Our New Beginnings theme was “Embark Airlines” – this idea of a pretend flight has been used in a variety of ways in different organizations over the years, and others have done this same thing this year to go along with our youth theme, so I am borrowing heavily from many sources that I can’t pinpoint. Basically, we put on a fake airplane flight in our chapel overflow room. All current YW participated and all 11 year old girls who turn 12 this year and their parents were invited to attend. Everyone was excited to do something out of the ordinary for New Beginnings this year!
We sent personalized airline ticket invitations to each incoming beehive. I also posted this advertisement on Facebook.
The YW were very involved in the planning. All class presidency members became flight-attendants. They planned all of this themselves (how they would look like flight attendants, who had which assignments, etc). Our girls decided to wear scarves, make name tags, and wear black skirts or pants so that they all looked uniform. One girl took “tickets” at the door and passed out programs. Another girl passed out YW theme cards, FTSOY books, and barf-bags that we had made (brown paper sacks that said “barf bag” – just for fun, but they could also use them to carry home their handouts). Another girl demonstrated the emergency procedures. The others passed out the refreshments (peanuts & water that we had decorated and assembled during the previous Mutual).
Here are some of our flight attendants and a close-up of the name tags. Sorry, I don’t have any of these saved to share with you, but I made everything on picmonkey site, like I always do and its very easy to create your own printables and/or postables.
Chairs were arranged in the overflow like an airplane would be, with a row down the middle. My Counselor and I sat up in the front (facing the group) and acted as pilot & co-pilot. I used a microphone to sound more “legit” as I conducted from the “cockpit”. See my script at the bottom of this post.
Although all of the other young women were passengers, we assigned all of them at least one job as well. Here is the program we used (most of the blanks were filled by non-class-presidency-member yw because the flight attendants were busy with their duties):
_______________ Ward
New Beginnings 2015
Pilot: ___________________ (Young Women President)
Co-Pilot: _______________ (2nd Counselor in the Young Women Presidency)
Flight Attendants (Class Presidency members): ______________ _____________ _______________
Welcome Aboard!
In-Flight Opening Song: “Put your Shoulder to the Wheel”
In-Flight Chorister: _________________
Opening Prayer: ______________
Emergency Procedures & YW Theme (Flight Attendants)
Introduction of First Time Flyers (the 11 year old girls): ___________________
Introduction of Frequent Flyers (the young women): _____________________
(Light Snack will be served, please remain seated)
In-Flight Entertainment:
______________ _________________ ____________________ ____________________
Introduction to the 2015 youth theme: Beehive Class
In-Flight Movie: “O Ye that Embark”
Statement from the Air-Marshal __________ (Bishopric member over youth)
Closing Remarks from the Pilot _____________________ (YW President)
Closing Prayer: _______________________
Thank you for flying Embark Airlines! We hope you will enjoy embarking in the service of God and serving him with all your heart, might, mind, and strength!
- For the In-Flight Entertainment, we had asked some of the current YW to come forward and share their favorite Mutual activity, Sunday lesson, or just their favorite thing about YW in general.
- For the Introduction to the 2015 youth theme, I printed portions of the youth theme scripture (Doctrine & Covenants 4:2) on different pieces of paper. The Beehive Class came up and were handed the stack of papers and times to see how fast they could work as a group to put the papers in the right order (16 seconds!). When they were done, we all read the scripture together out loud.
- The In-Flight Movie “O Ye that Embark” is available on lds.org in the youth section here. It is the 2015 youth theme song video. Its only about 4 minutes long, but its really powerful.
- Also, NOT LISTED IN THE PROGRAM that we handed out, we had a surprise (planned) late-arrival of a YW with large amounts of luggage who (comically) kept trying to stow her bags in the (non-existent)overheard compartments or shove them under peoples seats. This was just for fun and was a big hit.
See the script below for full details of the program…..
FLIGHT SCRIPT (# indicates a pause because of a presentation, or just a pause for effect):
Good evening passengers. This is your captain speaking. On behalf of myself and my co-pilot ___________________, I’d like to welcome everyone to Embark Airlines, where we will be traveling nonstop to New Beginnings, departing in just a few minutes…
#
ladies and gentlemen, it seems that we have a late arrival – a passenger from a connecting flight is running down the fairway, so we’re going to stop for her – and that will mean a short delay in our departure, but we will be getting underway in just a few minutes…
# (pause while late-passenger enters & performs)
If the flight attendants could please prepare the cabin for departure, we have one brief announcement. if you look to the right of the plane, you’ll see that ______________________(insert any YW announcements here) ______________________
#
Before we take off, we will begin with an in-flight opening song “Put your Shoulder to the Wheel”. __________________ will be our chorister, followed by a prayer given by _______________. After the song and prayer, please relax and enjoy the rest of the flight.
#
Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the flight crew I ask that you please direct your attention to the the flight attendants as we review the emergency procedures. Should the cabin experience sudden pressure loss, stay calm and listen for instructions from the cabin crew. Oxygen masks will drop down from above your seat. Place the mask over your mouth and nose, like this. Pull the strap to tighten it. If you are traveling with small children, make sure that your own mask is on first before helping your children. In the unlikely event of an emergency landing and evacuation, leave your carry-on items behind. We ask that you make sure that all carry-on luggage is stowed away safely during the flight. Most importantly, Please remember to keep your heart, might, mind and strength in the upright and locked position.
If you are a first-time flier, please refer to your pink YW theme handout. At this time, I am turning off the fasten seat belts sign so that everyone may stand and join us in reciting the YW Theme. Flight attendants, please lead the passengers in reciting the YW theme.
#
The captain is turning on the fasten seatbelts sign, Please return to your seats.
#
At this time, we invite ___________________ to come to the front of the aircraft to introduce our first-time fliers.
#
Next, we invite _____________________________ to come to the front of the aircraft to introduce our frequent fliers.
#
Ladies and gentlemen, we ask that you remain seated as our flight attendants will be coming through the cabin with a light snack.
#
At this time, we invite ______________ ________________ _____________ ________________ _______________ to come to the front of the aircraft to tell us their favorite thing about being in YW
#
At this time, we invite the current Beehive Class members to present the 2015 youth theme.
#
For tonight’s in-flight movie, we will be showing the short film “O ye that embark”. We hope that you enjoy it.
#
Ladies and gentlemen, please direct your attention to the front of the aircraft for an official statement from the Air-Marshal
#
As we begin our descent back to the _____________________________ Ward Airport, we’d like to thank you for being part of our New Beginnings Event tonight. We hope that you will enjoy being a part of the Young Womens Organization and all that it has to offer. Not only do we have fun, but we also learn important skills, give meaningful service, and grow our personal testimonies. We hope that you will join us again as soon, as soon as you turn 12.
On behalf of the flight crew, we would know like to wish you a closing prayer by ________________________
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