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AVW/LdF
4th Grade Session #3 Group 3
4/24/08 9am – 2pm
AVW and LdF Schools
Intercultural
Leadership Initiative4/24/08 9am – 2pm
AVW and LdF Schools
AVW Students: 26 AVW Teacher: Lori Berryman
LdF Students: 16 LdF Teacher: Rhonda Maulson
ILI Mentors: 5
ILI Staff: Alice McFarlane, Craig Kerr, Matt White, and Ernie St. Germaine
Today we had a large group to start the day, as there was a mix-up on Tuesday and three schools showed up to our session, but with the wonderful cooperation of AVW and LdF schools and teachers we were able to make it work out—thanks everybody! This was a nice opportunity to have some more students exposed to ILI.
The students from Lac du Flambeau came to the AVW School and we all met in a room that combines two classrooms. We welcomed all the students- both the students who were new to ILI and the students who have been in it the whole year, and introduced the adults and the high school mentors. With a warm welcome, an explanation of why today was different, and introduction done we handed out ILI t-shirts to all of the students. The AVW students who already had their shirts from Tuesday wanted their friends from LdF to sign their shirts too. So, the students had a great time signing shirts and visiting with each other. When the t-shirt signing came to an end Ernie told a story of why we always sit in a circle and why when we share in our circles we go clockwise. The students really enjoyed listening to the story he told. When Ernie was finished it was time for the regular AVW ILI students to say goodbye to their friends from LdF and they headed back to their classrooms.
The AVW students that remained were new to ILI but quickly got involved with our activities. We began with an activity to help the students release their energy in a positive way. Watching the activity it was fun to see all the students helping each other and involving the new students. In ILI one of the most important parts of our day is getting to know or be reacquainted with each other’s names. We think it is important because names are the gateway to friendship. Without knowing someone’s name it is very awkward and hard to begin a conversation or even ask questions. In the case today, most of the students from the different schools did not know each other’s names. So we spent a significant amount of time in the morning helping the students get to know each other’s names. After all of the students were comfortable with each other had a good grasp on each other’s names we all went on a tour of AVW School. This was a great opportunity for the students to get a chance to look at another school. When we finished our tour it was time for lunch!
After lunch we loaded the bus with all the students and headed out to the LdF School. The students had a good time on the bus with their new friends as we drove out to Lac du Flambeau. We arrived and the students had worked up quite a bit of energy and when we unloaded the bus we had a couple of activities ready for them to channel that energy in a positive way. During one of the activities some of the boys from AVW were clapping for a boy from LdF as he crossed the safe line before the Golly Green Giant tagged him. That was cool to see them cheering for each other even though they had only met this morning. The rain started to come down and we headed into the school and to Ms. Maulson’s classroom.
Craig split the group into two and one group did an activity that involved drawing a picture and used that picture to describe how we all have different perspectives. The other group presented their family trees or where their family relatives came from. While watching the students gain confidence as they talked in front of the other students it was apparent that they were very proud of themselves and where they came from.
We had a great day and a new experience!
This is the last time this group will meet together this year.
Bob Kovar,
Project Director
Intercultural Leadership
Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
LdF/MHLT 4th Grade Session #3 Group 1
4/21/08 9am – 2pm
Camp Jorn
LdF Students: 15
MHLT Students: 15
LUHS Mentors: 4
ILI Volunteers: Pam Oddo, Gretchen Spickerman
ILI staff: Craig Kerr, Matt White, Alice McFarlane, Ernie St. Germaine, Bob Kovar
We had a wonderful spring day for our final meeting with these students this year. They came into the building with their normal enthusiasm and excitement. Craig had everyone sit in a circle and he welcomed them and let them of their importance. Students need to hear that they are important, just because they are themselves. Not because of something they did or said, just because they have been given the gift of life. Then the adults introduced themselves and we reviewed the ILI words (Safety, Respect, Pride, Communicate, Cooperate, and Fun). The students remember all of the words! They also did a great job explaining the words to each other. We all agreed to do these words and we were ready for the day.
We started with an activity called “Captain Says”, an ILI favorite. Then we headed outside and did a number of activities to get “the bugs out”. These activities help the students positively channel the energy they bring with them off of the bus. After these activities we headed into the dining hall for a well-deserved snack. After snack Craig split up the group into two and we were reacquainted with each other’s names. The students really had a good time with these activities and did a really good job of remembering the other student’s names. Half of the group switched to the other group so that all of the students could have a chance to reacquaint themselves. Craig had them get back into a circle after they were done with their name activities. He explained how the design of the ILI t-shirt was created. Then each student received an ILI shirt and all of the students signed each other’s shirt. This is always a special time as we watch the students interacting and the joy that comes from signing someone’s shirt and from having everyone sign your shirt. Then it was time for lunch.
When we were all done with lunch we headed outside for some after lunch activities. Craig split the group into two again after the activities. One group headed inside and the other group stayed outside. The group inside was going to talk about their family tree and the other group was going to do an activity that explored the idea of “Perspective.”
The group inside got up one at a time and gave a little history of their family tree, talked about their favorite person, and either a story of their grandparents or the origins of their family. We had students put pins in the ILI Map-that now has many years of pins designating ILI family origins! What an incredible experience for the students to stand in front of one another and be able to talk about their family and a significant person in their lives. It was a wonderful opportunity for the students to be valued by their peers and practice speaking in front of others. They all did a great job! The groups switched and experience what the first group had done.
It was a wonderful day with a great group of students!
This is the last time this group will meet this year.
Bob Kovar,
Project Director
Intercultural Leadership
Initiative
Intercultural
Leadership Initiative
LdF/NLS 6th Grade Session #3 Group 2
4/14/08 9am – 2pm
Camp Jorn
LdF/NLS 6th Grade Session #3 Group 2
4/14/08 9am – 2pm
Camp Jorn
LdF Students: 21
NLS Students: 15
ILI Staff: Ernie St. Germaine, Matt White, Alice McFarlane, and Craig Kerr
We followed a similar schedule for the day as the other 6th grade group two weeks ago. This group had to reschedule because of a school closing due to heavy snow.
We had a beautiful day for our final session with the 6th graders. They came full of energy and were ready to get started. Craig welcomed the group and let them know important they are to us in ILI. Then he asked the adults to introduce themselves. After the introductions Craig asked the students to stand up and we did a couple of activities to get the “bugs out.” These are activities that help students release energy they have stored up from the bus ride and the excitement of coming to ILI.
After a few of these activities Craig asked the students to get into groups of three. Matt and Alice handed out colored shapes to the students and all of the greens went with Alice, the blues went with Craig, and the oranges went with Matt. The groups spent the rest of the morning getting reacquainted and preparing a skit for the whole group. The skits were based on the ILI pillar words: Safety, Respect, Communicate, Cooperate, Pride, and Fun. The groups came back together and presented their skits. One of the groups spelled out their word with their bodies; another group “communicated” by computer, phone, and letter; a group portrayed kids being lured to a park by strangers on the internet to illustrate the word “safety”; a group bowed to a Queen and shook hands down the line to show “Respect.” It was really interesting to see the student’s interpretations of these words. They did a great job.
After lunch the groups split again and each group did some exploring around the lake and work on some problem solving activities. One group got to a point that they were able to safely lift some of their group members in the air in an activity called “Light as a feather and stiff as a board.” After all of the students who wanted to go the facilitator challenged the students to work together to lift them. There was quite a bit of skepticism within the group but they finally thought that they would give it a try. The first time they tried the facilitator was too heavy for them, but they rearranged themselves and were able to lift the facilitator in the air over their heads and safely lower him back down to the ground. They did a great job and were all very pleased with their effort.
As is always the case the end of the day came quickly and it was time for the students to get on the bus and head back to school.
This will be the last time that this group meets this year.
Bob Kovar,
Project Director
Intercultural Leadership
Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
LdF/NLES 5th Grade
9:00-2:00, April 08, 2008
Camp Jorn
LDF STUDENTS: 17
NLES STUDENTS: 13
LUHS MENTORS: 4
ILI STAFF: Alice McFarlane, Craig Kerr, Matt White.
ILI VOLUNTEERS: John and Gretchen Spickerman.
When the staff and mentors talked about their highlights at the end of the day, these are some of the things that they observed and shared.
“While looking for the treasure our group took an unexpected turn through the snow. It was fun to watch the group help each other and look for loose shoes that fell off.”
“ When we started to look for the treasure part of the group tried to get there as fast as they could and left some other students behind. Later Matt challenged them to think of the middle word from ILI. Leadership. What does it mean to be a leader? To look out for the needs of the WHOLE group. When we looked for the next treasure the group stuck together a lot better as they were trying to be leaders”.
One of the challenges to accomplish before they could open the treasure was to make a “monster”. There were many ides of what that could mean. “Some thought the whole group should squeeze in tight so they looked like a 10 faced monster. Someone else suggested the group make one out of snow. Someone thought their group should play the game “monster”. What our group ended up doing was to make one out of mud. It was pretty scary looking. But everyone listened to other ideas, together picked an achievable task and then completed it well.”
“It was a lot of fun to learn things that we couldn’t tell about the students just from looking on the outside.” This happened during the balloon popping activity and “2 Truths and one not so truth”.
“There were two girls, one from each school, who were in the same group during the morning. At lunch they sat and talked for the entire time talking as if they had been friends for years.” When the staff and mentors sat and thought about the day, it was this memory that made us think, “This is what ILI is trying to do”.
Bob Kovar,
Project Director
Intercultural Leadership
Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
4/7/08 9am-2pm
Camp Jorn
AVW Students: 19 AVW Teacher: Linnea Jackson
LdF Students: 18
MHLT Students: 17
ILI Mentors: 2
ILI Volunteers: John and Gretchen Spickerman
ILI Staff: Craig Kerr, Ernie St. Germaine, Matt White, Alice McFarlane
The students brought the energy of spring with them today. They were not deterred by the rainy weather and came with smiles on their faces and laughter on their breath. Matt welcomed everyone and let them know that they are important. He also talked with the students about the ILI words. (Safety, Respect, Pride, Cooperate, Communicate, and Fun) After the students agreed to act out these ideas in their groups today Craig led an ILI favorite, Captain says. After a couple of rounds the students were split into three groups and they went with their leaders for the day. Today the word that we were going to focus on was “Discover.” Each group would rotate through three different areas of the camp today to discover something.
Each time the students meet at ILI the staff has an outline of what activities they are going to do for the day. However, each facilitator tailors the day to the needs of the group that they have on a given day. Therefore not every group does the same thing when they meet because of the personality of the group.
All the groups started with some activities to get the “bugs out” after a long bus ride for the students and then focused on reacquainting themselves with each other’s names. Without knowing each other’s names the interaction between the students would never progress past a stage of staying within their comfort zones. To venture out of this comfort they need to feel safe and knowing each other’s names is an important step to achieve that safety.
Each of the groups made woven place mats in the tradition of black ash baskets. The interactions around the workspaces were wonderful to see. The students shared stories and their experiences of life as they worked side-by-side. In this simple process they were deepening their understanding of who the other person was and recognizing the similarities they share. It was a great experience!
Two of the groups did an activity where students write one thing down about themselves that no one else knows and that they don’t mind sharing. They put it into a balloon and blow it up and they try to keep the balloons in the air or tie it around their ankle with a piece of string and try to pop each others balloon. When all the balloons are popped everyone reads their piece of paper and they try and decide whom the paper belongs to. In this activity they are discovering more about each other and having fun at the same time. The students enjoyed this activity and were trying really hard to guess the mystery person.
One of the groups braved the weather and went to discover hidden treasure. The students had a wonderful time interacting as they tried to read a map that tells them where the treasure is located. The boys found the first treasure and were trying to find the other treasure when it dawned on the leader that he had not communicated with the other leader very well about the instructions. He took the boys back to the room where we had begun and found the girls who had shared all of the loot (chocolate). The boys were upset and began to complain that the girls ate all of the chocolate. This turned into a fabulous teachable moment on “conflict that is started through miscommunication”. They had a wonderful conversation about “discovering” the root of conflict, which in this case was a simple miscommunication.
The day as always came to an end before we knew it and it was time for the students to load the bus and head back to school.
This is the last time this year this group will meet this year.
Bob Kovar,
Project Director
Intercultural Leadership
Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
AVW/LdF/MHLT 6th Grade Session 3
March 31, 2008 9am – 2pm
Camp Jorn
AVW Students: 20 AVW Teacher: Carl Karaffa
LdF Students: 22 LdF Teachers: John Lohoff and Anne Wewasson
MHLT Students: 15
LUHS Mentors: 4
ILI Volunteers: John and Gretchen Spickerman
ILI Staff: Ernie St. Germaine, Alice McFarlane, Matt White, and Craig Kerr
As you can see we had a large group of students today. They came in the door enthusiastic about what would happen today and happy to see their friends. Craig started out by welcoming everyone and letting them know how important that they are to us. After the introduction of the adults and high school students Craig had the group split into three groups. Then we spent some time in these groups getting reacquainted with each other’s names. We rotated two times so that everyone would have the opportunity to be reintroduced to each other. Knowing the name of a peer is the first step in learning to understand them. This is why we put so much emphasis on helping the students recall each other’s name.
When everyone had been to all the groups we all congregated back in the Dining Hall. Matt split the group into 6 different groups. Each group was given an ILI word (Safety, Respect, Communicate, Cooperate, Pride, and Fun) to create a skit about. Today our theme is “Act.” We wanted to give the students an opportunity to act and perform for each other. The students, with the help of the adults, began to get started planning their performance. Some groups took longer than others, as you would expect, and we all performed our word for each other. Once the skit was performed the other students guessed what the word was that they were acting out. The students guessed correctly on all of the performances. The students had a good time and were able to put these words that we talk about into living form. Then it was time for lunch.
After lunch Craig split up the group into three smaller groups. Each group spent the afternoon learning about how to “act” in a positive way. One group worked through a progression of activities that built on each other to help them understand how powerful they can be when they put their differences aside and work together. The first was “Balloon Bat.” In this activity the students have to keep a number of balloons up in the air with different parameters set by the facilitator. During the activity Craig talked to the students about how they had divided themselves and were not able to achieve a very good result. He reminded them that this activity was meant to incorporate the whole group. Once all of the students joined together they far exceeded their best time. The next initiative was “Monster.” In this activity a group of students are given a certain number of hands and feet that they are allowed to use to move their whole group from one place to another. The students worked hard at trying to solve this problem and did a really good job of working together and solving the problem. As they worked through these problems their confidence as a group was beginning to increase. By the end of the afternoon they were able to lift Craig up in the air over their heads and lower him gently to the ground. They “acted” very well together and were able to achieve an amazing feat.
This is the last time these students will meet this year.
Bob Kovar,
Project Director
Intercultural Leadership
Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
7th Grade Sessions #3 Group #4
3/14/08 9am – 2pm
Camp Jorn
LdF Students: 4 LdF Teacher: Mrs. Torkelson
NLS Students: 4
ILI Staff: Matt White and Craig Kerr
ILI LUHS Mentor: 1
Today we had a small group, but good things come in small packages. We started the morning out as we have all week. (Please see earlier write-ups) However, during the morning session we had an impromptu discussion on what the students think about school. The students were very honest in what they shared. It was really wonderful to hear what they had to say. Craig asked them what they would like to see in school if they had some say. The conversation around that topic was great. The students shared that they would like to have other classes than just the core academic classes. They thought that it would be cool to have more technology in the school and have teachers trained to be able to use it in their classrooms. Much of what they said was right in line with what some of the major school reform advocates are talking about. Craig talked to the students about legislation that drives the curriculums of the schools right now and how state taxes influence money the schools have to spend. Mrs. Torkelson told the students how impressed with their conversation she was. It was an incredible conversation with a great deal of insight!
We had a special time of sharing what we were thankful for. Craig talked to the students about a man he went to school with that died of cancer this week. He mentioned to the students that it is important to let the people around you know how much you care about them and not have to let them assume that you care about them. One student shared that she was thankful for her granddad getting to the hospital quickly when he had a heart attack so that he is still alive. The students shared many deep things that they were thankful for.
