From a Simple Ball of Yarn...

Playing… Playing… Are you ready for this? Rock-paper-scissors.

 

Good use of school time?

 

Of course, it is.

 

The age-old hand game, you see, is the ice-breaker in Community: Challenges and Leadership, a program that began in 1990 and is designed to teach decision-making and team-building skills to 7th Graders.

 

Each CCL session – boys yesterday, girls tomorrow – extends from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. Two faculty members and two seniors per group facilitate the activities and discussions. The day moves very quickly.

 

Sally Chambers, Collegiate’s Middle School guidance counselor, created the program (with Dr. John Hugo, a psychologist, now retired) and has been integrally involved since its inception.

 

“One of the values of the program is that seniors serve as positive role models,” Sally said. “The activities and discussion and working together and supporting each other lay the foundation for the 7^th grade year. Advisors follow up, reinforcing the lessons learned at CCL and how they apply to everyday life.”

 

Students participate in a variety of activities with catchy names, among them “The Crossing,” “Gotcha!” and “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.” They pause at intervals to have what-have-we-learned conversations and share vignettes about moments when their values have been tested.

 

“Students are able to engage in games that capture their interest,” said Bill Rider, a teacher/coach who has been involved in CCL for years. “That serves as a backdrop for reflection and conversation about ways to take the lessons and apply them in their academic and athletic endeavors … determining hard choices such as calling themselves out when they make a mistake, learning how to listen to others and knowing when to be a leader and when to be a follower.”

 

The highlight of the day, which begins with a simple ball of yarn, is the creation of the support web, a staple of CCL since the beginning, even as the program has evolved over the years.

 

“It’s a great analogy,” Rider continued, “because the kids are able to see that on its own, a strand or two of yarn can’t support much of anything. When they work hard to exchange and share the web of connections, they’re able to build a platform that can support anybody.”

 

The support web works like this: Eight to 10 students – each with a yarn ball – stand shoulder to shoulder in a circle. Each wraps the yarn loosely around his waist, ties it off, and passes the ball to someone across the circle. Eventually, the process of wrapping and passing creates a web. The students then lower it to the ground, step out from the yarn that circles them, and fashion each end into a “handle.”

 

“Then, one-by-one each person is given the opportunity to be lifted to the height of the shoulders of the shortest person,” Sally said. “Sometimes, kids are encouraged to close their eyes so they won’t know when they’ll reach the ground. Some are reluctant, but when they see others lowered safely, they become more comfortable.

 

“It’s such a visceral experience. Everyone is literally tied together. It’s so wonderful to hear the kids caring for each other. Experiential learning is really powerful to kids.”

 

The support webs return with their creators to their advisory rooms. Often, they’re displayed as a reminder of their significance and as a point of departure for future discussions.

 

The CCL session concludes with conversations about tough choices, about social media, about service to others, about popularity, about the importance of being kind. The lessons, well taught, are well learned.

 

“CCL was one of the first experiences I had with leadership training and working as a team,” said Ashray Namala, who yesterday served as a senior mentor. “It’s fun to see these 7th Graders tackle a challenge and be wrong a couple of times, then brainstorm and come out with ways to work it out together. It’s been interesting to see how I’ve grown from this experience. I look forward to seeing how they’ll grow.”

    -- Weldon Bradshaw