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Leadership in Training Expedition

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Leadership in Training

Expeditioners who participate in our Leadership in Training Program (formally TBX) seek more of a challenge both physically and mentally. Over the course of three to five weeks, Expeditioners will get hands on leadership experience by working and teaching GRP base campers and being involved with a cabin group. They will also have the chance to hone skills such as creating a solid resume, problem solving, and being flexible and adaptable in multiple situations. The trip leaders step back and allow the Expeditioners to make decisions, allowing participants to sharpen their leadership skills in areas like group management, decision making, organization and planning, backcountry cooking, and orienteering. Like all of our Expeditions, no experience is needed or required.

Trip Overview

  • Length: 33 days
  • Grades: 12th- college freshmen
  • Begins and Ends: GRP Base Camp, with base camp arrival
  • Airport: Asheville, NC or Greenville/Spartanburg, SC
  • Challenge Level: Moderate or 6 on a 1-10 scale

This experience has taught me to treat each situation carefully and that sometimes you have to make compromises to make the group happy. Responsibility is key and makes for a great transition to college.

12th GraderDurham, NC

Leadership in Training Expeditions

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Leadership Training and Life Skills Development

The heart of the Leadership Expedition is leadership training and life skills development. While participating in this program, Expeditioners will actively contribute to activities involving each other, their leaders, other camp staff, and GRP base campers. The first portion of our program consist of a “mini staff training”, getting the group oriented to each other and the camp community. We will go over behavior management, conflict resolution, back-pocket games, and tips and tricks for effective leadership. Over the course of the program hard wilderness skills such as low impact camping, food management, First Aid and CPR training and the basics of risk management. GRP recognizes good leaders are more than just the hard skills and we equally value the importance of developing soft skills like group management, effective communication, and emotional intelligence. Taught from a leader’s perspective, we emphasize these soft skills, and provide Expeditioners daily with opportunities to lead and manage the group process. The balance of hard and soft skills are qualities we look for in our future staff members. You will leave the LIT program feeling confident, challenged, and prepared with a toolbox of life skills.

First Aid and CPR Training

Expeditioners will be trained and certified in First Aid and CPR during the Expedition. This is a requirement for all GRP staff members and an extremely valuable skill for any young adult.

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Walk in the Shoes of a GRP Staff Member

Throughout the first weeks of the LIT Program, we will be preparing the Expeditioners to be the guide, the naturalist, the mentor, the wilderness leader for our GRP base campers. Expeditioners will have the opportunity to lead a service Group Learning Project day with up to 12 GRP campers. In addition, up to three days of the final week of the program will be spent shadowing GRP mentors on naturalist hikes and assisting staff in leading activities. Not only will Expeditioners greatly expand their toolbox with hands-on teaching experience, they will have the opportunity to share their expertise with younger campers.

Service Project

Throughout the Expedition, Expeditioners will make a lasting impression on the Preserve with a project of their choice. In this protion of our program we strive to live the Woodcraft Law of Love: Be Kind. Do at least one act of unbargaining service each day. Be helpful. Do your share of the work. Be joyful. Seek the joy of being alive. Perhaps they will design a cool mural, or help us with a backcountry trail project, or create a new evening program….the possibilities are endless. Embedded throughout our service project will be leadership lessons and decision making opportunities made by the Expeditioners. We strongly believe that giving back is a vehicle for leadership training and life skills development. Our unique and practical curriculum is designed to challenge each participant and develop transferable and critical job skills.

Itinerary

This is an approximate itinerary for the longer 5 week program. LIT’s help confirm the schedule in the first few days together.

Day 1: Arrival

Arrive at Green River Preserve base camp. Get settled into your new home, develop group norms, and get to know one another.

Day 2: First Aid Training, Orientation, and Skills

We will begin with a mini staff training including a First Aid and CPR course. This hands-on training course will help you prepare for the unexpected and introduce you to caring for people who become injured far from medical care. You will finish the course with the knowledge, skills, and ability to make sound decisions in emergency situations.

Following the First Aid course we will learn: the routine; including what is expected of you as an LIT, our leadership goals, and discussing what makes a good leader. LIT’s will pick 2-3 activity areas they would like to develop and help teach. As a group, we will set goals and measures to propel them towards teaching one or more of these activities by the end of their experience.

In addition, we will begin to delve into the idea of our very own service project. The leaders will take the time to teach the group about potential needs and possibilities on the Preserve, while the LIT’s offer their own creative ideas too. We will explore what previous LIT’s have accomplished and what can be learned from past contributions.

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Day 9-20: Building Leaders

For the next week and a half you and your fellow LIT’s will alternate time between shadowing staff on hikes and activities and working one on one with a cabin, helping construct a service project for the Preserve, and spending time as a group learning about leadership in a non-traditional setting. We will have the opportunity to learn from several senior mentors of the Preserve, as well as from the LIT leaders, and GRP Camp Directors. Staff will help prepare the group for the mentor hike we will lead and the all day Group Learning Project we will create to do with GRP base campers. These leaders will also teach you assorted helpful skills when applying for college and jobs, such as: what people are looking for when you apply, interview training, and how to really sell your GRP experience.

Day 21-33: Counselor and Job Training

For the final portion of the LIT experience, we will get the opportunity to apply all the leadership skills we have learned and experience what it is like to be GRP staff. In the mornings we will assist with Mentor Hikes and learn more about the Preserve, and in the afternoon we will help with Activities, learning first hand how to lesson plan and teach. All the while, LIT’s will be paired with a cabin and have the opportunity to truly support a group of GRP campers.

Day 26 or 33: Final Day

Our last day will be spent reflecting on all we have learned and experienced the past 4-5 weeks. We will end our time together with a celebration by the Directors and a presentation at our final upper council fire ceremony.

Download the Packing list.

We reserve the right to alter the itinerary prior to and throughout the trip. Itineraries may change due to: severe weather, student ability, motivation and conditioning, high or low rivers, high or low snowpack, unpredictable natural disasters, vehicle breakdowns, road closures, forest fires, illness, ever-changing permit regulations, any potential threat to safety; even a brilliant idea from an instructor or student. In the event of a schedule change, comparable activities will be substituted when possible and you will be notified by e-mail of significant changes.

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