The Hands4Hope Education Team, along with the Youth Board Executive Committee, hosted The Wild West - Hands4Hope Leadership Camps for elected leaders of Hands4Hope's on-campus service-learning clubs, which span 13 high school and middle school campuses from Folsom to Placerville. A total of 57 leaders attended The Wild West.
Both camps were designed to welcome new and catch up with returning leaders through a series of workshops and team building activities. The Wild West theme was a fun way to inspire and motivate leaders, new and returning, to push themselves to their next level of leadership. The workshops included: Service-Learning using IPARD (Investigation, Plan, (take) Action, Reflect, Demonstrate/Celebrate); Goal Development; Communication; and How to Facilitate a Meeting. Staff and youth board executive committee leaders worked hard to make the camps fun and engaging, and are excited to see all of the leaders prepared and ready to start the year.
High School camp was held for three days in late July in beautiful Portola at the Sierra Nevada Journeys Grizzly Creek Ranch. Youth participated in Hands4Hope designed and facilitated workshops, as well as low and high ropes and team building facilitated by Sierra Nevada Journey staff.
Middle school camp was held for two days on the lovely grounds of Cold Springs Church in Placerville, where youth leaders participated in workshops facilitated by the Youth Board Executive Committee Team. On the third day, staff and middle school leaders went to the Mother Lode River Center in Coloma to challenge themselves with low ropes and team building activities.
"I liked learning about my job responsibilities." "I liked listening to the Youth Board talk about their experiences." "A tool I learned at camp is how to write a professional letter." "My favorite session was the ropes course. I got to know my team better, and it was really fun!"
We love hearing this feedback from the 2023 Middle School Leadership Camp participants!
Thank you to all the leaders who attended both camps and to all who worked so hard to make these important experiences happen. The 2023-24 On-Campus Club Year is off to a great start!