Youth Environment Camp

At the end of July, I had the privilege of spending 4 days with the Leaders in Training (LIT)  at the Albion Neighbourhood Services Boys and Girls Club Camp. I programmed a week of activities to discuss sustainable cities, environmental impacts and community engagement.

We covered the room in paper and drew sustainable cities. The blank canvas gave the youth an opportunity to create amazing landscapes  about recycling, transportation systems, free community centres to get fit at, buildings with green roofs and garbage free zones.

We worked on a Needs-Assets-Ideas map. We produced hundreds of ideas. And from that we pulled 10 ideas to turn into projects for the week.

Did you know that youth between 12 and 16 really like post-it notes? They hoard them by the bundles.

Teamwork was very important to getting the projects done, so we worked on collaboration, competitiveness and action.

The very popular marshmallow challenge inspired by Tom Wujec from Autodesk. This challenge promotes prototyping, idea generating and rapid building.

Working with 20 pieces of spaghetti, 4 marshmallows, masking tape and string.

This project had a slow start, there were lots of questions and doubt, but with a little encouragement and curiosity the teams started assembling tiny towers and through their competitive nature they continued building strong and taller towers. Eventually the winning tower was 15inches tall.

All teams were happy to eat marshmallows as prizes.

Outdoor scavenger hunt and marshmallow challenge both created an ambiance for teamwork and creative ideas flow.

The outdoor scavenger hunt was overwhelmingly successful.

Each team ran across the field collecting answers to clues and figuring out items that are recycled, well designed, playful, squeaky, bouncy to name a few.

We drew “I wish” statements in chalk outside. Each statement was made with the intention of coming true when the rain washed it away. This was a commitment to making action to making our dreams come true.

There was lots of learning and discovery between team mates and between all the LIT’s. They were growing more confident with their team work and collaboration skills. We began work on the ideas that had been chosen from the Needs-Assets-Ideas mapping exercise.

In teams, LIT’s worked on signage to help promote healthy living, recycling, and ultimately saving the earth. Additionally, two healthy living programs were implemented as well. Dancing and Basketball skills. We also spent a lot of time playing with clay and making recycled jewelery.

After all the LIT’s hard work, we talked about making commitments to making change in our communities. Respect goes a long way to keeping a community connected and maintained. Each person can make change in their community by simply making the decision to do so.

I had a great 4 days with the Albion Neighbourhood Services Boys and Girls Club LIT’s!!!!!

Thank you so much, I learned something from each and every one of you.