We just got back from a weeklong backpacking trip with (40) 8th graders. For this adventure, I was leading the base camp trek. The base campers quickly created a team identity as the Rockhopper trek as these 12 kids could not pass a pile of boulders without climbing all over them. The teacher in my trek and I decided to also give each of the students a nature base trail name. One student was a quiet gentle leader that climbed hills with incredible strength; we named him “Ram.” “Ram” also has autism. He is 17 and in the 8th grade. With me, “Ram” was quiet, I had to coax him to talk and he usually looked at the ground when he did talk. I did not really realize how closed off he was. On the second day of the trip, the teacher told me that he had talked more in the past 2 days than he had in the past 2 years in her classroom. The following day, while waiting their turn to depart on the solo hike, “Ram,” “Flat Rock,” “Birdman,” and myself were talking and sharing riddles. “Birdman” also pointed out that he had heard “Ram” talk more on the trip than he had ever heard him talk and “Flat Rock,” “Ram’s” tent mate and friend, said that he had seen him smile more and laugh more on the trip as well. After rafting, I saw “Ram” having lunch with one of the other students from our trek. He was eating, smiling, conversing, and making eye contact. Later, “Ram” told his teacher that the trip was a turning point for him. He was not going to let autism rule over him anymore. When I asked him how he felt about the trip, his response was “I feel accomplished.”
What we do matters! This trip made a powerful impact on the lives of 40 students, 4 teachers, and 4 staff. This is only one of at least a dozen of stories. I hope that when you read this story, and reflect on your support of Camptown, you too can say, “I feel accomplished.”
Thank you,
Cynthia “Flower”
