on Integrity. I also wore purple of course.

PIE NIGHT: - I have had in the past...Pie Nights. Where we ( the leaders) would bring pies(lots) and we would have a lot of goals highlighted they could do in one evening. Have materials on hand and help them get one or two done..then eat pie! We usually did this on a Sunday evening...but could be just as good on activity night. The girls always looked forward to these nights. To the ones on Sunday, we would invite the girls' moms ...the moms really enjoyed the opportunity to see where the girls were and have fun helping them in a fun atmosphere.

P.I.E. NIGHT: - An idea we have used from the book, "Young Women Personal Progress" by Linda Dastrup is called PIE NIGHT. P=Personal progress, I=Interview, E=Evaluation. The girls are told to bring their personal progress book for a piece of pie. We had a lesson/demo on pie making and while this is going on, each girl has a 2-5 min. P.I.E. . At the end of the activitiy, their ticket to a piece of pie is their book! Another idea that a friend gave to me works well when school is in session, call it homework night. Everyone brings their homework to work on and their personal progress book. Each girl is called out for an PP interview as the others work on their homework this could even turn into a time for the girls to tutor each other in different subjects.

HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW YOUR PP?: - We did a simple activity that was a big sucess for both the YW and leaders a couple months ago. We called it "How well do you know your Personal Progress?" Right after opening exercises we asked who brought their book to hold it up. Then we gave the YW who had their books a lifesaver sucker with the quote "PP can be a real 'lifesaver'" and took their books. This gave their counselor/advisor/leader a chance to look over their progress while the activity was going on. Then gave the other YW the quote with out the sucker. We then broke them into two teams and one adult leader for each team to recieve the answers. If the YW answering needed help and coaxing and got the answer basically correct, she got 1/2 credit (1/2 a point). If she could get it on her own, then she got full credit. Then we asked questions about the Personal Progress program and information in the book. Some sample questions are:
**What is the scriptural reference for Faith, Divinen Nature etc...(one point each)
**What are the Standards of Personal worthiness? Name them. (give one point for each correctstandard and then a bonus if someone can name them all!)
**What is the Beehive Mission statement?...Mia Maid, Laurel (one point each)
**What are the beehive 1 responsibilities? B-2, M-1, M-2, L-1, L-2 (one point to each correct and bonus for knowing all)
**Can you work on Mia Maid 2 goals if you haven't completed Mia Maid 1?(1 point)
**What is the least amount of hours needed to complete a Laurel Project?(1 point)
As for a prize I brought 2 bags of candy and the team with the most points got to pick their bag of candy first and the 2nd place team got the other bag. This helped us to find out where in the Personal Progress Program we needed to work harder on understanding and applying in our lives.

FUTURE GOALS: - We just had the girls write a letter to themselves. In this letter it had what they were doing now, and what their goals were over the next few years. After they were finished, we put them into to envelopes, sealed them and marked the envelope saying DO NOT OPEN until 2002. This way they can see how they have changed over the years. You can do this for a shorter period of time as well if you want.

HANDOUTS KEEPER: - We made covered padded binders with the beehives, they were value colored ribbon strips under white lace, with a YW sillouette in the center. Each binder had about 10 dividers included. I know my girls through the years kept, and still have most of their handouts in that binder because they will frequently mention how they have used one in institute or lessons, or shared with husbands. some of these girls are 9 years since receiving them up to 3 years. I believe if it touches their hearts, they will want to keep it.

HIGH CHAIRS: - A fun activity we have done is called High Chairs. We did this at Youth Conference. We were focusing on the June's New Era special edition about Friendship. We had a list of 40 questions from the different articles. To start the game we divided into 5 groups. Then we gave the ANSWERS to all of the questions to each team. Each answer is on a separate strip of paper. The team then divides the answers among themselves. On the opposite side of the room you have five chairs numbered 1-5. (To help avoid confusion, we also had each team put a tag on so that we knew which team they were from) Now the game begins. Someone reads a question, the person from each team that has the answer runs across the room to sit in a chair, the first one there will sit in the chair with the #5 on it, that means they have just won 5 points for their team. HOWEVER, if they have the wrong answer, they LOSE 5 points for their team. The kids love this. We did it with the girls focusing on Personal Progress one night also. We did the scriptures that go with the values, the colors, the Motto's for each group. Everyone gets to play. I always have one of the youth tell everyone what the answer is so that it reinforces what you're trying to get across. For Youth Conference I had a group of four youth put this together. They were the ones that came up with the questions, read them and kept score. After one of the boys briefly reviewed what the activity was about and why choosing the right friends really is important.