After lunch we did a number of activities because we had sat so long during the morning discussion. The students enjoyed it and enjoyed interacting with one another. Then, we continued with the schedule we have had all week. The student shared some cool dreams of what they would like to be when they grow up during the 3 questions activity. It is also fun to see the students trying not to turn red or smile when their answers are being read out loud. The final activity we did was Jeopardy. The students really enjoyed it.
We ended the day with the students writing in their journals. Some of the highlights from the year that the students wrote down were uncle Ernie’s stories, meeting new friends, smaller groups, and making a basket. Some of the ideas that the students said that they learned were the importance of being nice to others because then they will give you respect, learning about different cultures, and that we all can get along. This was a great day! This was the last time these students will meet together this year.
Bob Kovar,
Project Director
Intercultural Leadership
Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
7th Grade Session #3 Group #3
March 13, 2008 9am – 2pm
Camp Jorn
AVW Students: 5 AVW Teacher: Joan Mestelle
LDF Students: 5 LDF Teacher: Jennifer Austin
NLES Students: 4
LUHS Mentors: 2
ILI Staff: Alice McFarlane, Craig Kerr, Matt White.
The day started with a lot of energy and excitement. ILI days usually do but today’s group has a way of being easygoing and excited and yet quiet. It is like they know something they will like is going to happen and it comes out even if it isn’t loud.
Craig welcomed the students with some encouragement about how important they are and how proud the staff is of them. Then the group moved into a series of name refresher and ice breaking activities. These activities are always fun. It also provides the students the confidence when they get to the harder challenges later in the day. The knowledge that you really know someone’s name adds to your ability to feel free to ask for help or to offer help.
After a number of these activities we took a quick break for snack. Then Matt introduced an activity that involved a lot of running and quick thinking. There are a lot of opportunities to change your position in your attempt to be the last one “up”. If you are tagged with the ball you are down to your knees but if you tag someone who is walking past and not paying attention, they would be down and you would be up. There are a number of other rules but needless to say it is filled with action and problem solving. After the first round, which was all for yourself, we switched to playing with a partner. This brought a new set of advantages and possible disadvantages. The next round they were told to switch partners and were given time to think of any possible advantages they could work in without changing the current set of rules. Many pairs sought out alliances with other pairs. The closeness and degree of those alliances varied. The results also varied a lot. Some were helpful. Some didn’t turn out as the planners hoped. Other groups found ways to move the ball around to tag people that were not being used previously. After the activity finished, the group sat down to talk about what they saw and experienced. We discussed how even when things are not totally set up in your favor, there may be things you can do to gain more advantage in the situation. Like how one high school student was failing many of his classes but decided there was something he could do which was to get to know his teachers so he would feel ok about asking them for help and could understand where THEY were coming from. These new relationships ended up increasing his advantage. This was just a little of what was discussed.
Then Craig had the group gather around a coiled rope on the floor. They were instructed to grab the rope in a certain way and that their grip had to remain the same for the rest of the activity. If their hands came “un-glued” there would be a consequence. This consequence could either be to be blindfolded or to be without the capacity for speech for the duration of the activity. The object was for the group to untie what had become a giant knot in the rope. It was very challenging but after a lot of blindfolding, silencing, trying and trying again, they did it. They did a good job too. One of the LUHS mentors remembered trying to do the same activity in 9th grade and not getting it nearly as well. She complimented the students effusively. After the successful conclusion of the activity, they sat and talked through the things they saw or experienced. Some felt helpless. Others who were far from the part of the rope with the knot for a long time felt useless and like they weren’t able to have a say or voice in what the group should try. Some were a little frustrated. In the discussion the comparison of looking at similarities in life was frequent. The students saw how frustrating it can be to feel like they have no voice and thought about the question “how can I help others always feel like they have a voice. At least when they are around me?” These are awesome thoughts for 7th graders to be contemplating.
Then we had lunch. After which we had a little walk to visit the Igloo and ask each other some get-to-know-you questions that were a little more in depth than the name activities earlier.
Then the group played a round of Jeopardy. The categories were mostly fun reviews of the subjects we have been talking about so far this year. With a few new fun ones as well. Then we adjourned outdoors for a closing snowball “rumble”. While the students were saying their goodbyes there were a lot of students exchanging numbers and E-mails and trading hugs. It is hard to recall a group that was so unreservedly fond of each other.
That made the ILI staff very encouraged!
Bob Kovar,
Project Director
Intercultural Leadership
Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
7th Grade Session #3 Group #2
March 11, 2008 9am – 2pm
Camp Jorn
AVW Students: 5 AVW Teacher: Lynne Curie
LdF Students: 5 LdF Teacher: Leslie Grams
NLS Students: 5
LUHS Mentors: 2
ILI Volunteers: John and Gretchen Spickerman
ILI Staff: Craig Kerr, Matt White, and Ernie St. Germaine
Today’s group was smaller than yesterday’s group but came with the same amount of enthusiasm and excitement as yesterday!
Craig welcomed the group and again explained how important they are to us. (Please see yesterday’s write-up.) After the welcome we decided that because the group was small that we would keep them together all day. We all did activities that would help us to remember each other’s names. After a couple of months apart most of the students need help remembering some names. If you have ever seen someone you haven’t seen for a while and you cannot remember their name you know how these students feel. They feel awkward. We help alleviate the awkwardness with activities that refresh our memories before we embarrass ourselves by not remembering each other’s names. We also create an environment where it is safe for students to ask each other what their names are. However, some of the students re-connected with some of their friends from the other schools really quickly. That is always really cool to see how excited they are to see each other.
When we were finished reacquainting ourselves Craig set up a rope in the middle of the circle and had every one grab a piece of it and we proceeded to do the same activity as yesterday with the rope. This group of students did a great job of working really well together to get the rope totally untangled. However, one of the expectations of the activity was that you could not take your hands off of the rope at any time. When students did that, they had a blindfold added to their eyes, mouth, or both. So by the end we had a few students not being able to see or talk. We were very impressed with the way these students communicated, treated each other, and kept each other safe. They worked hard and were able to free themselves from the knot. They were very excited and proud of themselves when they finished. We sat down to process this activity and Craig asked the students what was hard about the activity. Immediately the student whom had a blindfold on said it was hard because she couldn’t see. Then we had a good discussion on how we treat people with “disabilities.” We talked about how these people are not included in our everyday lives because they are different and we are afraid to talk or interact with them. Craig told a personal story that related this to the students and impressed on them to treat people with disabilities just like other people you know. “If you are afraid that you will not be able to talk with them than take a risk and give it a try”, he told the students. We continued talking about the activity and some of the students said that they were able to untangle because they worked together, they listened to and [valued] each other’s opinions. One student responded that they thought they were able to do so well on solving the problem because they have had practice on other activities similar to this in ILI. It was a great discussion about all of the students working together to solve the problem.
Matt segued from this discussion to the topic of conflict and how we personally deal with conflict. The students took a survey on how they deal with conflict with certain people in their lives. We had a good conversation on how we deal with conflict and which conflict style we use most often. The students started to get a better understanding of what their habits are in terms of how they handle conflict. Like yesterday, we also asked them what they would like to do less of when they faced conflict. The answers were very similar to yesterday. The students seem as though they would like more practice on how to handle conflict. During the end of our discussion we lost power at Camp Jorn. Our volunteers soldiered on with their mission of pizza making and we transitioned to the mushroom activity form yesterday. (Please se yesterday’s write-up.)
As lunch was winding down the AVW students had to head back to school for an assembly. All of the students didn’t want them to go and some of the students did not want to go, but it was an important assembly for the students to be a part of. By the time lunch was over, the power was back on and we were back in business.
The warmer weather and the nearness of spring break has an enormous influence on these students and they needed to positively channel some energy so we headed outside for a few activities.
When the energy was close to being depleted we headed to the longhouse for some activities that we did yesterday with the students. We started with a walking interview with a partner. During the activity the students would get to know things about their partner and then in a big group we would introduce our partner and tell the group what we had learned about them. This activity not only helps them learn about each other it helps them with being able to stand up in front of people and talk with confidence.
We got to the longhouse and did the three question activity and jeopardy. (Please see yesterday’s write-up.) The students enjoyed getting to know more about each other in the question activity. The boys and girls always enjoy competing against each other in Jeopardy, but they also learned a lot while having fun. This is the last time this group will meet together this year.
Bob Kovar,
Project Director
Intercultural Leadership
Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
7th Grade Session #3 Group #1
March 10 2008 9am – 2pm
Camp Jorn
AVW Students: 6
LDF Students: 5
MHLT Students: 8
NLES Students: 6
LUHS Mentors: Trevor Isham, Joe Lyons, and Klayton St. Germaine.
ILI Volunteers: John and Gretchen Spickerman
ILI STAFF: Bob Kovar, Ernie St. Germaine, Craig Kerr, and Matt White.
The students came in excited to be at ILI today. We believe that their energy will bring spring soon! Craig welcomed everyone and talked to them about how important they are to us. Not just because they are part of the program, but just because all people are important and need to be told that they are. Then he had the students break into two groups. One group went with Craig & Ernie and one group went with Matt.
During the morning session Matt’s group started by both re-familiarizing themselves and learning the names of the few people who had come on other days of the week earlier in the year. Then Matt led them in an activity that has many common rules as “Dodge ball.” It is an old ILI favorite called Mushrooms. The first time it was everyone for themselves. Then they were asked find someone who would be their partner for round two. The rules were almost all the same but things were very different because of the team play. For round three the students found a new partner and were given a chance to think through how, without changing the rules that had been established, they could create more of an advantage during the game. Some pairs made plans. Some decided to rely on their athleticism. A few pairs decided to make alliances with other pairs so they at least could get to the final group together. After the activity Matt sat the group down and had them reflect on all that they had learned about so far this year at ILI. The concept of Advantage was one of the big things we discussed.
Then Matt had the group come gather around a rope piled on the floor. They were all instructed to grab the rope with both hands right next to each other and that they were supposed to keep them there for the duration of the activity. They could use their pinkies to manipulate the rope but that was it. As they picked up the rope and stood back it created a sizable knot. Their assignment was to untie it without anyone letting go of the rope. They did well. Then they were instructed to sit around a bag that was closed but had 6 objects in it. By feel alone the group was to reach consensus and make a guess as to what was in the bag. If they did not guess accurately they were told that they would get to complete another knot challenge after which they could come and formulate another guess. After a few cycles of this the group guessed correctly.
Matt then led a discussion about the group’s frustrations and how the students reacted to them. They talked about some of the conflicted feelings and goals during the activity. This served as an example of conflict from which Matt introduced a work sheet that helped the students take an inventory of different ways they respond in moments of conflict. Perhaps some would respond with sarcasm, being funny or by avoiding talking about the issue. There were a lot to choose from. The students were encouraged to think of one way that they would like to stop responding to conflict. The answers were mostly very honest. “I wish I were less sarcastic”. “I would like to fight less.” “I would like to not be as mean.”
The group that went with Craig and Ernie began by focusing on getting to know each other’s names and getting to know more about each other. This was done with a few different activities. The first couple of activities helped everyone familiarize themselves with everyone’s name in a way that is fun and engaging. This allows the students to learn names and not feel “dumb” for not remembering them. It is so important for the students to be able to call each other by their name because knowing a person’s name is the gateway to friendship. After a couple of name activities we moved to “get to know you activities.” These activities enable the students to learn more about each other in an environment that is safe. Students feel comfortable to share with one another after the trust has been established through the previous activities and sessions. One of the activities we did was to have the students answer these 3 questions on a piece of paper: 1) What would you like to be when you grow up? 2) Where would you like to travel to in your life? 3) What is the most important person/thing in your life? After they wrote down the answers they all handed their papers to Craig and he read them out loud and the group had to guess who wrote the answers. It was a really fun way to get to know more about each person’s dreams and what is important to them.
When we were finished with these activities Uncle Ernie began with the ILI Jeopardy activity. This was a great activity and the students really enjoyed it. The categories included local history, treaty rights, spearing, speaking “IM” (instant message), study of… and LUHS coaches. The Jeopardy activity helps the students to come to consensus on an answer, to work cooperatively in a mixed group, and to review and learn some new information in a fun way. The students are always engaged and eager to give the What is… or Who is…answer.
The groups switched leaders in the afternoon and had a very similar experience to the groups in the morning. This was a wonderful groups of students who interacted well and made some good connections with students from other schools. This is the last time this year this group will meet.
Bob Kovar,
Project Director
Intercultural Leadership
Initiative
Intercultural
Leadership Initiative
8th Grade ILI Group #4 Session #3 Summary
March 7, 2008 Camp Jorn 9am-2pm.
8th Grade ILI Group #4 Session #3 Summary
March 7, 2008 Camp Jorn 9am-2pm.
AVW Students: 4 AVW Teacher: Jeremy Jorgensen
LDF Students: 7 LDF Teacher: Jeannie Harris
ILI Staff: Ernie St. Germaine, Craig Kerr, Matt White.
The most encouraging thing to see with today’s group was how they went from hanging back earlier on to really interacting and having a good discussion together about their future at LUHS. The group’s small size made for a relaxed and close feeling.
While playing Snow-shoe Baseball, the students were told it was time to head in for lunch but petitioned to keep playing for a few innings. They had a great time. The students learned that they could all agree on simple things like the baseball activity and that in itself was a powerful lesson. What else can we agree on? There were many exciting thoughts to consider for the future.
During the compass exercise the students really did an excellent job of taking in what, for most of them, was new information. Some of the things the group noticed during the experience and how they relate, in a metaphorical sense, to next year in high school: “If I’m just one degree off at the start when I’m two years down the road I’ll be off a lot.” (Think careful about what I let influence me) “ We can follow the trails left by people earlier in the week” ( people have gone before me on this road. Ask them for advice) “ When I’m not sure about what I’m doing I need to go double check my compass” (Don’t do stuff because others are doing it. Check my goals and stay with what I really want) “I always need to double check my equipment to prevent making mistakes. My map or my compass might need adjusting” (Don’t take everything you hear just because someone says it. Find out for yourself. Go to the source and talk. Don’t buy all the ‘He said, she said’ drama just because it is being said. (Give people a chance.) The students really connected the activity with some thoughtful ideas about their futures!
Bob Kovar,
Project Director
Intercultural Leadership
Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
8th Grade Session #3 Group #3
3/6/08 9am – 2pm
Camp Jorn
AVW Students: 4 AVW Teacher: Lyn Curry
LdF Students: 7 LdF Teacher: Anne Wewasson
MHLT Students: 4 MHLT Teacher: Barry Dalberto
NLS Students: 5
ILI Mentors: Gilbert Lyons and Carmela Maulson
Camp Jorn Staff: Dennis and Emir (Pizza cookers)
ILI Staff: Ernie St. Germaine, Matt White, and Craig Kerr
Today’s session followed the same pattern as the last two sessions (Please see Monday’s Write-up). Craig welcomed the group and let them know how important they are to us. He also mentioned a conversation he had with the high school students on the way up about ILI. One of them had said they had read an article in the Lac du FLambeau News that said one of the places the Native students felt comfortable at LUHS was ILI. Both of the students agreed with the statement. He went on to say that ILI wants to create a place that all students feel welcomed and cared for. He told the students that he realized that some of them would get involved with other things when they reach the high school, but there is always a place for them in ILI.
Ernie talked to the students about the traditional importance of beading and the stories that go along with each piece of beadwork. As the students worked on their rings many stories were told around the tables. Students from other schools shared remember when… stories with each other. It was neat to see the students sharing their own personal stories and stories that included other students from different schools. Most of the students were able to finish their rings. There is something that the students liked about starting something and being able to see it to completion in one day.
Because it was colder out today than the other days, we asked the students if they would like to do an outdoor or indoor activity. They democratically decided that they would like to stay inside and we commenced an “ILI Greatest Hits” activity time. The high school mentors did a good job of setting up and running one of the activities. We are so proud of them.
After lunch and the compass activity (please see Monday’s write-up) we had a good conversation about how the activity relates to going into the high school in a few months. One of the students said that there would be a lot of turns and at first you will easily get lost. Many of the students laughed and agreed that they are worried about getting around in the high school. But, they also went deeper and talked about how that they were going to have to make decisions for themselves and hopefully go the right way. One of the students talked about needing others to help you find your way. Craig talked about the idea of the map being the hopes and goals you have for your life and how the compass is what is inside of you that helps to make the right decisions that help you to achieve and reach your dreams and goals. Matt added the importance of supporting your friends when they are trying new [positive] things instead of saying, “ Why are you trying that?” The high school students gave great advice to the students about how to be successful at LUHS. All of the 8th grade students listened very carefully to what they had to say.
