The Final Post

Today we wrapped up much of our learning here with the RYLA Olympics (although we know the learning doesn't stop once we leave). We applied what we learned and saw how far it was able to take us. We'll be fully capping off the experience tonight with our campfire and tomorrow with our wrap-up presentation.

Although everyone's Camp RYLA experience is unique and special, we all have grown in many ways. Some people feel as if they have become more confident and sociable while other have learned how to ensure that all cabin members are included. One thing is for sure, the friendships and memories we have made will last a lifetime. We can truly attest that Camp RYLA has changed us into improved individuals and leaders. We have become better at working in large groups and communicating. A key concept that has been eye opening was eading from behind. This form of leadership was a great lesson for several campers that taught to lead you don't have to have the loudest voice, yet you can lead through encouraging others to step out of their comfort zones. The campers will be returning home tomorrow and it is safe to expect that your camper will sleep for at least 24 hours. We are sad to leave our new friends, but excited to take back the skills we learned at camp into our daily lives.

CAMP RYLA! REACH FOR THE FUTURE!

Thank for the amazing blog audience, we appreciate your time and support.

- Monroe McCracken, Cristobal Garcia, Kishan Kara

Top 5 Memories (so far...)

Camp RYLA has continued to give campers so many great experiences throughout the week. In fact, some campers can hardly keep track. No need to fear the blog is here to countdown the top 5 moments of camp so far:

1) Troy Stende's Keynote Presentation: Troy's presentation was about the power of words. Words can have an immense impact on the performance of every person, despite what some might believe. The highlight of Troy's presentation however was breaking our "barriers." During this portion of the presentation, campers received a piece of wood which was later used to represent a barrier. Campers were taught how to break the board and to many campers' delight all campers broke their boards with some even shedding a few tears of joy.


2) The Team Challenge Course - The team challenge course was an obstacle course meant to encourage cooperation among all o the participants. The campers all enjoyed crossing obstacles with the help of their cabin. One of the obstacles was the spider web, which had to be crossed with very specific instructions. On the other side of the spectrum was the log which had to be crossed without touching the ground. Overall the event was one of the most fun in the camp.

3) Ragball - The ragball game one of the first team building exercises that all campers did. it was a game involving partners chosen amongst the cabin members being tied together by the hand when they were in the outfield. The other aspect was that campers were made to run towards bases while they were linked with their arms as pairs. The game really got campers working together and set the stage for what was to come for the camp.

4) Round Robins - The Round Robins were the first activities done by the cabin groups. Cabin groups had just been introduced to each other, so many were not immediately ready to work with one another. The puzzles were heavily teamwork dependent, and with hesitant teams this made for quite the challenge to campers. Overall these activities helped cabins not only get to know each other but to also find their flaws when doing teamwork.

5) Facilitators - The facilitators are all members of staff that given keynote presentations regarding aspects of leadership. Among the staff were the names Kevin "Scooter" Ward, Troy Stende, Barron Ryan, Lauren Marold, Megan Hanna, Becca Egger, Jay Greenstein, and upcoming Mendhi Audin. The topics included things such as grit, the importance of hard work, and teamwork. These facilitators all helped campers gain insight into the many aspects of leadership and how to improve on them helping campers become better leaders for the future.

The RYLA Inquisitor: Issue 3

Here is the 3rd issue of the RYLA Inquisitor so you all can read more about what we were up to yesterday! We hope you are all living vicariously through us & enjoying our content!

Finding Yourself

Throughout life you may question yourself, "Who am I?" "What am I going to do with my life?" "How am I going to do it?" The answers to these questions won't come easy and it may take a long time to answers these questions. Campers began to explore these questions with an activity that explored personality types. On the first day of camp, a survey was passed out which contained questions regarding characteristics campers most identify with. Using this quiz, campers were assigned one of four animals. Each animal represented a different group of characteristics unique to personality types. The koala represented the group of campers that were most inclusive. Lions represented the group that was most decisive. The peacocks were the group that were the most creative. Owls were the group that were the most analytical. However campers were assured that no one person is truly just one animal. Most are a conglomerate of different animals. Campers were given an animal that represents their most dominant characteristics. This allowed cabins to identify the diverse personnel within each cabin. Using this knowledge campers were better able to understand their cabin mates and how to cooperate with them. The cabins all made arrangements to which everyone in that cabin would adhere to. With a quick lunch campers were then presented with a show which punished those who were irresponsible and congratulated who were the most responsible. Team building exercises continued with a game of Ragball and obstacle courses.

