The Next Generation of Camp Tawonga Leaders

Today’s post highlights Tawonga’s TLI (Teen Leadership Institute) program, a three-week program for rising 11th graders designed to build independence and leadership through a combination of outdoor experiences, service work and meaningful in-Camp activities. The program gives teens the opportunity to experience Camp in a way that is unlike their years as a typical camper, and is a perfect transition for teens who want more responsibility while at Camp.

Each week of the three-week program has a distinct feel and methodology: the first week, the group goes on an extended three-night backpacking trip in Yosemite National Park. For many teens, this was the longest backpacking trip of their Tawonga careers, which offered new opportunities for the teens to take active leadership roles in the outdoors. The second week features hands on service work in partnership with the Tuolumne River Trust, a non-profit organization that works in the surrounding forest to maintain the watershed and contribute to meadow restoration. The second week also takes the TLI teens into Yosemite Valley for rock climbing! The third week focuses on in-Camp projects – the teens take lead in running Earth Day in the Garden as well as participating in impactful work projects like forestry and beautification of Camp.

Their work with Tuolumne River Trust provided a meaningful and tangible contribution to Stanislaus National Forest. The teens spent a full day collecting blue wild rye seeds, a native plant that is crucial to meadow restoration. Tuolumne River Trust then distributes these seeds to meadows that are overrun with invasive species or have been decimated by recent fires, improving meadow health. Seth Connolly, Tuolumne River Trust’s Restoration Manager told the group:

The amount of seeds collected in one day by Tawonga teens provided 10% of our season needs. It’s very impactful for the natural land!

It’s our goal that teens walk away from this program having found confidence and opportunities for growth through outdoor experiences, a sense of pride in the work they are doing to improve Camp and the surrounding native lands, and excitement to continue their transition as adults in Camp, to come back as Counselors & Specialists-In-Training next year, and to apply to be Tawonga staff members after that.

Enjoy photos below of TLI and the work they’ve been doing and from today in Camp.