Grasping hands as they stood atop wood beams in a forest preserve, 14 teens learned the meaning of teamwork last week as they tried to figure out how to cross a finish line by hopping across the beams without letting their feet touch the ground.
Their task at the Irons Oaks Adventure Center in Olympia Fields was just one of many designed to teach the junior high and high school students from Orland Township Youth Services that working together in the outdoors can bring a greater reward than the instant gratification of doing drugs or other illicit activities.
“At the beginning they wouldn’t even talk to each other, and now they’re holding hands,” said Kim Kiel, a prevention counselor from Youth Services, who accompanied the teens with another counselor, Kathy Passafiume.
Also supporting the teens were Kevin Navas, an investigator for the Orland Park Police Department, and Nate Motton, a DARE officer for the department. Most of the teens participating in the Adventure Center activities were chosen by the counselors for their potential as leaders and mentors, with one being a first-time offender chosen by the officers. The trip was funded by a federal grant to the Police Department.
“It’s a lot of fun,” said Sara Peterson, a junior at Sandburg High School in Orland Park. “To be a leader, you have to do what’s best for the group.” Peterson has been participating in Youth Services volunteer activities, such as visiting a nursing home, for the past six years.
Andy Polcaster, a sophomore at Andrew High School in Tinley Park, agreed the activities helped develop teamwork. Polcaster’s favorite feat was the rope climbing.
“It’s scary when you’re up there,” said Polcaster. Polcaster, who was at the center a year ago with a church group, paints portraits and hopes to become an illustrator.
Matt Gneuhs, a facilitator at the center, encouraged the teens to complete their tasks even when they became frustrated, firmly laying down the rules for them but giving them an occasional hint. During one activity they each had to hold a piece of plastic tube cut in half lengthwise, align themselves and the tubes and then roll a marble from the beginning of the tube to the end. At the end the marble had to fall off into an empty coffee can.
When Gneuhs, who was in the Marine Reserves from 1992 to 1998, asked the students why they found it so frustrating to try to get the marble into the can as a group, several said it was because they had to give up control as individuals.
“Are you a control freak, is that what you’re tell me?” Gneuhs jokingly asked. The students admitted they were.
The teens kept at it for an hour, even putting off lunch. When the marble finally landed in the can, the group was elated.
“That never felt so good,” said Motton.
Youth Services will be bringing other teens to the center in October and November. The organization offers activities that promote peer mentoring, as well as counseling to troubled teens and their parents.
