BOLD & GOLD magic doesn’t stop when summer ends. During the fall, several of our programs partner with schools to run camping, backpacking and climbing trips for their students. BOLD & GOLD instructors collaborate with teachers to set up their classes for success by helping them form connections, build positive communities, and develop leadership skills.

This month we talked with Seattle BOLD & GOLD instructor Jessie Dirks and middle school science teacher Elliot Skopin about how these trips support school-year relationships. Through setting up tents, learning to belay, and pitching in to cook group meals, students learn how to advocate for their needs, support one another, and step up as leaders. Our hope is that they can take these skills straight from the campground into their classrooms and put them to use throughout the academic year. 

Open Window students climbing in Central Washington  

MAKING SPACE FOR NEW CONNECTIONS

Elliot Skopin is a middle school science teacher at Open Window School in Seattle. This fall he joined his eighth grade class for a three-day climbing trip with BOLD & GOLD in Vantage, Washington. A K-8 school, many Open Window students have been in class with the same group for years, and they’ve formed close bonds with their peers. Since eighth grade may be the last year they have together, Skopin says the students are very focused on spending time with their existing friends. 

On every school partnership program, BOLD & GOLD divides up the class into trail groups with about 8-12 students. In these smaller pods, they go rock climbing and hiking, play games, and share evening reflections. Skopin recalled one student who was placed in a group without anyone she considered to be her close friends. Though she had some initial hesitation, by the end of the trip she was surprised by how much she enjoyed spending time with other students in her class. 

Away from the comfort of the daily classroom routines, students have the opportunity to take on new challenges and spark new connections. In particular, climbing was an activity that students were excited but nervous to try. BOLD & GOLD instructors teach students to both climb and belay, giving them a tangible way to practice supporting one another.

Each night, groups debrief the day with a ritual called a Courage Circle. To Skopin, one of the most powerful parts of the week was an evening activity called "Ownerships." BOLD & GOLD Instructors coach students to take ownership for their behavior; they reflect back on the day, naming something they did well and something they want to try to work on in the future. Students have space to slow down and build self awareness, which they can take to their classrooms, sports teams, and families back at home.

PRACTICING COMPASSION THROUGH ROCK CLIMBING

After spending the summer leading backpacking trips through Seattle’s BOLD & GOLD program, Jessie Dirks helped lead three overnight climbing trips for Seattle-area schools this fall. On one of these trips, Dirks noticed as soon as they sat down on the bus that their group was struggling with respecting one another. This seventh grade class was full of tight knit social groups, some of which were showing exclusive behavior to a few young people who were new to the school or returning from a year away. 

Dirks knew they needed to address this dynamic right away. On the first night, they led an activity called “Spikers and Soothers.” Dirks asked participants to imagine how animals react instinctively when they are feeling scared, like a rattlesnake that shifts its rattle when someone gets too close. They then invited students to share something that makes them feel on edge and how the group might help them soothe that feeling. 

This gave students the space to share openly with one another, and one of the students who had been experiencing exclusion said “I don’t feel good when people are mean to me.” A powerful statement coming from a peer, the group was then able to brainstorm ways to do a better job treating one another with respect. Students directly apologized to one another for hurtful behavior, and they began to understand that they had a lot of room for growth. 

During the days that followed, the students tried rock climbing and learned how to belay one another. Dirks says this is unique to their experience at the Y; other programs often require adults to be the belayers, which is an essential role that acts as the “brake” in a climbing system if the climber slips. BOLD & GOLD instructors take the time to help students practice enough to gain confidence with that skill. “That empowers them to be responsible for each other’s safety,” says Dirks, “and I think that is a really big driver for them to bond really quickly and build trust.” 

Students learn to take in slack, so the rope is tight while another student is climbing. They cheer on other climbers as they make their way up the routes. Then at night, instructors take the activities they did during the day and discuss how students will transfer the lessons they learned to the next nine months. “Having those reflection activities at the end of the day is the “golden, sweet sauce,” where we have them talk through things - that’s where the learning happens,” says Dirks 

By the end of the three day trip, Dirks says they watched their group run through a field together, singing with arms linked. They were still learning how to adjust their behaviors, but they knew they had to treat one another better. Dirks felt that this group really needed this trip. “If they had just been plopped in a classroom, these dynamics would have festered for months instead of addressing what they needed to grow.” Instead they returned to school with the tools to empathize and treat one another with respect.

Classmates practice teamwork by setting up tents together at camp

Our leadership team just wrapped up the annual Harvest Session at Camp Hi-Rock in Western Massachusetts. Leaders from BOLD & GOLD sites all over the country came together to debrief the summer, problem solve, learn new skills, and make plans for the coming year. Below are some of their reflections from their week together.

"I came out of the Harvest with a feeling of connection to my peers, the work we are doing, and a lot of excitement for the future. It was clear that the goal authentic engagement in our programs goes beyond just the participants. As a new person to BOLD & GOLD, I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to meet the other leaders face to face because now I have a community to lean on." 

- Shannon Barger, YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles

"The value of bringing together like-minded BOLD & GOLD professionals cannot be overstated. We all hold similar goals in our individual camps and branches and working toward those together can only make us stronger and more likely to reach them. In person connection is a great way to establish the bonds that will carry us through this next year as a team."

- Abby Sullivan, YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago