Students from Horizons at Colorado Academy Put Teamwork into Action through Games, Camping, Archery, and Secret-Buddy Challenges.
Written by Harmony Esqueda, Angevine Middle School CAP Instructor & Social Media Coordinator. Horizons at Colorado Academy students were well prepared and excited for another summer adventure that would include archery, games, camping, and teamwork. Before we hopped on the road to Camp Serenity, all students were handed a piece of paper with a “secret buddy” on it, with the goal of secretly supporting their buddy if they ever needed something and catching that person doing something good throughout the trip.
After driving on long winding roads, we finally arrived at our destination, where we all set up our tents at our campsite. One of the first games we played was Human Knot, which although it proved to be frustrating for some students, they stuck it out and kept trying anyway. Their commitment to teamwork and winning the game together was impressive to witness. Afterwards, we played many rounds of Mass Paranoia, and everyone became very invested in it as well. Before dinner, the last game we played was Capture The Flag.
While a few dedicated chefs worked tirelessly and ambitiously to cook everyone dinner, the rest of the crew sat in a crazy creek circle making key chains out of Scoubidou/Gimp – a craft that was nostalgic and brought back childhood memories for the chaperones and instructors. Chefs made an amazing spread of chicken and steak fajitas with sides of guacamole, rice, and beans. To everyone’s delight, it was a delicious gourmet meal, and to everyone’s dismay, it required a lot of dish cleaning afterwards.
To respect the strict fire ban in place, we opted for Tim Tam Slams instead of s’mores for our evening treat. This ritual requires everyone to take one Tim Tam, bite two opposite corners off the cookie, use it like a straw to drink up the hot cocoa, and then slam it into your mouth before it disintegrates. Needless to say, everyone went to sleep that night with a full tummy ready for the next day’s adventure.
The next day, we gathered up for a morning stretch circle, and each person led a stretch and shared a reflection from the night before. We scarfed down some oatmeal, yogurt, and cream cheese bagels before heading over to Staunton State Park for our archery lesson.
Although the weather was scorching hot, we were lucky enough to be under shade as everyone patiently waited for their turn to shoot arrows. Horizons students had the opportunity to do archery on previous trips, which practically meant that they were archery experts. Because everyone was performing so well, the volunteers decided to amp up the stakes and make a game for them using colorful sticky notes on the target that represented different point values. Everyone “locked in” to try to score the highest number of points, and all were great sports when the winner was celebrated. Our trip ended in a debrief focused on praising our “secret buddy”, including the good things we caught them doing, such as helping set up tents, cleaning up after meals, showing good teamwork, and so forth. Everyone left feeling more bonded than when they arrived.
A heartfelt thank you to our incredible Cottonwood Institute donors, sponsors, and event attendees—your support makes outdoor learning experiences like this possible.
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