After the conversation on the map and compass the students wrote in their journal about the high lights they have from ILI. Today was the last day that they would be attending ILI in middle school. So, we took time to reflect about what they had experienced through the years. They also wrote about what lessons they will take with them from ILI. One of the students wrote that even though we all go to different schools and look different we can all get along. Another student wrote that they had become even more outgoing, could stand up and talk in front of people, and could start conversations with kids that they didn’t even know. These are just a couple of examples that the students wrote about.
We ended with the students writing themselves a note about their goals and hopes for 1st semester freshman year. This was a way to help them think about how they wanted to start out at the high school. Many of the students wrote intently to themselves and it will be interesting to see them read it next year. The ILI staff will deliver the letters next year at the end of 1st semester.
We had another great day with a group of wonderful students. They will bring a lot of positive energy to the high school next year!
Bob Kovar,
Project Director
Intercultural Leadership
Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
8th grade session #3 Group #2
3/4/08 9am – 2pm
Camp Jorn
AVW Students: 4 AVW Teacher: Linn White
LDF Students: 9 LDF Teacher: Lesley Grams
MHLT Students: 4. MHLT Teacher: Barry Dalberto
NLES Students: 6
LUHS Mentors: 2
ILI Staff: Matt White, Ernie St. Germaine, Alice McFarlane, Craig Kerr.
While making the rings some students were so enthused that they made two. There was a lot of really fun joke and story telling around the tables. All the tables were in a state of perpetual laughter and smiling while working. It was just a great time of sharing joy with one another. Since the tradition is to give your first work away it was really neat to see some of the students choosing to give theirs to students from other schools.
While most of the students were playing baseball a few headed indoors to join in some other activities. We drew on the dry erase board. We played elbow tag. We played a few rounds of pictionary.
During the Compass activity the students had to find and record the directional bearings between three points and map out the triangle that would be created. This was different than the assignment on Monday. They found that a lot of the work was done before by the students on Monday. When the whole group sat down to talk about their experience a number of students made observations on how that will be what coming into the high school is like. Each class has a class ahead of them to follow but they will still need to check and see if it is the right path; or to see if they need to go off and make their own, new path. These are a group of deep thinking students who have a lot of potential to do good things. We are exited to see what they will do and accomplish in the next few years.
As always, the LUHS mentors were a great help and were admired by the younger students. They are strong and thoughtful and are really good at sharing what is on their minds that could help younger students.
Bob Kovar,
Project Director
Intercultural Leadership
Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
8th grade session #3 Group #1
3/3/08 9am – 2pm
Camp Jorn
AVW Students: 5 AVW Teacher: Linn White
LdF Students: 4 LdF Teacher: Lori Brokopp
MHLT Students: 4
NLS Students: 5
ILI Volunteers: John and Gretchen Spickerman
Today was the last day for these 8th graders to meet in ILI for the year. As they came in they sat down in two groups on their own (boys and girls) and began to catch up with each other. It was really nice to see them feel so comfortable with each other and reconnect so quickly. Craig asked them to merge their two circles and welcomed them to their final ILI session of the year, and explained how grateful he was to watch them grow up and become the people they are now.
After the introduction Ernie explained how to make bead rings, and he related to the students that in traditional beading there is always a mistake. The mistake may be unintentional or it may be intentional, but there is always at least one mistake. This concept comes from the teaching that human beings are all imperfect and that the creator is the only perfect one. It is a similar concept that the Amish have in creating quilts. They also include a mistake for the same reason. The students dove right into the project and had a great time beading and sharing stories around the tables.
We stopped the students after about an hour. Some of them where done and others where not quite finished, but it was time to head outside. We went outside and everyone crawled into the igloo that had been built by the 5th graders and finished by Ernie, Adam, and Steph St. Germaine. The students really liked it and when Craig crawled in and stood up it was so warm in there that his glasses fogged up! The sun was shining and we (Craig) were wishing for spring so we decided to encourage it by playing a little snowshoe baseball. Many of the students had never played snowshoe baseball and were really into it! The students were running the bases as best they could and we even had a couple headfirst slides. We worked up an appetite and headed in for lunch.
After lunch Matt gave the students a quick lesson on how to use a compass, and the students headed back outside for a map and compass challenge. They had to find several points by using bearings on the compass. This was something most of them did not have too much experience with. They did not give up and ended up have a good time with the activity. We went back inside and enjoyed some hot chocolate and talked about the experience. We related the compass activity to what it might be like for them at the high school the first few weeks. The students answered with some very insightful comments. One student commented that they did not think they were really going to like the activity but that they ended up liking it in the end, and that at school you should not be afraid to try new [positive] things just because you think you won’t like them. There were many other positive comments and ideas shared as we talked about the activity.
Finally, the students wrote in their journals about their highlights they had experiences in ILI , and they wrote themselves a letter/note. The note/letter was to include their goals and what they hoped for 1st semester next fall as they enter LUHS. The ILI staff will deliver these notes to the students at the end of 1st semester next year for them to review what their hopes and goals for the 1st semester are and how they are doing in terms of meeting those goals and realizing those things they hoped for.
Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
LdF/MHLT 4th
Grade Session #2
2/14/08 9am – 1:30pm
Camp Jorn
2/14/08 9am – 1:30pm
Camp Jorn
LdF Students: 13
MHLT Students: 15 MHLT Teacher: Connie Heiting
LUHS ILI Mentors: 4
ILI Volunteers: Joe Strauss and Jean Olp
ILI Staff: Ernie St. Germaine, Matt White, Alice McFarlane, and Craig Kerr
We had another wonderful group of fourth graders again today! Today’s schedule went much like the last two days (Please see Monday’s Write-up). The students really enjoyed the activities that we had planned for them. The high school mentors did a fantastic job of leading the morning activities and some of the name activities. As was said in the last couple of summaries, we are so proud of how the students work with the younger students and how they are maturing as leaders.
Today at the end of the session the LDF class had made a Valentine for their friends from MHLT and they asked Craig to read the poem on the back. The Valentine was a big card with all of the names of the students from MHLT on the outside and all of the names and pictures of the students from LDF on the inside. It was also decorated with a lot of hearts. Here is the poem that was on the back.
"Portrait
of a Friend"
I can't
give
solutions to all of life's problems, doubts,
or fears.
But I can listen to you, and together we will
search for
answers.
I can't
change your past with all it's heartache and pain,
nor the
future with its untold stories.
But I can
be there now when you need me to care.
I can't
keep your feet from stumbling.
I can only
offer my hand that you may grasp it and not fall.
Your joys,
triumphs, successes, and happiness are not mine;
Yet I can
share in your laughter.
Your
decisions in life are not mine to make, nor to judge;
I can only
support you, encourage you,
and help
you when you ask.
I can't
prevent you from falling away from friendship,
from your values, from me.
I can only
pray for you, talk to you and wait for you.
I can't
give you boundaries which I have determined for you,
But I can
give you the room to change, room to grow,
room to be
yourself.
I can't
keep your heart from breaking and hurting,
But I can
cry with you and help you pick up the pieces
and put
them back in place.
I can't
tell you who you are.
I can only
love you and be your friend.
--Unknown
The students left a little early because they had to get back for their Valentine parties at school. We had a wonderful day with a wonderful group of students.
Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
LdF/NLS 4th Grade Session #2
2/12/08 9am – 2pm
Camp Jorn
LdF Students: 14
NLES Students: 19 NLES Teacher: Jean Kaziak
LUHS ILI Mentors: 3
ILI Volunteer: Pam Anthony (Pizzas) Adam and Steph St.Germaine (Igloo builders)
ILI Staff: Alice McFarlane, Craig Kerr, Ernie St. Germaine, and Matt White
The fourth graders came in with a lot of energy today. You can tell it has been cold outside and they have spent quite a bit of time inside. They were all smiles and giggles as they made their way into the main building. When the students from NLES came in one girl ran up to a girl from LdF and they gave each other a big hug. It was so neat to see that!
