The TALS course at the Summit Camp is underway!

I am fortunate enough to have an assistant teacher and collaborator for the TALS course named Casey Stover. When the course began and the campers came into the Adult Daily Living Room where the class is taught, they were excited and nervous at the same time. There is a nice mix of young women and men. They observed each other and were curious to see a different side of themselves and their fellow campers.

Everyone sat down and the course began. We started by talking about the ground rules for the course  which consisted of respect trust, consideration and everything connected to building a community. We then went outside for an icebreaker activity by throwing a beach ball with different questions on the ball to learn more about each other. Not only was this fun, but it started teaching them listening skills that will help them know each other better. This will enable us to build a TALS Community that will support and help each other with different challenges throughout the course.
We then did the Topic of the Day which was peer pressure, bullying and self-advocacy. Everyone shared their own personal stories and then the campers acted out different scenarios for the class and we discussed how they can stand up for themselves and have their voices heard.

The day came to a close and we all shared the highs and lows of the day. Most of the campers had no lows. We were off to a good start.

Look out for more updates from camp this week!