Team 5 Week 1

Monday
Transition Day
• Report: Part of the routine is for each team to introduce the newbies to the area. We were treated well by Team 4 and shown many things. We were shepherded to all four communities throughout the day and met many of the youth in the communities. It was a hot day and we played water games (drip, drip, drop) at all our stops, expect for Cheery Creek were we were greeted by a pending storm. In Bear Creek, we saw the work done by Team 4 in the community building and it looked good. As a whole group, we enjoyed a fantastic lunch down at the Missouri River in the 102-degree heat and continued to discuss the critical details concerning our experience. In the evening, we were able to have a welcome/departure dinner with various board members and folks connected to the Sioux YMCA. It was a great way to start our time and to make contacts. We hope that we can retain all the knowledge passed on to us; there has been much to absorb. We appreciate the efforts of those teams that have come before and truly hope to carry on their good work.

Tuesday
Bear Creek
• Program Activities: Sharks and Minnows, Bocce ball, hitting, playground, swings; inside: nutrition conversation, coloring, nail-polish (that’s when the older girls joined)
• Numbers: 9 max – including Sunny and Jarrin
• Report: Things want very well in this community. The youth all seemed to enjoy the variety of activities we ran and were receptive all pieces of programming. We played sharks and minnows, bocce ball to practice throwing, hitting from the tee and tag up on the playground. We also made use of the community building that was nice and clean still from Team 4. Our indoor activities to help have a break from the heat where we all discussed healthy food options and the benefits of being active. The youth were very respectful with their peers and assisted in clean up and collecting the balls.

Cheery Creek
• Program Activities: softball, basket, friendship bracelets, hula hoop, junior softball
• Numbers: 23 max (lots coming and going throughout)
• Report: When we arrived, a small group was off playing softball at the second field with Tugboat, Chad and Jacob running the show. We were able to get them to move the game next to the community center so we could conduct program. We began by playing a 6 v 6 softball game and more joined. Door knocking was not really needed, they saw the game and came out. Debbie ran great activities with those that were not interested in softball, making friendship bracelets and beading in the shade. This community is clearly the oldest of all the ones where we program and the big kids dictate the agenda. After the game concluded, we attempted to focus on a few fundaments and drills, which was a flop. We lost almost the entire group. Then we moved indoors for a spirited game of basketball and the numbers returned. Debbie was the organizer of a second softball game for the younger set and kids that are not always include with the older group. It was great to have the split efforts for the old and young. Hopefully we made good connections with the big kids so that we have creditability in the community.

Wednesday
La Plante
• Program Activities: sharks and minnows, softball on the tee, crafts, fairy hunt, nail painting, story time, playground time
• Numbers: 9 max (many came and went) – Ivis was off with his Beebe gun
• Report: With our partnership with the Boys ad Girls Club, we try to focus on outdoor activities because the youth have good indoor options with the BGC programming. But, there are times when the just desire to be out of the heat. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. There was a group of girls inside when we arrived and we jumped in to keep working on their crafts and projects. Debbie did nail painting and story time afterward. Michael and Craig were outside with a smaller group that wanted to field balls and hitting instruction. Then, we all took a field trip over to the school and the playground. Simply Similes was in their final week of programming and the youth told us on different occasions what activities were planned for that day – it is clear that the youth get a lot of programming in this community.

Swiftbird
• Program Activities: bubbles, chalk, beading, bracelets, hitting, ball toss on front porch
• Numbers: 7 max (ages 2-13)
• Report: When we drove into town, we quickly discovered that many of the youth were off at the river. As a result, we had low numbers and a broad age range (age 2-13). In order to keep the group near each and engaged, we did many activities in the carport of the community building and discovered that Michael has a future with nail polishing. On the side field, a few youth were interested in hitting and Cottonball. It was a mix-bag, but those that were with us had a good time.

Then went to Camp Marrowbone to visit with fellow Alabama camp staff and see Carol and Mona. We had the opportunity to witness Camp in action and assist with dinner. There were many youth out at Camp that knew or meet other Initiative teams and staff; it was nice to connect with those youth and know that they are still involved with the YMCA.

Thursday
Bear Creek
• Program Activities: kickball, sharks and minnows, red light/green light, bocce ball, batting practice, books, coloring, friendship/beading
• Numbers: 11 (saw Nevin, Ethan, Stacey showed up for the first time)
• Report: Prior to heading out for program, we stopped in at the Youth Diabetes Prevention Program to complete a request form to have water and food at our softball tournament. At the YDPP we connected with Dean, the Eagle Butte coach and started rethinking our plan to hold the game on Friday. We promised to reconnect and determine what was the best plan of action.

As with Tuesday, the youth were excited for our arrival and program. It is easy to energize and motivate this group. We continued with bocce ball and sharks and minnows to get the group moving and working on softball skills. Then, Anthony showed up and we organized a kickball game. They played well together and it was nice to see how gentle Anthony was with the younger and smaller kids. Then, we moved things indoors for stories and bracelets, which gave us another opportunity to connect and discuss health options.

Cheery Creek
• Program Activities: softball drills and batting practice, basketball, junior kickball, nail painting, hula hoop, bocce ball with throw contest
• Numbers: 11 (many showed up late – down at the river)
• Report: The youth were slow in arriving. After door knocking, we learned that many of the kids were down at the river. Our numbers were low, roughly 10, all day which was a surprise to us. Regardless, we came to play and worked with those that were present. We started out with batting and fielding exercises and tried again to focus on skill development. Our jobs are all in youth development, but we agreed that we felt like dentists – here was a lot of teeth pulling. We discussed the upcoming game with the group and tried to solidify the details. In order to serve all ages, we ran bocce ball and throwing along with beading on the side field for the younger youth. It is useful to have the split of activities.

Friday
We spent the morning verifying with the Youth Diabetes staff the food availability. It seemed that our request would be honored. Also, we learned that they were going to be able to join us out in La Plante and Swiftbird next week. Then, we had to travel over to The Main (the Youth Center) to reconnect with Dean. We decided to reschedule the game between Eagle Butte and Cherry Creek to Wednesday. It will cause us to juggle some of our schedule, but we wanted to ensure that we had a game/pay-off for the youth down in Cherry Creek. Also, there is still hope that we can get another community to still make Friday’s original date. It was a productive morning.

Afterward, we were graced by Nate and Pat’s presence. They were traveling out to engage with community members and learn about the take-aways from this year’s Initiative. We all proceeded to Bear Creek to introduce Nate and Pat to the youth and show them the community. We played more field games with the group and were able to show of the community building. It was a good day and conclusion to our week.