Today was very similar to yesterday (Please see yesterday’s write-up). The high school mentors did a great job again today leading the activities and name games. We are so proud of them. Craig was telling them about the indescribable feeling he has watching them facilitate the younger students. He remembers back when they were running around as fourth graders. It is really amazing to see these students develop into the leaders they are today. The students had a great time with the igloo. It is almost completely covered over. It really is an amazing site to see and to actually be able to go in it and see what it is like on the inside is a trip into a whole different world. Dawn Holt from Camp Jorn told us that she has been taking her preschoolers inside the igloo and they are just loving it!
It was another amazing day with wonderful students and new friendships formed!
Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
AVW/LdF 4th Grade Session #2
2/11/08 9am-2pm
Camp Jorn
AVW Students: 14
LdF Students: 14
LUHS ILI Mentors: 4
ILI Volunteers: John and Gretchen Spickerman
ILI Staff: Alice McFarlane, Craig Kerr, Ernie St. Germaine, and Matt White
We had a wonderful group of fourth graders today. They came into the building excited to be there and looking forward to what the day would bring. Matt gathered them into a circle and had the students help him explain and define the ILI pillar words: Safety, Respect, Pride, Communicate, Cooperate, and Fun. Once everyone agreed to the expectations it was on to getting the “bugs” out.
The high school mentors did a great job of explaining and running the next couple of activities: Captain Says and Mosquito Tag. It is wonderful to see the high school mentors interacting with the younger students and having such a positive influence on them. Some of us remember when the high school students were in fourth grade doing these activities, now here they are facilitating-it’s incredible!
After these activities we had snack. Then we broke into three groups to get reacquainted with each other’s names. To do this the three groups did activities to help the students learn remember each other’s names. The high school students also did a great job leading these activities: Toe Tag, Ball Toss, and Name, Name, Goose. After about 10-15 minutes in a group the groups rotated and we began a new activity. When we were finished the small group name activities we split the group in two, and did the blanket name game. The students really enjoyed the excitement and anticipation of trying to name the other student first. There was a lot of bouncing, and shaking arms with excitement as they tried to call out the other person’s name opposite of them. Finally, we ended with “Alaskan Baseball.”
Then we had the students all sit in a big circle and Craig asked if there was anyone that would like to try to name everyone in the circle. There were a number of students who could name all of the other students in the circle. It was really cool!!!
When the students were finished naming everyone in the circle Craig talked about the importance of names. He related the story of where he received his middle name. He grew up wondering what kind of name it was. He wanted a normal middle name, not one that was “weird” like his. He began to complain to his mother about his middle name and she talked to him about where it came from. His middle name was his grandmother Ruby’s maiden name. Craig had a special relationship with his grandmother and once he knew where his middle name came from he was very proud to have it. Craig asked the students to share the stories about their names, both English and Indian, and their nicknames. The students shared many of their stories with each other. It was fun to hear where they received their names and how many of them were tributes to people who were important to their parents. It was a great time of sharing. Before lunch we went around the circle and shared what we were thankful for.
After lunch Ernie told a story of an old man and a magic lodge. The old man was getting old and he had never been married and he was grumpy because his soup never turned out right and he was always burning his food. No matter what he did it just didn’t work. As he grew older it was harder for him to gather food and wood. The hunters from the nearby village had stayed away from his lodge because they knew it was magic. However, as the years went by and the game by the village became scarce the hunters began to venture closer and closer to where the lodge was built. Finally one day a hunter went up to the lodge because he was curious. He looked around and heard the sound of someone inside; he slowly walked up and peered inside. He saw the old man doing something but he could not tell what it was and he was curious. He kept getting closer and closer to the doorway and before he knew it he was standing in the lodge. The old man said, Oh Boozhoo (Hello!) Come in and sit down. When the hunter sat down the old man started to sing a song and the hunter was hypnotized. The old man told the hunter that he had to stay there and hunt for him. He said that if you try and run off you’ll fall over dead. The hunter agreed to hunt for the old man, and off he went to get some waaboose (rabbit). Several hunters from the village were caught in the same trap and they were all working for the old man, hunting and gathering firewood for him. However, in the village there was a couple that was in love. The girl was worried about her brother who was one of the hunters that had not been seen in quite some time. Her young man told her not to worry that he would go and find him, and off he went to look for her brother. Everyday the girl would sit on the edge of the woods to see if she could see any sign of her beloved and brother. This went of for what seemed like an eternity for her. What she didn’t know was that her beloved had fallen into the same trap as the other hunters. Finally all of the hunters got together and said “we have had enough of this all we do is work for you we are going home” and they ran out of the old man’s lodge. Immediately they all fell over and were turned into wood. The old man went out and stacked up a nice pile of wood and thought to himself, what a nice stack of wood I will have for winter. However, the beloved of the girl had not tried to leave because he knew the old man was magic. He continued to work for the old man. Meanwhile back at the village, the girl could not take it any longer and she set off to find her beloved and her brother. She had a suspicion that the old man and the magic lodge had something to do with the missing hunters. So she headed right to it. Her beloved was on the lake fishing for the old man. When he saw her he tried to warn her not to go by the lodge but she did not see him, but she did see the face of her brother and the faces of the other hunters in the wood stacked by the lodge. She walked into the lodge and the asked what had been done to the hunters and her beloved? The old man began to sing his song and she was hypnotized. Her beloved arrived at the lodge just after the old man had hypnotized her and he was heartbroken. Now the old man was getting older and his eyesight and hearing were beginning to go, but he finally had a woman who could cook well and he enjoyed every meal. The hunter would go out and get the food and the girl would cook a wonderful meal. This went on for a while but the young man and woman began to see that the old man was having a hard time seeing and also hearing very well and they began to form a plan. The girl told the hunter that he should go free and that she would stay there, but he would not have any of that nonsense. He would stay and she would go free. She told him that she had a plan and that it would only work if he left her there. He reluctantly agreed. She would distract the old man and he could escape. She began to make a racket getting the food ready and the hunter sneaked away and as he stepped out the door he did not fall over and turn into wood but was able to escape. After the old man had received his meal he went to talk to the hunter and he realized he was not there. He asked the girl and she told him that he had gotten away. The old man was really mad. However, his heart was soft towards the girl and she said that she was worried about the hunter because he would surely get lost. She wanted to go find him and deliver him back to the village safely. She also said “I see the face of my brother and other hunters from our village in the stack of wood. If you’ll turn them back into men and let them go with me back to the village, I will return to you and stay forever.” He thought long and hard about her proposition. Finally he said okay. She was delighted. The old man turned the hunters back into men and she was so happy to see her brother again and the other hunters. The old man asked her “when will you return?” She told the old man that she would return to him when the last oak tree loses it’s last leaf. He thought to himself it is cold and all the leaves are almost off the trees, “I will see you soon” and sent them off. The girl had listened to her elders and knew that the oak tree holds onto its leaves even after new spring leave begin to bud. As the group of hunters and the girl made their way to the village her beloved was waiting at the place they had agreed on and they embraced because they knew that they had found their true love and now that they would be together forever never to be parted again. Now as you see the oak leaf still on the oak tree in the dead of winter you can remember the story of the love that will never end.
The students really enjoyed the story and were actors for different parts of it. After the story Craig broke the group into two and one group went outside to investigate the igloo that had been made for them and to do some activities outside in the snow. The other group stayed inside with Craig and talked about the importance of not making assumptions about other people without getting to know what they are really like. ILI is about getting to know people from different backgrounds and appreciating all the different perspectives we all bring to the world. Halfway through the afternoon the groups switched. What a great day!
Bob Kovar,
Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
LdF/NLES 5th Grade Session #2
Camp Jorn 9am-2pm.
2/5/08
LdF Students: 18 LdF Teacher: Kevin Smith
NLS Students: 14 NLS Teacher: Sharon Schmidt
ILI LUHS Mentors: 3
Camp Jorn Staff: Emir and Dennis (Pizza cookers extraordinaire)
GLIFWC Staff: Robin
ILI Staff: Ernie St. Germaine, Alice McFarlane, Matt White, and Craig Kerr
Today was similar to yesterday except that we did not have a fur bearing animal station today. The person from the DNR could only do their presentation yesterday. Today we used the “empty” station to help the students learn more about each other and do some activities together.
Today was a great day as a lot of the students had their first experience on snowshoes. They had fun walking around and even having a relay race while wearing them. The students also really enjoyed working on the igloo. Today we finished the second row of blocks and the entranceway. It is really cool to see how the students have come together to build this wonderful structure.
It was fun to see the students learning about each other and how to do things that many of them had never done. There seems to be no limits to the excitement that these students show to being involved with these activities and learning new things about each other. Another great day!
Bob Kovar,
Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
LdF/MHLT/AVW 5th Grade Session #2
February 4, 2008
Camp Jorn 9:00am-2:00pm
LdF Students: 19 LdF Teacher: Lori St. Germaine, Jeff Fieck.
MHLT Students: 14 MHLT Teacher: Candace Lucarelli.
AVW Students: 20 AVW Teacher: Bruce Oxley
LUHS Student Interns: 4
Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission: Dan North, Robin
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: Linda Winn
ILI Volunteers: John and Gretchen Spickerman.
ILI staff: Alice McFarlane, Craig Kerr, Matt White, Ernie St. Germaine, Bob Kovar.
We had quite a large group today-55 5th graders! This week we are once again partnering with both GLIFWC and the DNR to introduce children to how these governmental entities work together to protect and preserve natural resources. There are a few very positive adult examples of tribal and non-tribal entities working together for the benefit of all people. This is certainly a very successful, high profile partnership and we’re very excited to share this with our students. We started out the day in a LARGE group and did a few ice-breaker activities to reacquaint students with each other-they have not been with one another since October. We then split the group into three smaller groups for their rotations for the rest of the day. We had three sessions for students to rotate through.
Igloo Building
Uncle Ernie was in the process of building an igloo today. He told the story of the history of igloos and the many ways you can build one. Students were able to help him cut chunks for the wall which came up a few feet today. There is nothing more attractive to 5th graders than building an igloo and they were fascinated by the story and the process.
Snowshoeing
Dan and Robin from GLIFWC manned the snowshoe session. They talked about the history of snowshoeing throughout time and introduced the students to the various types of snowshoes for different kinds of trekking and snow conditions. They also talked about proper clothing for snowshoeing in the winter. We had enough snowshoes for every student to strap a pair on and go explore the wilds of Camp Jorn. They were all over the place having a blast. The afternoon snowfall only added to the fun of it all!
Fur Trade, Trapping and Mammals of Wisconsin
Linda from the DNR had a table of furs set up in the crafts building. During her session, she explained a brief history of the fur trade and the importance of furs in the history of both American Indians and European settlers. She talked about trapping and had beautiful skins of foxes, coyotes, wolves, bobcat, lynx and many other Wisconsin furbearers. The students had a ton of questions about all the furs and really enjoyed handling them. Linda made a real impression on all of us today-she stopped to pick up a roadkilled skunk on her way here. Needless to say, with the wind wafting across the whole camp today, the idea of skunk was very much on all of our minds!
The high level of energy in today’s group was really fun-the LUHS mentors we had did a terrific job. Its always amazing to see what a positive influence and how important they are to the younger students.
Bob Kovar,
Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
LdF/NLES 6th Grade Session 2
January 29, 2008
Camp Jorn 9am – 2pm
LdF Students: 19
NLES Students: 16
ILI LUHS Mentors: Kassie Neri, Ronald Peterson
Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commision Wardens: Fred Maulson, Nakia LaBeau, Heather Naigys, Tom Kroeplin, Dan North
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Warden: Mike MacKenzie
ILI Volunteers: John and Gretchen Spickerman
ILI Staff: Ernie St. Germaine, Matt White, Alice McFarlane, and Craig Kerr
Today was similar but different than yesterday. The weather was not as cooperative today as it was yesterday so we moved two of the stations up from on the ice to the main camp area at Camp Jorn. Mike McKenzie and Tom Kroeplin moved their trapping up to the program center and Fred Maulson moved his spearing tent up to the main parking lot (to fish for “Rock Bass” as Ernie said).
We had the same stations as we had yesterday. (Please see yesterday’s write-up.) The students really enjoyed being involved with each station and asked some really good questions. It was fun to watch the students as they were all able to interact somehow in each station. During the survival station they were taught how to use Chap Stick, a tissue and a magnesium flint and a survival knife to start a fire. When they went to the trapping station they were able to feel what each fur felt like and see exactly how big or not so big the animals were. Finally, they were able to see how a spearing tent would be set up and then learned how the natural resources are shared amongst all the relatives of the people spearing. The students and teachers had a great time and we sent them off a bit early today before the bad weather settled in. We would like to thank the wardens from the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for giving their time and knowledge to teach our young people how to care for all of our natural resources and modeling how cooperative partnerships between governments benefit both the resource and the people utilizing those resources. Thanks everybody!
Next meeting will be April 1, 2008
Bob Kovar,
Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
LdF/MHLT/AVW 6th Grade Session #2
January 28, 2008
Camp Jorn 9:00am-2:00pm
LdF Students: 21
MHLT Students: 16 MHLT Teacher: Deb Hunter
AVW Students: 16 AVW Teacher: Jen Sevel
Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commision Wardens: Fred Maulson, Nakia LaBeau, Heather Naigys, Tom Kroeplin, Dan North.
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Warden: Mike MacKenzie
LUHS Student Interns: Randi Jo Schuman, Mason Naffziger, Laura Finucane.
ILI Volunteers: John and Gretchen Spickerman.
ILI staff: Alice McFarlane, Craig Kerr, Matt White, Ernie St. Germaine, Bob Kovar.
We had a very large group today and a very special session! This was the first time we have partnered with both the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) to model for students how Tribal and non-Tribal governmental entities successfully partner in their efforts to protect the natural resources for all of us. GLIFWC is an inter-tribal, co-management agency committed to the implementation of off-reservation treaty rights on behalf of its eleven Ojibwe member tribes. Formed in 1984 and exercising authority specifically delegated by its member tribes, GLIFWC's mission is to help ensure significant, off-reservation harvests while protecting the resources for generations to come. We had some very special activities prepared for the students today including an outdoor survival situation, spear fishing through the ice and trapping through the ice. We began the day in a big circle introducing the adults and LUHS student mentors. We then spent a few minutes doing some icebreakers to enable the students to get to know each other again. We then split the group into three. For the next 45 minutes or so we did additional activities to help students know each other before we began the outside rotations with the wardens. We reviewed the six ILI Core Concepts (communication, safety, fun, cooperation, respect, pride) and identified ways we will put these into practice during the rest of the session today during the wardens’ presentations.
Trapping Station
When Matt’s group got down onto the lake for the demonstration on ”Trapping” it wasn’t only shaping up to be an informative time but a challenge as well. Two of the students in this group had to overcome a longstanding fear of frozen lakes. But they did it and felt good about it. In a little while they were having a great time. The students thought all the real furs were really gross and weird at first but soon they were feeling them and paying real close attention to the instructions and history of trapping from different perspectives. They ended up playing with the pelts until we had to leave. They had to be pried away! It was neat to see the walls of assumption come tumbling down as they learned about trapping. We hope this translates to how they think through other people and ideas as well.
Survival Station
Today some of the GLIFWC wardens set up a scenario on how to survive in the winter. They had set up a small lean-to and had started a fire. They obviously knew that they were going to set this up today so they had all of their tools with them to get the “camp” set up.
The wardens talked with the students about how to set up the shelter and what to look for as they set up their survival area. The one thing that they kept emphasizing was the need to stay calm in a situation where you are lost or stranded. They asked the students why that might be the most important part of staying alive. The students had a lot of good answers. (Make mistakes, Not thinking clearly, etc.) One of the wardens told the students if you panic and get all worked up and start scrambling all around trying to figure things out and if you are not calm, your body starts to sweat. Once your clothes are wet with sweat your body gets cold a lot quicker and could lead to hypothermia. The GLIFWC wardens did an excellent job of helping the students understand the basics of how to build a shelter and how to always be prepared for any situation by having “kits” (first-aid, fire starting material, water purifying tablets, etc.) pre-made before they go out into the “woods” as well as things they can keep in their family vehicle to keep the family safe. The students enjoyed tasting the spruce tea that the wardens made and crawling into the shelter to see how warm it really was inside.
