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Tour Groups at Conley's Funeral Home

For over twenty-five years, Conley Funeral Home has been welcoming students of all ages for educational tours and teaching programs at local schools, churches and at the funeral home itself. The following pictures give you a "camera's eye view" of just a few of these gatherings.

(Click here for Prayer Garden Photos)

Over the years, we've learned that kids cope better with loss when they're familiar with the funeral home and when they know what's going on with customs like visitation, funerals, burial and cremation.  Many young people on our tours were recently bereaved, facing serious illness in their family or unexpectedly faced a sudden death within the same year. Students always have the choice of not coming or stepping out of the group with their teacher if they become overwhelmed. In retrospect, children tell us the tour really helped them understand things better. Most found also, that their friends were more understanding because everyone shared this experience.
 

The second grade tour is brief and focuses on comfort and knowing what to do at the funeral home, including, being a pall bearer. The children make a huge banner (click here to see photo) which contains their hand prints and becomes our tool for teaching the kids our own special "High Five for Help" concept. The kids love it. "High Five" is based on the five letters that spell "T.E.A.R.S". Click here for the whole "T.E.A.R.S" text. for the whole "T.E.A.R.S" text. (Above) Lifting the casket without spilling the glass of water on top. Being a pall Bearer means team work!

The sixth grade tour takes the kids further into understanding grief and funeral customs. We visit the school to get acquainted with the classes, answer questions and explain that the funeral is "first aid for grief". When the sixth grade comes to tour the funeral home, we show them caskets, vaults and monuments, explain funeral arrangements and choices such as different music, creative memories and the basic facts of burial and cremation. (Below) The 6th graders continue the tour.

We also support religious education in area churches by providing special tours for church classes. Here we help pastors and youth leaders as their students grapple with the spiritual questions that surround death and grief. On one occasion, students from the Grace Lutheran Church, Lily Lake had scheduled a class which happened to coincide with a visitation at the funeral home. With permission from the deceased's family, the church class met several members of the family who were about the same age. They shared time in our children's center, exchanged signatures on their Buddy Bears and everyone went away feeling better.

(At left) Grace Lutheran Church Confirmation class meeting a family at the funeral home and learning about our Buddy Bears, making poems and listening as grandchildren tell about their grandfather's life at an actual visitation.

(Below) Buddy Bears: Friends and family members sign the bears as a visible reminder to the children that they have "Buddies" who will help them through the hard times.

We have also been invited to speak at high school classes at Kaneland and Central Schools (among others) and we teach adult classes as well as Stephen's Ministry groups. If you would like more information, just call or drop us a line through this Website at info@conleycare.com.

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