PROFILE: Camp Olympia Leadership Training Weekend

12 years ago

Out of 863 students who applied for Focus On Youth, 261 remarkable students were hired to participate in the Focus On Youth (FOY) Program. Participating in FOY required the students to attend a leadership training weekend in order to prepare them for their respective jobs (as a camp counsellor, custodian, in administration or in media). On June 6^th, successful Focus on Youth applicants from different parts of Toronto arrived at Camp Olympia, a leadership/sports camp. They were trained by the FOY coordinators and teachers until June 8^th.

Since there was an overwhelming number of participants, they were divided by their school or centres, with 12 centers in total. Throughout the weekend, the students participated in a rotation of five different workshops. Each workshop’s goal was to sharpen their leadership skills and to build character as individuals. The workshops were:

Anger Management: To sharpen participants’ patience and understanding.

FOY employees doing some exercises (Anger Management)

Games: They are given a booklet filled with different games. They must choose one and clearly explain/demonstrate it to their fellow participants. They also have to run the game.

Equity: To educate the participants about the different kinds of oppression people face.

FOY employees having an outdoor activity (Equity)

Communication: This teaches the participants to speak less and listen more—a critical skill when dealing with campers.

FOY employees attentively listens (Communication)

Coaching: Similar to the Games workshop, in which they have to pick a sport and they have to explain it clearly.

FOY employees explaining the game of volleyball (Coaching)

Arts and Crafts: To give employees ideas of different activities they can offer to campers

FOY employees playing around with paint (Arts and Crafts)

FOY employees having fun with all the art supplies (Arts and Crafts)

There was also the Positive Discipline workshop, which helped the employees learn how to resolve difficult situations and to deal with misbehaviour. Mike Consul and Greg Rogers also led a 7 Habits Workshop.

Greg Rogers during the 7 habits workshop

A talent show was held to conclude the training weekend. A huge number of students participated in the show! The night was filled with enthusiasm and cheering.

A team of FOY employees performing their cheer

Some of the FOY employees waiting for the show to start

Another Cheer performance by a group of FOY employees

Furthermore, Mike Consul asked the Media Team to lead the FOY participants throughout the weekend. The Media Team is a small group of FOY participants that document and record the highlights of the training weekend.

The Media Team was also responsible for the directing the two music videos and a slideshow shown in the end. They managed to finish filming and editing in just two days.

“HAPPY” MUSIC VIDEO: