Our IP 10IC blog post assignment for today is to create a countdown widget on www.mycountdown.org, post it to your blog using the "Add a gadget" tab (under "Layout") and copying the HTML script from the bottom of the My Countdown website after you've customized yours.
Once you have successfully added a countdown to your blog, the writing assignment is to explain why you are counting down to said event. Maybe you are looking forward to a birthday or a family gathering. Maybe it's to a concert or another social event. Maybe it's a vacation or a trip somewhere. Whatever it is that you're counting down to, give your readers some interesting information about why you've chosen to count down, what you're looking forward to, special features or interesting facts about this event (if applicable), its importance, etc.
I'll start. :o)
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I am counting down to Camp RYLA, which runs for the first 2 full weeks of August each summer. RYLA stands for Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, and is basically a Rotary-sponsored summer camp at which students learn and develop leadership and teamwork skills. There are 2 weeks of RYLA each year; one week is for junior students (ages 12-14) and the second week is for senior students (ages 15-18). RYLA is held at the Anglican Church Camp in Clear Lake, Manitoba, near the small town of Onanole (north of Brandon).
I was a student at RYLA for one week in the summer of 2000 (I was 15). As I grew older and was looking for summer employment during breaks from university, I ended up working for many years at International Music Camp in North Dakota (where I still spend part of my summer each year), and RYLA fell by the wayside.
Fast forward 11 years, and picture me sitting on the couch in the fall of 2011. I was looking for a new summer camp experience, and I decided to apply for a job as a counsellor at Camp RYLA. Long story short, I applied, and I was hired, not as a counsellor but as the camp facilitator. I would be in charge of running the entire camp. What a neat but scary opportunity! I also ended up being sent to Washington DC for a conference to get me prepared for RYLA, courtesy of our Rotary District 5550. Double score! I had an amazing time in DC and came back ready to roll with Camp RYLA at the beginning of August.
I had no idea what was in store for me at RYLA, but I quickly became comfortable with my new coworkers upon arriving at the camp in Riding Mountain National Park (Clear Lake, Manitoba). They were friendly and welcoming, and we became friends instantly! We got things organized on that first night, ready for campers to arrive the next day.
To sum up my experience at RYLA, in those two weeks I met some of the most amazing young people I've ever known. They reminded me of so many of my Rivier students: mature, responsible, fun, intelligent, well-spoken, open, caring, hilarious, up for new adventures, and ready for a challenge at every turn. We took part in leadership and team building activities such as "Low Ropes" (the human ladder, tarp flip, and team bundle race), making fruit kebabs under set leadership styles (dictatorship, democracy, consensus, etc.), a "Strong (Wo)Man" competition where teams had to create a free-standing humanesque structure to hold a barbell fashioned out of 2 apples and a pencil, etc. Every evening we'd have planned events. Some highlights were the photo/video scavenger hunt, the dance, RYLA's Got Talent, and my personal favourite, THE AMAZING RACE! Everyone had an amazing time, and we ended off each week with a special campfire where we did "kudos." Kudos consisted of going around the campfire and letting everyone have their moment to talk about their camp experience, thank the people that made a difference in their lives that week, and to say whatever they wanted to say on their last night at camp. At the end of their speech they'd take a handful of flour (yes, all-purpose flour from the kitchen) and throw it on the fire. It would explode and sparkle! It was definitely a neat bonding experience on our final nights at RYLA.
I am so excited to go back next year.... and this time, I hope I can bring Rivier students with me!
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