Summer+Leadership+Institute+2

Summer Leadership Institute My group of campers from Summer 2010 What is it? SLI is a week long program right at the beginning of summer break. This program is for students entering eighth grade in the fall. In the Athens School District, in eighth grade, students move from middle school to junior high. This can be very stressful for students. SLI teaches students organizational skills, confidence boosters, and as it's title suggest, leadership skills. Each spring approximately 60 seventh grade students receive personalized invitations from History teacher, Bishop. Bishop created this camp in the summer of 2008, and students have been excited to see if they receive an invitation ever since. Counselors are chosen from the high school, and have a week of training before the actual camp.

Why would students want to spend a week of their summer at school? This camp is not only educational and beneficial, but it is also fun for students. Each day starts with an ice breaker activity that can range from passing through a spider web to slamming your hand down on a mouse trap with your eyes closed! Each activity builds character through teamwork, trust, or just learning to let go and have a little fun! Throughout the day students complete various activities with their counselors.

 What are some of the activities?  Students participate in a variety of activities that build team building skills, trust skills, organizational skills, and others.



 Campers must learn to trust their partners as they slam their partner guides there hand over a mouse trap. Once their hand is centered, the camper must slam their hand down on top of the trap!



 In this team building exercise, campers must get their entire team across the "spider web." Of course, there is a catch; each hole can only be used once! Why is this considered community service? Along with being a counselor, I also participated in the community service the students did. In summer 2009, the campers painted picnic benches and pulled weeds at a local park and ice cream stand. Pictured below, in summer 2010, the campers and counselors put on a fun day for students in a summer day care program. Each group at camp was in charge of a different station. These stations included: water relays, an obstacle course, crafts, snacks, and a reader's theater (pictured below).

