Minitown

Last Thursday afternoon I left town with other adults from my school to Prescott, AZ. We went to the camp ground called Pine Summit Camp to prepare for the 55 students who would be arriving the following morning.

We arrived in the evening to our large cabin facility. As we inspected our lodge, there were mice running here and there. Yuck! They were; however, very little and cute. They ran super fast. Some of the mice decided to go for a swim in the men's bathroom toilet. They couldn't make it out after their swim. Too bad for them!One of the counselors, a young lady in her late teens, fished them out and disposed of them. She is one brave gal!

Minitown is a diversity leadership program. The 55 students that were selected to attend had to apply for the program and write an essay. Many students had to be turned down for this amazing opportunity. While at camp, the students go through workshops and programs that help them explore stereotypes, friends, popularity, family structures, classes in society, etc. It was so cool to watch these kids open up and find common ground with other kids they never took the time to get to know. Its hard to describe exactly how the program changes and helps kids but I so grateful I was able to be a part of it.Our camp was short counselors so I has the privilege of being a cabin leader. These are the girls in my cabin: Shari, Sonia, Rachel, Shelby, and JD. These girls were SOOOO messy. Okay, a few of them were. Before they could go home, they had to clean the cabin. Three of these girls had never used a vacuum in their entire lives. They have maids. Needless to say, each of them took turns using the vacuum and I took their picture doing it.

This is my discussion group. After each program or at least once per day, we met as a group to talk about the program, what they learned, what questions they still had. Then we did some icebreakers and explored our family make-ups. Although it took time for the kids to learn to trust each other, these kids loved each other by the time Sunday afternoon came. We became incredibly close. This program is amazing in how it helps to break down barriers and let kids think about and talk about things they hadn't analyzed before. I have so much respect for the kids in this picture. The counselor of our group was Jon Jon. He is a college student at Phoenix Community College. He did a fantastic job leading our group discussions.

This is a picture of everyone who was involved n our camp. I am near the front of this picture. Although it was a fabulous experience going to camp, I was so glad to get home Sunday evening. I was anxious to take a shower with water pressure and to sleep in a comfortable bed.