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.