2016 RYLA Update

Tonya McCleskey and Kandice Cabets brought 5 students who attended the 2016 RYLA camp on the weekend of January 8-10, 2016 at the Pineywoods Baptist Encampment located at 6272 US Hwy 287, Woodlake, TX 75865. The students brought photos of their weekends and explained each photo to the group. Tonya McCleskey believed that around 325 students and 150 adults attended the event.

 

One of the main events that the students enjoyed was the team building ropes course they went through. They explained some of the ropes course tasks that they had to accomplish. They were:

 

1. Spiderweb - the team was required to move all students through a "spider web" made from ropes without touching any of the ropes. They were told to make believe that the ropes were electrified and would electrocute them if touched. The team was successful at this task.

 

2. The Wall - the team had to get all team members through a square hole about 8 feet high up on a fabricated "wall". The team was successful at this task.

 

3. The Tree Triangle - the team had to walk on a single wire (about one foot above the ground) between trees without falling off. Not one team member was able to accomplish this task.

 

4. Mountain Top - the team had to walk between three square platforms (about eight inches high) on a board that could not fully hold their weight (unless strengthened with a stronger but shorter board that was held in place by another student standing on it) without falling off.  They were told to play like the ground was a lava pool and falling off would kill them. The team was able to accomplish this task.

 

5. Parallel Log Walk - the team (about 10 people) was required to walk a certain number of feet by standing on one 4X4 with their left foot and another 4X4 with their right foot while holding the 4X4s up to their feet with a rope. Basically, the team had to walk in unison and had to change commands at least three times with one time having to use Spanish commands. The team accomplished this task.

 

6. Stress Test Fall - each member of the team was required to stand on about a three foot high platform and simply fall backwards off the platform and allow other students to catch them. Although extremely stressful for one girl, the team accomplished this task.

 

All the students were extremely excited about their time at this event and thanked all the Rotary members for sending them. They even showed a movie clip of all the RYLA students doing the "Wobble" dance. 

 

When asked what they had learned at the event, the five students provided the following answers:

 

1. Made a bunch of great friends.

2. Got a new perspective on leadership skills.

3. Learned how to lead in stressful situations as well as when to let the team lead.

4. Learned how to get shy people to open up. Even got one shy guy to dance.

5. Learned to listen to others.

6. Best weekend ever!

 

To end their presentation, all five of the students performed the "Penguin Dance" for the group to which they received a round of applause.

 

Some additional photos of the group are below.