STORIES OF IMPACT | Melanie C.
The Jay Peak Leadership Summit Provides Invaluable Growth Opportunities for Bronx Youth
CatRock Ventures partners with Bronx high schools to provide students with transformational experiential learning opportunities designed to improve academic and social skills.
About 50 CatRock Youth Leadership Academy students participated in the Jay Peak Leadership Summit in Vermont where they engaged in outdoor recreation, leadership training, environmental workshops, and a service learning project. Melanie C., a youth leader and program staff member, found the weeklong summit immensely uplifting as she witnessed students gain confidence and bond together as they challenged themselves and went beyond their perceived limits.
As a bunk leader, Melanie had the opportunity to mentor several young women and help them learn life skills such as cooking meals, doing laundry, keeping their unit clean, and time management.
Melanie recalls the fun everyone had when she taught them how to make macaroni and cheese from scratch. One young woman even improvised when they couldn’t find bread crumbs. “She toasted a bunch of bread and just smashed it up. They were all really into it,” notes Melanie.
During the leadership summit, CatRock creates a safe and supportive environment for students and adults to work through vulnerability together as they try new activities like snowboarding, skiing, ice skating, and hiking.
Several teens told Melanie that they had never envisioned themselves taking part in such activities, how trying for the first time was eye-opening, and that they would love to do it again.
As the week progresses, students build connections with each other, their teachers, CatRock alumni, volunteers, and program staff. At the Clips & Reels Climbing Gym, some students struggled with one particularly challenging activity called the Stairway to Heaven in which they are hooked up to a rope, but climb up beams hands-free.
Initially, certain teens thought they could do the climb, but doubt set in as they ascended. “We just kept encouraging the students to keep going one step at a time. When we started, we were all strangers. But by the end of the week, the students trust you more than they trust the rope,” explains Melanie.
As Melanie reflects on the leadership summit, she realizes it had an equally deep impact on her and the students. “Growth is important. You can only grow if you decide to challenge yourself,” she says. “You shouldn’t stay where you’re most comfortable. Before this trip, I don’t think I ever would have told the kids to just try and climb up as many steps as they can. I probably would have said, ‘If you don’t feel safe doing it, you probably shouldn’t do it.’ My mindset has changed.”
Melanie can’t wait for next year’s Jay Peak trip and highly urges newcomers to volunteer for what will ultimately be an extremely rewarding experience. “Volunteer with CatRock because it will give you a chance to see how all these different people from different walks of life are experiencing the same thing in different ways. Some may feel totally in their element, even though they’re doing it for the first time. And for others, they’ll struggle, but they’ll still want to try it again and again. Seeing that would make somebody feel a sense of accomplishment. I was learning from the kids as much as I was teaching them. Anyone volunteering with CatRock for the first time or second time will feel that way.”