Session 7 Week 1

Being away from home, sleeping in a tent (some for the first time), getting dirty with no showers, being surrounded by other young people 24/7 X 4, being challenged to go outside of your comfort zone and do hard things… Survival Camp is hard for everyone all in different ways. While there is never a question of whether or not the heroes will survive at Survival Camp, there is a question of whether or not they will thrive. Survival Camp was a mixture of DELTA run workshops, a parent run shooting range, outings (Kanarra Falls hike and bouldering), meal prep and clean up, night time activities, tribal challenges and free time. Look at the pictures, read about it, talk to your heroes… not only did they survive, they thrived!!!

DELTA Studio workshops: The DELTA heroes each created a 15-20 minute workshop based on a survival topic that was interesting to them. Fire Studio heroes chose which of the workshops sounded most interesting to them. Two DELTAs created a schedule. And 3 hours of learning and fun was created.

Woodworking: Heroes learned about knife safety and then were challenged to create a spoon or a pencil. Many heroes worked on their wood carvings throughout the entire week!
First Aid: Heroes learned some first aid basics and then practiced scenarios.
Water distilling: Heroes learned the basics of water distilling and then practiced distilling water.
Shelter building: Heroes tried to build their shelter in a certain amount of time before they were pelted with “rain” from the DELTA heroes leading the workshop
Arts & Crafts: Heroes could choose to paint or make their own paracord bracelet.
Fire Building: Heroes reviewed the basic components of fire building and then had 3 matches to start their fire and see how long and high it would burn.
Knots: No survival camp is complete without a review of our knots!

One could argue that workshops could be boring. But when young people get to choose their topics and the workshops are run by amazing DELTA heroes, survival workshops are amazing!

Shooting Range

One of the workshop options that the heroes could choose from was the shooting range. Our amazing parent volunteers ran the shooting range in a safe and fun way. It was a highlight for many!

Outings

Our Tuesday outing was to Kanarra Falls. The hike was absolutely beautiful and provided the right amount of challenge and/or intrigue (either because of cold water, tight spaces or a decent hike). One hero sat on the side for about 10 minutes refusing to go. In the end, he not only finished the hike, but said that it was his favorite part of Survival Camp… grit!

Wednesday’s outing was to an awesome bouldering spot. For some of the older heroes this was the most challenging part of survival camp. Finding finger holds, trusting your spotter, getting high off the ground – every hero there chose to be brave and try at least one climb!

Meal prep and clean up

In true CHOICE fashion there was no free ride. Heroes prepped and cleaned up each meal with a DELTA hero Meal Captain leading the way. I received one report of a not excellently cleaned up meal, but otherwise it was awesome to behold!

Nighttime activities

DELTA heroes planned nighttime activities for each night.

S’mores by the fire

A skit night where every hero participated – it was hilarious (whether or not you could understand what was happening)!

DELTA hero sleep out where they were only allowed a tarp, 40 ft of rope, a sleeping bag and a pillow. If you wanted a sleeping pad you had to trade something out for it. The boys were super creative, whittling sticks for their stakes, finding the right trees, and spent a few hours building:

The girls just went to sleep!

Tribal challenges

Guides separated us (young people and parents) into 6 different tribes. Each day we had tribal challenges where we received beads for completing, and winning the challenge. An onlooker commented on the incredible attitudes of the older heroes and how they all helped each other! Every hero participated.

We created flags and cheers:

We made boats out of cardboard, put a hero in the boat and swam them back and forth across the pond before they sunk – on the cold, rainy day!

We ate bugs (really far out of many hero’s comfort zones!)

We made it across the lava field

We carried each other in a homemade stretcher

We shot balls into buckets with a sling shot

We solved word riddles

We timed ourselves hanging

And we did it all as a team!!!

Free Time

I couldn’t decide what I enjoyed more during free time: joining in with all the fun that the heroes so kindly invited me to join in, or sitting and watching them enjoy one another. There were so many amazing options to choose from…

Ziplining (we even did it in the dark!)

Paddle boarding and canoeing

Fishing (two heroes even cooked and ate their fish!)

Swinging

One Night Werewolf

Sliding down the hill in plastic bags

Lawn games

Thursday morning it was time to take down our little tent city. We packed up (with amazing mentoring from our DELTA heroes), cleaned, awarded our final tribal award and then closed camp with character call outs. There seems no better way to end anything than with gratitude.

Why did the heroes thrive at Survival Camp? Many reasons I think: They played games with, hiked with, fished with and enjoyed being with heroes of all ages (including adults). They participated in everything: No hero was too cool, and heroes pushed themselves into their challenge zones. They had choices. They had responsibilities. They did hard things. They displayed grit. They helped one another. They were kind to one another. They worked hard and they played hard. It was an amazing week! (They were already asking about next year??!?!?)

And while the older heroes were at Survival Camp, our youngest heroes were thriving back at CHOICE. While we maintained a sense of routine this week in the Spark Studio, with survival camp, Iowa testing, volunteers, new squads, new materials and new Montessori works, there was plenty of spontaneity and excitement! The Spark Studio usually has 4 squads per session, selected and named by the guides. This session learners chose their own squad and came up with a squad name. Everyone signed their name on the paper as a sign that they agreed to the squad name. This session we have the Bob Squad, the Blue Dada Whale Squad, the Teamwork Squad, and the Cool Zelda Squad. Each squad introduced themselves this week, complete with disco ball lights and an intro song of course!

Learners are creating their own Montessori works this session. They are learning about using materials for a specific purpose, improving it, and getting feedback on the work they created. Learners have created works about the planets, life cycles, mixing colors, finding patterns, exchanging money, and more. 

Learners create new things outside every day. Their creative thinking is amazing to observe. A few new materials added to the fun this week.

During a launch this week, each team needed to pick a person to fulfill different roles. One team had 2 people who really wanted to fulfill a certain role. One hero suggested, “You could do Rock, Paper, Scissors.” The learners quickly did Rock, Paper, Scissors and the winner assumed the desired role. The loser graciously accepted his loss and joined the team to continue on with the game. This all played out with no assistance from the guide; it is so fun to see the heroes growth.

The game continued… 2 trays were set up around the corner with materials displayed on them. The “peeker person” was able to peek around the corner at the setup. They came back to their team and used their words to direct the team to recreate the setup. The “peeker person” was not allowed to touch the materials. Team members couldn’t peek around the corner, but relied solely on the instructions given to move the materials to recreate the scene. Team members figured out how to work together, be creative, and ask great questions.

As I look at the list of why the heroes thrived at Survival Camp, as I look at the reasons why the Spark heroes thrived at CHOICE this week, it seems like those reasons are the same reasons they thrive in life. Our hope is that every day our heroes are not preparing just to survive life, but to live their potential and thrive! (And have a blast while doing so!)