Teamwork! Low Ropes Course at Rainier Vista

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In Nature Consortium’s Youth Art Program, building community is all a part of meaningfully engaging a class of youth, teaching artists, NC staff, volunteers, and interns. From drumming to dancing to drawing, students and teaching artists creatively work together in a safe, neighborhood space. Above all, team work is vital for this to happen. During Earth Week last April at Rainier Vista, we decided to hone in and focus on team building and problem solving with our kids.

Learning the Ropes

Our former Restoration Coordinator, Lizzie Jackson, came to the Smilow Rainier Vista Boys and Girls Club to lead a low-ropes elements course with several of our youth. One of the benefits of the course was that the class got to get up, get moving, and critically think, hands-on, through different scenarios that required everyone to work together to accomplish a common goal. Our kids were definitely up to the challenge.

After going over basic rules and safety guidelines, Lizzie introduced the first group of elements, which consisted of four wooden planks configured into a square. Each person had to stand on the planks, and we had to rearrange ourselves according to birthplace; but, if one of us fell off the planks or touched the ground, we would have to start over from our original spots. Lizzie increased the challenge by throwing out a couple of curve balls: for one round, none of the adults could talk, and for another, no one could speak. Immediately, almost everyone started speaking at once, each trying to figure out a way for us to meet the goal; unsurprisingly, it took the group almost fifteen minutes to finally line up in the right order. 

Learning to Work Together

Asked to come up with ways to work together more efficiently, the youth unanimously agreed that we would have to listen to each other and form a plan together, rather than everyone attempting to do something different at the same time. From that point, the group finished each round faster and faster after realizing how important team work and communication were in accomplishing goals. 

The second set of elements was made up of several planks connected to each other in a jagged line. Following the Earth Week theme, the group had to find a way to work together to carry one bottle of fresh, clean water over the polluted river to the other side (the polluted river being the floor, of course!). If the bottle or any team mates fell into the river, the whole group had to start over again. This was definitely the most challenging–everyone had to get across and the long planks were quite narrow. Unfortunately, we were not able to get all the way across, but we sure had fun trying! Perhaps if we had more time it would be a different story, but this just meant that there would be a next time!

Lessons Learned

1. A low-ropes elements course does not always have ropes involved (the youth noticed this instantly, by the way).
2. Participation and team work require both talking AND listening. 
3. If the first way does not work, try again!
4. Working on and accomplishing a goal together can be much more fun than going at it alone.

It is a difficult task to balance healthy individualism with team spirit, and I would say that most of us find this challenging.  However, my hope is that our youth experience how the collected effort in building community, whether it be through art class, school, or work, creates a sense of belonging that empowers us to take care of ourselves and our neighborhood.