Dingoes: This week’s theme for the Dingoes this week was “transition” as they navigated and worked through various changes and challenges; both personally and as a group. The group also seized an opportunity to utilize a hand pulled cart to transport all of their equipment as they hiked to Oasis from the Kegs. Staff witnessed how hard the group members worked together to ensure the success of the entire group. Some of our biggest highlights were the gatherings that took place around a fire underneath a beautiful full moon.
Gnowees: The Gnowees enjoyed some fantastic weather this week, with beautiful sunny days and clear starry nights. Evolving Evergreen left for Peak Week so the students had a ceremony for her before she headed out. Several students enjoyed sharing all of their stories about their experiences of their parent visits last week. The group made a huge improvement on their packup time this week and were getting out of camp earlier every day. We had a chance to welcome a student, who completed first camp, into the Gnowees main camp through a ceremony led by her peers. The students are improving their busting skills every week, and all of the Gnowees busted and blew into flames this week. Spirited Nebula gave herself a challenge to set up the entire shelter by herself, and the staff were impressed with her diligence on a task that usually takes the whole group’s effort. We ended the week with a skills day, with students working on carving spoons, sewing “possibilities” bags, and working on their backpacks. After all of this skills time, the students honored a Gnowee with the “Maker” token for her work on crafting and creating both skills as well as a positive life for herself.
Brumbies: This week in the Brumbies was full of games, ceremonies, and focus on identity. The group started out taking a cross-country hike over some beautiful hills and valleys. We were very proud of each Brumby as they all busted a coal and blew it into flames on their own busting set. The group enjoyed a large batch of fries after accomplishing such a feat! The group also spent a lot of time honoring one another. One Brumby received the trail name “Fiery River” and two others were presented the tokens Winged Heart and Strong Cord. Logistical leadership was passed down from an older Brumby who is preparing to depart from the group. The group learned several new games, including the game Camo, which they loved. It involved being strategic, stealthy, and speedy. Several visitors came to check out the program, providing the group an opportunity to share what they have learned since being in the program. The week concluded with lots of games and time to work on various skills, such as busting and crafting wooden spoons.
Goannas: The group started out small yet doubled in size by the end of the week for a full group. We welcomed several new campers into the group and they have been steadily working on their first camp books and skills. The original four who helped the Goannas group re-emerge, have been brainstorming on ways to create and maintain a healthy and strong group culture that they hoped for all future Goannas to uphold long after they are gone. Since we had a lot of intakes this week, the group mainly worked on skills, group culture, and played a lot of games. We played kick the can, spud, zoogle, catch and several others. We even had a day of exploring where we hiked around mountains and explored a canyon that was close by. We are super excited to see how the group continues to form and grow.
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Peak Week – Adventure Therapy @ outBACK
This week on Peak, we had a fun and dynamic group of students who gathered from all the groups at outBACK. Our first adventure was rock climbing at Shot Gun Alley in St. George. Students were physically and emotionally pushed during the rock climbing portion of the week. They were able to take a deeper look into how their overall approach and mindset experienced while rock climbing replicated the challenges they faced in their everyday lives. The following day we went hiking and explored the lava tubes of Snow Canyon. We also had the chance to explore and hike Cascade Falls in Cedar City.
One of the major points of shifts for the Peak Week crew came when we examined and processed the challenging news of next steps. The group discussed how to navigate the varying emotions and thoughts that bubbled up for the members of the Peak Week Crew. One of the ways in which the students processed was by participating in a “letting go” ceremony performed in our very own sweat lodge.
