Camps help youngsters develop leadership skills

Nurturing young leaders was the aim of two recent camp sessions in the region.

Over the past 20 years, the Academy for the Development of Student Potential has worked with more than 1,700 eighth-graders through the Southwest Iowa Leadership Academy. The camp provides leadership training through team-building and problem-solving exercises.

This year's four-day camp was held at the Iowa School for the Deaf in Council Bluffs.

Camp Olympia Kiwanis (Camp OK) — for kids who have completed fifth or sixth grades — was held at the 4-H Camp in Gretna.

“They have the opportunity to experience new friends and new environment, as well as to learn about leadership and service,” said Larry Ziska, chairman of the Camp OK committee and member of the North Omaha Kiwanis Club.

More than 100 area youngsters attended the Nebraska Iowa District Kiwanis' Annual Youth Camp. This year's campers were sponsored in part or in full by 52 Kiwanis clubs.

At the western Iowa camp, one exercise forced the kids to figure out how to fill a holey barrel with water and keep the water inside until they chose to let it out. Another exercise involved water balloons. Campers had to learn how to toss and catch the orbs without breaking them.

The teens also did volunteer work for the Iowa towns of Council Bluffs, Treynor and Underwood.

There will be follow-up activities throughout the school year.

Camp OK is designed to provide traditional camping experiences, such as nature studies and water activities, as well as develop leadership skills. The campers this year participated in such activities as a trust and odyssey course, swimming and learning to fly airplanes.

Campers did three service projects, including one that filled backpacks with emergency supply items for abused mothers and children.

This project “seemed to be the best hit because of the interaction by the kids,” Ziska said. The backpacks will be delivered to an area emergency shelter.

Contact the writer:

444-1165, sue.truax@owh.com