Summer Plus: It Takes a Village
Summer Plus is a workshop-based program for local youth ages 12-17. Historically, Summer Plus was led by the staff and volunteers of our Adults in Ministry program. This year, it looked a bit different. This year, through the collaborative efforts of the Mountain T.O.P. staff, board members, and partner organizations, 15 young people enjoyed the richness of camp anew.
A day at Summer Plus starts with a daily theme and a warm-up activity before participants are sent off to spend their mornings in two different workshops of their choosing. Teens could choose between construction, Bible study, finance, and creative arts. In the construction workshop, participants learned how to use power tools by building new sets of cornhole boards. In the Bible study workshop, participants learned about reading the Bible, how to interpret it for themselves, and how much Jesus loves them. In the finance workshop, participants learned about saving, spending, debt, and budgeting. They even took a special field to the Altamont branch of Citizens Tri-County Bank to learn about setting up accounts! In the creative arts workshop, participants experimented with watercolor painting, collaging, poetry, and storytelling.
After lunch, everyone gathered to hear from a community speaker who correlated with the day’s theme. Throughout the week, themes of creativity, trust, perseverance, love, and journeying home were explored. Every day, participants were invited to try new skills, learn a new way of looking at something, broaden their perspective, and keep expanding their comfort zone. This is what we love about Summer Plus! Each day comes as a new invitation. Each day contains the possibility to discover something new about themselves or their community. Each day there are people present to guide our teens as they explore all that awaits them.
From the very beginning, Mountain T.O.P. has relied on strategic partnerships to accomplish our mission. Partners come in the form of governmental agencies, churches, schools, businesses, and other nonprofits. This year’s Summer Plus was the perfect example of partnership and collaboration. We reaped the generous benefits of our relationships with 4 local agencies as they led workshops and guest speaker sessions. Growing Roots, Grundy Safe Communities Coalition, Grundy County Saddle Club, and the Housing Hub all offered their presence and expertise.
On Friday, Summer Plus wraps up with Celebration. Families are invited to attend, share lunch, and hear all the highlights from the week of camp. Each workshop recaps what they did together and each participant receives a backpack full of goodies. In addition to those backpacks, workshop leaders share about each participant. They brag about their creativity, they lift up their leadership skills, they affirm their courage to try new things, and they share about their curiosity, humor, wisdom, or energetic spirit.
In other words, each participant hears:
You matter.
We see you.
You belong.
We are proud of you.
We all know the adage, “It takes a village.” At Summer Plus, our village is committed to helping teens try new things and experience new skills. At Summer Plus, teens see that their village includes local leaders and people just like them. At Summer Plus, we create a village of love, support, and learning.
We are thankful for all the folks in our village who made Summer Plus possible. We are especially thankful for the teens who participated in Summer Plus. We are proud of you! We can’t wait to see you next summer!
