This past month, two of Moorelands Kids’ afterschool programs, LED and VITAL, embarked on a spring leadership retreat to Moorelands Camp. The retreat is a great opportunity for our participants from our LED and VITAL programs to come together at Moorelands Camp at Kawagama Lake for an outdoor experience focused on building leadership skills. Over 40 participants explored challenges, consolidated leadership learnings and expanded their personal networks as well as their community connections.
The retreat also serves as a great introduction to Moorelands Camp. Participants are able to engage in some of the activities they would if they attended Camp, such as: fire building, archery, field games, various sports, egg drop challenge etc. As Moorelands Camp is nestled in the great outdoors, the participants had an opportunity to engage in fun new outdoor activities they may not have access to in the afterschool programs in the city.
Participants from the LED and VITAL programs also had the chance to meet each other, which allowed them to create new connections with other youth across Toronto. It provides them with a great opportunity to establish new relationships with other people going through similar situations.
Finally, the retreat offered a chance for participants to reflect on how they will continue to use their newly honed skills at the end of program. They went over what they learned, and thought about how they could apply their leadership skills to their own communities, schools and workplaces.
The leadership retreat continues to be a great way to end the Moorelands Kids after school programs for the year. The participants are able to contemplate everything they’ve learned over the last year and celebrate the connections they’ve created with one another.