NAD YLC: It Begins With You

The time is finally here! For the past two weeks, we have been busy with our staff training and welcoming our 63 new campers to the 43^rd Youth Leadership Camp (YLC)! On July 12^th, the NAD YLC staff assembled in Oregon, very anxious to get our training before the campers arrived. This year was longer than usual with 10 days of staff training where team-building activities, workshops, and leadership development were covered. The highlight of the training was when we created our team name: NEXUS!

We were thrilled to have Shira Grabelsky, from the DEEP organization, to give a day-long workshop on the concept of “Leave No Trace” (LNT). She also joined us for few days and shared her expertise and knowledge in wilderness philosophy.

Amy Weeks, from Pennsylvania, reflected, “I do have a lot of knowledge about outdoor living skills, but I never knew how to train other people by sharing my knowledge. After the staff training, I felt very prepared for the campers and developed new skills of how to teach campers to discover their skills as well.”

We felt humbled to have Maureen Behrens provide a workshop on Love and Logic: Anti-Bullying. Behrens will return and present on anti-bullying for the campers, which definitely will be a rewarding experience.

The staff received an in-depth training by Stephanie Johnson regarding Anti-Bias/Sensitivity which truly touched our hearts.

Upon the completion of the training, the day we have been preparing for finally arrived on July 23^rd. Our 63 campers, who were ready to learn, set their foot on the grounds of Camp Taloali . We opened up an ice breaker game which was led by camp counselors, Derrick Behm and Amanda Geffen, along with a kick-off cookout filled with delicious burgers and hotdogs which were prepared by our awesome chefs.

The 1st group of campers that arrived at the airport.

The 2nd group that arrived at the aiport.

“When I first arrived to YLC, I was really nervous,” said Natalie Grace from Georgia, “But, it was more of a confident-nervous kind of feeling. I do have a stage fright, but I am looking forward for YLC to teach me how to overcome this.”

Joshua and Amy are excited that the campers are on their way to camp!

The campers and staff are playing the “I Say Go” game.

Jacob Thorton from Ohio mentioned that he was very impressed with how all campers arrived at camp with high motivation and assertiveness to gain knowledge from NAD YLC.

On July 24^th, we had Initiation Day which means the campers had the opportunity to get acquainted with each other as well do some self-assessment. Before we began, all of our campers and staff took the Myers-Briggs Task Inventory (MBTI) test. Each of us were able to reflect on our existing leadership styles.

When we completed the MBTI test, the campers underwent a process of grouping up where they eventually ended up in four different teams, respectively. These four groups will remain as teams for the entire month. They will be creating their new team names soon!

As part of the initiation day, the campers learned their teammates’ names and enjoyed different team-building activities to establish connections among each other. One of the team-building activities was to build a catapult. Each team had to build a catapult to present to the staff. The four teams accomplished the activity with flying colors!

On July 25^th, the campers began their day by attending the Leadership Development Program (LDP) training which is facilitated by our camp director, Jonathan Kessel. We also had the pleasure of having Usherla DeBerry come here and give a workshop on the importance of “Customer Service.” The campers enjoyed her presentation and learned a lot of new tips for proper customer service. The campers continued their day with different classes, evening program and finished the day with a fireside chat.