July 17, 2002
Canoe trip challenges teens
MSU 4-H Challenge Club heads up Paddle to Success program
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Together Everyone Achieves More.
TEAM - a simple acronym that embodies the spirit and endeavors of youth on annual Paddle to Success Canoe trips every summer. The Michigan State University 4-H Challenge Club called 4-H ROCKS, an outdoor adventure club based in Wexford County sponsors the trips.
The Paddle to Success Canoe trips, which are in their sixth year, draw students from 19 school districts in the area, including Traverse City Area Public Schools.
A three-day, two-night trip on the last weekend of June paired 23 junior-high-age youth with a dozen Challenge instructors drawn from around the state. A trip in early August will take kids ages 8-11 from the 4-H ROCKS club for another three-day paddle along the Manistee River.
For the kids, the adventure is a time to both learn outdoor skills and about themselves - all in a safe, non-critical environment. A strictly enforced "No Put Downs" rule helps that kids be supportive and encouraging of each other.
"We want to help kids get a little bit out of their comfort zone and learn about themselves, the outdoors and each other," said Terri Jo Umlor of Kingsley, a 4-H Challenge Leader on the trip. "This is a highly successful trip and popular with the kids because they can safely learn these things."
"The kids are placed in a rather challenging situation but do great," she noted. "We use canoeing to promote teamwork, communication and trust among participants."
Many participants appreciated the chance to make new friends while doing things they never have done before.
"I made new friends and I learned how to get along with people I didn't know," said Noelle Grettenberger, 14, an eighth-grade student at Traverse City East Junior High. "I had never been on a river before and it was fun, it gave me good exercise."
"I had never camped out before and I learned that I could do it and it was fun," she noted.
Abbie Steffens of Kingsley found working together with people she did not know the most challenging part of the expedition.
"You've got to work together to get down the river," said Steffens, who has camped with her family before but not canoed much. "My favorite part was getting into a canoe with people I didn't know and talking down the river."
The Paddle to Success Canoe trips are funded by the five Youth Advisory Councils of the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation, Springfield Roofing and Construction and the Rotary Good Works Committee.
The students who participated in the last month's trip are members of the Northwestern Michigan College Community Scholarship Program. Every year, this program presents 60 junior high school students with a two-year tuition scholarship they can use after graduating from high school. The program encourages students who otherwise might not consider pursuing a college education.
RJ Johnson is a third time veteran of the Paddle to Success trips. A tenth-grade student at Traverse City Central High School, he finds the NMC Community Scholarship Program motivating when it comes to doing well in school. A member of the school's orchestra, Johnson wants to study music at NMC and then transfer to another college or university for a bachelor's degree.
"The program helps me keep my grades up," said Johnson, whose goal is to play with the Rochester, New York, Philharmonic. "I think more kids should try to go to college and more people should give money to scholarship programs."
Umlor said the Paddle to Success trips are just one of many activities the kids in the Commitment Scholarship Program do together to learn the basics of setting goals, meeting challenges and being successful.
"These students are selected in the seventh-grade and told that they have a college scholarship if they meet certain criteria," she said. "It's a way to encourage and promote higher education for area youth."