PERSONAL PROGRESS BOOK COVER: - We have been doing a lot of crafts this year. We plan to display all the girls have made in YW in excellence. One thing we did was to get multicolored yarn (we found some with the value colors) and canvas grid and showed the girls how to make covers for their personal progress book. I have grid patterns on graph paper for anyone interested. This books need to last the girls 6 yrs and as you know, they are rough on them. They enjoyed, learned something, signed off personal progress item, and are proud of their covers. Bonus: the girls remember to bring their books to activity night more often. Tawnie

ADVICE TO LEADERS: - As far as leaders helping out with PP. When I was a Beehive and a Mia Maid we held regular Personal Progress nights. On these nights we could pass off goals we had done on our own and our leaders had the resources for us to work on others. When I was a Mia Maid we would sometimes have each girl pick a goal they wanted to work on and base an activity around it so we could all pass it off. We did probably about half of our PP this way ( group nights) and I think it really motivated us to do the rest of it ourselves.

F.R.O.G.S. : - We have had fun rewarding the girls this year for their personal progress with F.R.O.G.S. It stands for Families "R" Our Greatest Shelter. With the young womens theme for 1999 keeping on families, we plan to use them another year with all the great frog stuff out, it will be easy to do.

YW VALUE SCRIPTURE HANGMAN: - You can play with the YW scriptures. Give a hint as to if it is a Value scripture (which include theme, standards of personal worthiness and so forth), A Truth Scripture...Beehive, Promise...Mia Maid, Faith...Laurel. Any scriptures in the responsibilities, mission statements, references, and experiences are fair game. Remember when you do a Faith scripture they include the Articles of Faith.

PERSONAL PROGRESS ACTIVITY: - Another thing I do is in the PP book. Have a quick game of do you know your personal progress. Divide the Girls into teams or classes. Ask questions to the YW like who knows the YW theme? (When the YW know an answer have them stand up) One by one have them recite it. Give 2 points to each team for every YW that got it right and 1 point for every YW that tried to do it. Ask more questions like what is the value definition of Faith ...What is the YW Motto ...What is the Miamaid 2 responsibilities .... What are the Standards of Personal Worthiness (when the YW have to make a big list of things they could work in a group and give one point for each correct answer.

PERSONAL PROGRESS AS A CLASS: - Pick a Value Experience out of the PP book and work on it. There are many that don't need any preparation like Beehive 2 Choice & Accountability #3 It is a read some scriptures and discuss them.
DIVINE NATURE: - This activity fulfilled Divine Nature in family relationships. I separated the girls into groups (of two or four) and gave each group a grab bag filled with typical family belongings. After a few minutes of preparation, I had the girls act out a skit that showed how to improve family relationships. Then each group wrote down the greatest number of ways to improve their family relationships. Then individually, they wrote down five specific goals for improving their own family relationships. Then I had them choose the most important one to work on first. Then I gave each of the girls some stationery and had each of them write a letter to their mothers telling her the qualities she admires in her. In the letter, each girl asked her mother to help her develop one of these qualities. Then they each got an envelope to decorate (girls love to do that, you know) and then they delivered the letters when they went home. It helps fulfill Beehive 1, Divine Nature #6; Mia Maid 2, Divine Nature #1; See Beehive 2, DN #5, #6, #7, and #8; Mia Maid 1, DN #3 and #5; Mia Maid 2, DN #7 and #8.

PERSONAL PROGRESS LEADER: - Each month our Personal Progress leader encourages the girls to work on their goals each week. At the end of the month (the last Sunday) she rewards each girl that has accomplished her two goals for the month with a rose made of candy kisses (and also two wrapped in plastic). The rose is the color of the value focused on that month. The idea is for the girls to keep these at home and create a beautiful bouquet. The girls really are excited about the roses each month.

PERSONAL PROGRESS LEADER: - We introduce the value of the month on every Fast Sunday. I begin by telling a captivating story, relating it to the theme and then passing out a handout that goes along with it. The handout is a message and a tangible item that will hopefully make them remember the story and then the value or both at once. I've also had fun dropping off treats and notes at their homes to be found when they get home from school. (A "Do"Nut can say whatever you want.) "Do Not Forgets" are the best. Try Gummy Bears with "We are 'beary' proud" of your goals achieved in Personal Progress.

MONTHLY CLASS ACTIVITIES: - Focus monthly class activities on accomplishing one goal. There will still be goals for the YW to make on an individual basis, but working with the class will motivate them to work alone, as well as encourage one another.

ROUND ROBIN: - To help our girls with their Personal Progress, we had a "Round Robin" night where we chose 3 different values that could be done in one night and gave each girl 20 minutes in each value class. Some of them were able to sign off 3 that night. It was a real boost for them.

VALUE QUILT: - Each month for the first seven months, make a simple quilt block for the monthly value. Once a month for the last five months, piece together and tie the quilts! If they are done simply, each girl can have one!

PERSONAL PROGRESS INTERVIEW: - Our ward does a monthly interview with the young women, one on one, to track their progress and encourage continued work in their personal progress books. It also helps us to become acquainted with each girl on a person level, and bond friendships with them.

SURVIVAL KITS: - Our ward YW President recently put together Standards of Personal Worthiness "Survival Kits" for each of our young women, to give to them during our Personal Progress Interviews.

