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Close to 100 teenagers learned the importance of making good life choices through a week-long sleep-in camp filled with team-building activities and speakers that emphasized the importance of making good life choices.
The 26nd Annual Teen Spirit Leadership Conference, which was held July 6-10 at the Lumen Christi Retreat Center in Schriever, intends to steer teenagers clear of negative influences and toward making positive life choices. As the name implies, the teens are expected to become leaders in the sense that they may influence other teenagers they know into making the right choices as well.
“We do lots of activities to really empower them so that when they go back into their schools, they go back into their neighborhoods and they’re with their friends, maybe one of the kids they’re hanging around with wants to make a choice that’s unsafe or not OK,” said Marue Soudelier, the camp director, “that they’re the ones to rise above and maybe expand their circle of influence so that other kids will be making good choices.”
Those lessons are built into every moment of the camp, as speakers are booked to stress the importance of steering clear from alcohol, drugs and violence.
In fact, each camper signs a “contract” pledging to avoid each of those pitfalls at the start of the week, Soudelier said. School or community officials must recommend the teen to attend the event.
Friendship and trust-building exercises are also commonplace throughout the week, such as a “trust fall,” an exercise where a student has to fall backward into the arms of other students waiting to catch them before they fall.
Other activities reinforce positive attitudes, such as a session of “chair yoga,” which is led by a yoga instructor from Twisted Fitness.
Once campers have the seeds of success, the hope is that they will take those lessons back to their homes and high schools and share them with others.
The curriculum has become more modern in recent years to reflect modern-day problems teens face: signs of abusive relationships, preventing distracted driving – from texting to picking the next song on the playlist – and stress relief.
The young leaders also met with local law enforcement leaders for a primer on the law. On a panel sat Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Jerry Larpenter and District Attorney Joseph Waitz Jr., Bayou Cane Fire Department Chief Ken Himel and Louisiana State Police Troop C Commander Captain Darrin Naquin.
Teens asked questions ranging from the expected – “What is the craziest thing you’ve ever seen on the job” – to the unexpected. One teen described a friend’s fascination with fire.
“Playing with fire. Does it always escalate? No, it doesn’t,” said Fire Chief Himel. “If you have a friend who likes to play with fire and you think it’s more than just a guy walking down the street flicking matches, deal with that because that can turn into something really bad. It’s an actual disease called pyromania where you do graduate [to bigger things] …”
For the most part, questions fell in line with the theme of the conference, which is becoming young leaders. Most sought suggestions about talking with friends about bad influences or addressing issues with parents that may make them angry.
The panelists each echoed a similar message, which is that teenagers must think before making decisions that could have ramifications that affect their lives forever. Each offered examples of drunk driving and drug use among teens that prevented them from earning promotions or leading normal, productive lives.
“It’s really important to make sure you’re making the right choices and to have a goal and stick with it,” said Emmeline Brunet, a Vandebilt Catholic High School junior, “because the choices you make now will follow you forever.”
A panel of local law enforcement leaders answers questions from teens at the 26th Annual Teen Spirit Leadership Conference at the Lumen Christi Retreat Center in Schriever.