Ragball was a fun way to play RYLA version of baseball which created new challenged and opportunities for groups bonding. Special rules were made to make the campers have to rely on one another. One if the rules was as that a pair in the outfield had to have their hands tied together which made for some really limited movement. Arms had to be linked together when running shoes towards bases making the campers rely on each other. Teams were also made to cheer for each other to try their best.

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The obstacle course was a very fun activity that really got all the campers moving. The campers had to go through many challenges that not only required teamwork but also energy. There were many unique obstacles such as walking across a log, rolling a barrel, jumping over a pit and other activities.

The scavenger hunt create a situation where campers had to trust and depend on each other to find each of the items. This activity also included a fun, creative aspect for groups who tried to pass objectives off as creative versions of the actual requested item. The scavenger hunt was one of many great opportunities to work together, another being the Egg Drop. The Egg Drop challenged campers to create a safe spaceship for their specially named eggs blasting off into space. The spaceships had to be made solely of stares and tape with the collaboration of all members. Once production was finished, the true drop test challenged the structures of each cabin shuttle. The highly recognized astronauts Spencer tested every single shuttle and unfortunately even cabin faced failure. Despite this,  the true experience lied in supporting each other through every situation and taking time to identify what highs and lows each group had.

Overall the day has been extremely busy with so many activities being done all over the place. Many of the campers are sure to be tired as the night approaches. Campers will have to get a good sleep in order to prepare for the activities that will inevitably come.

RYLA Day Two: Read all about it

We have been running around like crazy from activity to activity & having so much fun along the way. Tonight, we're going to reflect and try to capture it all here.

Until then wanted to send you access to our second newspaper at camp. Read all about our days here (how many days has it been? feels like forever!!!) directly from some of our awesome cabinmates!!!

The Start of the RYLA Experience

Camp RYLA has officially begun and is off to an energetic start. It has only been about twenty-four hours since campers first arrived, yet the yawning and fatigue has already set in. Right away the campers were met with excited cheers as they were pulled out of their cars to enter camp. Moving through the camp students were dropped off at their respective cabins where they received tours of the cabin. But just because this was the first day of camp, they didn’t waste a moment. Campers met their Counselors and other cabin members creating team names. Towards the end of the day campers received the orientation as well as a guest speaker before heading to bed.

The first morning began with Calisthenics at 6:45 AM which for many of the campers was something very unique and energizing to prepare them for the long day ahead. It was a great way to start the day off and encourage competitive cabin spirit with the performances of Cabin chants. With everyone jolted awake campers were sent prepare for the rest of the day, starting with the flag ceremony. Campers had a quick breakfast and then began the fast-paced activities known as the Round Robins. Moving between activities quickly, campers endured many puzzles meant to encourage teamwork and increase fatigue. The different stations had problems that needed to be solved by the cabins using teamwork and communication skills.

Campers at one of many Round Robin activities - the Human Knot

The day continued with a lunch and an amazing experience with special speaker Troy Stende. Troy helped campers identify the power of spoken word and its impacts on individuals. Furthermore, the campers were able to break barriers in their lives as well as a physical wooden board. The board was able to symbolize a unique struggle to each individual camper and how they wished to overcome this obstacle. Campers shared an emotional connection in that moment seeing their friends take large steps to breaking their barriers. The atmosphere was electric and unifying bringing the campers closer than ever before.

Campers were able to finish of the night with an amazing performance by piano prodigy, Baron Ryan. Baron hammered in the points that success doesn’t come without struggle, that greatness is not about what you do but about who you are, and when times are tough don’t think big, think small. Wrapping up the presentation campers went to work with their committees on their daily tasks. Every night is finished with a meaningful and reflective discussion amongst cabin members. Campers are tired yet excited for what is to come.

Welcome to Camp RYLA!

We are happy to share that we have all arrived, made it to our cabins and have already begun the learning and bonding. We hope this blog will keep you up to date on all the things we do and learn this week. Sure to be a lot! Our committee will be responsible for all our social media & keeping you in the know. Let us know if you like what we are sharing or if we should add anything else.

To start off, we want to share a link with you to the first newspaper of the week that was put together by the staff. It will help show what we should expect from this life changing week. We hope you enjoy!!

http://www.smore.com/2x1fd-the-ryla-inquisitor

Stay posted for our blog posts (& photos of course)! We will post later today on some of what we have been working on!

Best,

2018 Media Promotions Committee