In a ziploc sandwich bag, place a sheet of paper with the following typed on it: (also include each item listed)
-Pray in Private Regularly
   To "Secure" your relationship with the Lord (a safety pin)
-Seek the Guidance of the Spirit
   Feel the warmth of the Holy Ghost as it "Lights" your way. (a candle and match)
-Honor Father and Mother
   They will be a "Lifesaver" for you! (a lifesaver)
-Be morally clean
   Keep yourself clean and pure (a small bar of soap)
-Obey the Word of Wisdom
   Be "Gauze" it's a commandment! (gauze)
-Be Honest in Thought, Word, and Action
   Always let your thoughts, words, and actions "Reflect" honesty (a small mirror, or foil taped to a cut out of a mirror)
-Pay tithes and offerings
   "Stretch" your money by paying your tithing and offerings (a rubber band)
-Practice the law of the fast
   Don't "Blow it" when it comes to practicing the law of the fast. (a tissue)
-Obey the laws of the land
   "stick" to the laws and avoid "sticky" situations. (a stick of gum)
-Apply the Principles of Repentance and Forgiveness
   To "Heal" any mistakes! (a band-aid)
-Help make family life better
"Bear" one another's burdens (a gummy bear)
-Refrain from swearing, gossip, criticizing others, and other unworthy speech.
   "Button" your lip against all unworthy speech. (a button)
-Avoid all Immoral and Suggestive Materials and Entertainment.
   "Lick" temptation! Don't participate in activities that aren't appropriate. (a lollipop)
-Be an Example of the Lord's word in Thought, Speech, Action, and Appearance.
   Let your light "shine"   (another candle)
-Participate in Church meetings/Participate in Seminary where Possible
   To help "Point" you in the right direction (a needle or pin stuck through a piece of card stock)
-Learn from experience the Blessing of work and the Sweetness of Service
   Taste the "sweetness" of Service as you learn the blessings of work. (a Werther's candy)

PERSONAL PROGRESS RECORDS: - The Distribution Center has a one-page form entitled "Young Women Personal Progress Record Sheet". They are free. Form #31499.

LAUREL 2 PERSONAL PROGRESS: - (Make something that will represent your understanding of and commitment to the Young Women Them. It should be something that can serve as a reminder of your commitment to gospel values throughout your life.) We met as a group and made heart wreaths on a small 6-8 inch embroidery hoop. The hearts were made up in the value colors with cheap but cute calico fabric. We hand stitched them, stuffed them and sewed a button to match in the center. We then glued them onto the hoop and tied a ribbon at the top. They were really easy and fun. The hearts were about 2 inches across in diameter if I remember correctly. We also wrapped the hoop in a neutral fabric because you could see parts of the hoop between the hearts.

LAUREL 2 PERSONAL PROGRESS: - Our Laurels mounted a copy of the young women theme on a wooden plaque, tole painted it around the edges for decoration, and then sealed it with varnish.

POPCORN ACTIVITY: - We had a "POP" for Personal Progress Night where we had a popcorn bar and had stations for each Value with goal they could either finish in one night or at least get started on. We used the idea out of the Bright Impressions YW Leadership Ideas by Sabina Bigelow and Sabina Susan Bytheway.

INTERVIEW FORM: - We put down things the Bishop would ask to get to know the young woman personally, as well as things to interview her about re: her RESPONSIBILITIES for her age group, taken directly from the Personal Progress manual: There are little lines right next to these items on the form for the Bishop to check them off, or fill them in if necessary, make sense? Each age group has one section. After all the age group sections, there are areas to keep track of Leadership Experience (i.e. serving in presidencies and when), camp experiences (certification levels), temple experiences (baptisms for the dead and when), seminary experiences, a large box to check off all of their Personal Progress value experiences, a place to record when they received reports of progress, a place to record when they received age group recognition awards, a place to record Laurel Value Projects, and a place to record when they received their Young Womanhood Recognition award, also a section to write notes.

BEEHIVE I INTERVIEW FORM: - (taken from Personal Progress book)
Beehive 1 Responsibilities: Stand for truth and righteousness by living the Standards of Personal Worthiness (PP, page 9).
Plan and participate in a regular program of scripture study.
Attend Church meetings regularly.
Keep a journal.
Begin a personal history.
Understand the Young Women Theme and Motto. (PP, pages 6, 8).
Understand the Mission Statement for the Beehives (PP, page 14)
Understand the definition that describes each Young Women value (PP, page 7).
Understand the following scriptures relating to truth from the Book of Mormon: Alma 5:46, Ether 4:11
Complete at least two experiences for each Young Women Value. (Check boxes on back page of this form)
Hobbies/Special Interest/Talents:
Life Time Goals:
Educational/Career Goals:
Steps Initiated for Temple Worthiness:
Gospel Knowledge:
First Principles and Ordinances:
Temple Work:
Others:
Youth Comments:
Testimony:
Please share with me two blessings you have recently received: