The Kiwanis Club of Maryville recently held their 2nd Annual Leadership Adventure Camp at Camp Wesley Woods for rising 8th graders. Students are selected based on their applications and a teacher recommendation for this leadership training experience in a camp environment. Students came from Eagleton, Heritage and Maryville Middle Schools.
Throughout the week the campers heard from great speakers such as Tom Taylor (Maryville City Councilman, Vice-Mayor), Ashley Allen (Student, Maryville High School), Chris Brown (Camp Counselor), Joe McCord (State Representative), Larry Martin (Administrator Asbury Acres), Russell Bivens (News Anchor, Live at Five), Randy Allen (Owner, Maryville Insurance Service), Alvin Hord (Director of Blount County Schools), and Mike Dalton (Director of Maryville City Schools). Some of the topics were "Characteristics of a good leader," "What do you think of when you hear the word leader," "How can you become an effective leader?", and "Character Matters". The campers also experienced all the fun activities that come with camping (hiking, rock climbing, river canoe, archery, ropes, hay ride in Cades Cove, etc.).
They gained leadership instruction from both their team-building experiences during their activities and from each day's guest speakers. A banquet was held on Thursday evening for the campers which past Kiwanis International Past-President, Bo Shafer, was the keynote speaker. The campers presented their group projects and presentations to an audience of Maryville Kiwanians, Jan Larson (Division 5Ky-TN District Lt. Gov.), and other guests. The project assignment required each school to develop one fundraising project and one community service project. We are so proud of the excellent job the campers did with their projects and the leadership they exhibited.
Robert Ergenbright reports, "We had another stellar year at camp. Some highlights include: "Bo" Shafer was our keynote speaker at the Thursday awards banquet and wowed us all, campers and Kiwanians alike; we added one more school and had 28 campers this year rather than the 20 we had last year; both Maryville Middle and Eagleton Middle are on board to start Builders Clubs in the fall!!!; the projects the campers developed and the fundraisers to go with them will be implemented in the fall at each school (last year the projects were just exercises used to teach basic principles of leadership and project development); we had more than twice as many Kiwanians participating this year than last; there was much more rain this year but no dampened spirits; and Senator Lamar Alexander wrote an individualized letter to each camper (he is a past member of the Maryville Kiwanis Club)."
'The kids were great and our staff was even better this year than last. They interacted with the campers and made them feel really special. No one wanted to go home and no one got homesick."
"It looks like the Kiwanis Leadership Adventure Camp is a staple of the Kiwanis Club of Maryville's support for local children and youth. Our club has just become the leaders in the Blount County Imagination Library initiated by Dolly Parton through the Dollywood Foundation and now through Gov. Bredesen's literacy initiative for young children. Every family with a child 0 to 5 years old who signs up for the program will receive a new book for the child once a month every month until that child reaches his or her fifth birthday. That's 48 books before they enter school! IThe initiative is in 40 states at the present time. We hope our Builders Clubs will be able to help in this great project. What a wonderful opportunity for cooperation between Kiwanis clubs and their sponsored youth."
Edith "Edye" Bryant, the Builders Club Kentucky-Tennessee
District Administrator, wrote:
"The camp is designed to take middle school students through a basic leadership expericence where they are divided into teams which then plan a service project along with a fundraisor to cover the costs of the project.
The last night of the camp, the teams present their projects to an assembly of campers, staff, parents and Kiwanians.
The students will implement these projects in their school--as Builders Clubs--this fall.
Kiwanis International contacted Bob Ergenbright of the Maryville Kiwanis Club last spring and is planning on doing an article on the 2004 camp in an upcoming issue of the Kiwanis Magazine.
FYI--this program is held at Wesley Woods where the Tennessee Key Leader Camp will be in September, so the staff is familar with Kiwanis ideals."