Spearing through the ice
Chief Warden for GLIFWC Fred Maulson taught the students about spearing through the ice. He talked about the historical, traditional perspective of the need to spear through the ice to have food to eat in the winter, and he explained how that is the situation still today. Many of the spearers will give away the fish they spear to family members who, for whatever reason, cannot get fish through the ice. Sharing the resources with people in need is very important. Fred then passed around some of the decoys he made and talked about the process of making them and explained why he chose to paint the decoys the way he did. One of the decoys looked like a sucker, another looked like a perch, and another was a minnow. The students enjoyed passing the decoys around and taking a better look at them. Then, he had two students come into the spearing tent so that he could teach them about how to spear through the ice. The students really like going into the tent and seeing the process of spearing fish through the ice.
After lunch talk
All of the wardens spoke about how they came to be wardens. It was interesting to hear all of their stories and how each one got to where they are in a different way. A couple told about how when they were younger they actually illegally used the resources they now protect. They told about how they began to see the need to protect the natural resources instead of just taking whatever they wanted. Some talked about the love of the outdoors and the ability they have to be outside most of the time and not having a job behind a desk. Others talked about previous jobs that they were not satisfied with and kept looking until they found one that allowed them the freedom and the rewards that this job offers.
Fred Maulson talked about his experience going through Lakeland high school and what he dealt with from other students. He told the students that there was no program like ILI that he knew of when he was growing up and hoped that all of the students would learn how to get along and communicate with each other. He remarked on how important it is to learn from each other, to respect each other, and communicate with one another. He gave an example of why that is important. He talked about how the DNR and GLIFWC use to kind of stay in their own area. Then he reached out to a state warden to learn from his perspective about protecting the natural resources. That began a working relationship between two organizations that had previously worked independently. When Fred became Chief Warden at GLIFW the two departments made a greater effort to work closer together to protect all our natural resources.
Today was a great day and the beginning of a great relationship with GLIFWC, WI DNR, and ILI.
Bob Kovar,
Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
LdF/NLES/AVW 7th Grade Session #2
January 18, 2008
Camp Jorn 9:00am-2:00pm
LdF Students: 5
NLES Students: 8
AVW Students: 3
AVW Teacher: Jennifer Ledford
ILI Volunteers: John and Gretchen Spickerman
Community Visitor: Rae Lundberg
ILI staff: Alice McFarlane, Craig Kerr, Matt White, Ernie St. Germaine, Bob Kovar.
Today was very similar to the previous days this week so we’ll refer you to those previous reports. It was another very good day-it is amazing how focused the students have been with this basket building project. At the end of the day today, Craig was talking to his group about their Personal Power Package’s and he asked Ernie to share with the group why he drives 55mph. Ernie said “ well its simple-that is the law.” He then went on to explain how when he first went to law school to became a tribal judge he was searching for guidance and a judge that he had high respect for told him “don’t you do anything that you may cite someone for someday.” In other words, he learned from this judge that it was critical that, as a judge and a role model, Ernie needed to not abuse his power. He told the group every time he gets in his car he buckles up. He even comes to a complete stop at stop signs that are in the middle of nowhere! Ernie talked about why it is particularly important for people in positions of power to model behaviors that honor that position. The students were hanging on his every word and the rest of their conversation about personal power was spirited and inspired. The end to a great week-thank you to Camp Jorn for providing such a wonderful facility for all this to take place!
Bob Kovar,
Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
LdF/NLES/AVW 7th Grade Session #2
January 17, 2008
Camp Jorn 9:00am-2:00pm
LdF Students: 4 LdF Teacher: Jennifer Austin
NLES Students: 6
AVW Students: 4 AVW Teacher: Dan Lathrop
ILI Staff: Alice McFarlane, Craig Kerr, Matt White, Ernie St. Germaine, Bob Kovar.
We began the day again today in a circle. Craig welcomed the group and made sure that each student knew we valued and appreciated them. ILI is all about these students and we truly respect them for choosing to make these efforts to bring peace to our community. Once again today, we spent the rest of the morning working on building baskets. This is a really nice time for students to get to talk with one another as their hands are busy. The conversations around the tables were all really pleasant, respectful and interesting-just kids getting to know each other. Lots of positive chatter and laughter-the sounds of ILI. After the students were working on their baskets for awhile, they gathered around Ernie to hear the story of the beautiful birch basket someone made for him many years ago. He once again told the story of the relay many years ago that was created to bring peace during the spear fishing controversy. He talked about how each of us has sovereignty-that just like nations, we each have personal sovereignty. We can choose to use that power for good, evil or we can do nothing with our power. He talked about how as the conflict escalated, it moved away from being an ideological conflict, to a much more personal one. People were looking each other in the eye and saying “I hate you”. Once that started, it was many times more damaging and hurtful. It destroyed people’s faith in each other and it has left deep scars in our community. The end of Ernie’s story about his basket was that he was told that the first basket one makes should be given away. With the basket goes your story about making it-and it should go to someone who means a lot to you. He asked the students to give these baskets to someone in that spirit of bringing peace.
We had the students participate in several activities that helped highlight how we use our personal power. We talked about the things that we had control over and the things we did not. We talked about how giving baskets away was using our power to influence others in very positive ways. Students talked about how people often abuse their power and the negative effects of that. We also talked about using power to help others. The students were very knowledgeable of recent world events and how some were negative and some were positive examples of the use of power. We finished the conversation by talking about sharing power and the positive results that come from that. They related this to all of the activities they participated in today. It is critically important for all of us to think about how we use, and the importance of sharing our power. In today’s activities it was only possible to find solutions by sharing our individual power.
The last activity was the “Personal Power Package” which helps each student understand the positive aspects of personal power and the things they need in their “baskets” in order to be balanced. These things include: skills and knowledge, social position, social skills, abilities and talents, rights and responsibilities, self knowledge. This was an excellent dialogue- a great end to a great day!
Bob Kovar,
Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural leadership Initiative
7th Grade AVW/LdF/NLS
Session #2 Group #2
Camp Jorn
AVW Students: 4 AVW Teacher: Lynne Curie
LdF Students: 5 LdF Teacher: Leslie Grams and Karen Woodie—UW Stout Grad Student
NLS Students: 4
ILI Volunteers: Dick and Joan Fahning
ILI Staff: Ernie St. Germaine, Alice McFarlane, Craig Kerr, and Matt White
Craig welcomed the students as he did yesterday and let them know how important they are and expressed how thankful he was that they chose to be a part of the day today. Ernie once again shared his story about the relay.
The group split into two groups and headed into different directions. One of the groups did an activity to illustrate the idea of power and had a good discussion of the idea of power similar to the discussion that was had with yesterday’s group.
The other group did an activity that developed a greater understanding of each other and had a great time talking with one another about what it was like at the school that they attended. Many questions were asked and a better understanding was gained of what the students go through on a regular basis at each school.
Next Meeting March 11
Bob Kovar,
Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
2007-2008
AVW/LdF/MHLT/NLS 7th Grade
Camp Jorn
AVW/LdF/MHLT/NLS 7th Grade
Camp Jorn
AVW Students: 4 AVW Teacher: Joanne Fitzpatrick
LdF Students: 4 LdF Teacher: Doreen Wawronowicz
MHLT Students: 10 MHLT Teacher: Denise Wiza
NLS Students: 5
ILI Volunteers: John and Gretchen Spickerman
Craig welcomed the students and let them know how important they are to us and how much we appreciate them choosing to be a part of our day. Ernie got the day started by placing a beautiful birch basket in the middle of the circle. It was a gift and it came with a story. We are going to have the students make their own baskets today and he talked about how each of the baskets will have its own story from the students in the room today. He told a wonderful true story about a relay that was started to bring people together. The relay started in Lac Court Oreilles and eventually went 500 miles in a huge circle from reservation to reservation. Anyone could join in and many people did. It was to bring peace and show how people can support each other in times of conflict. It also helps people understand the strength that people have to make good things happen. As the relay moved to each reservation, they were welcomed with huge feasts and many ceremonies. This relay still happens every July. We all spent the rest of the morning making baskets.
After lunch we split into three different groups. All of the groups did different activities and discussed the idea of Power. The groups discussed what the word power means and how those ideas relate to our lives. One group talked about the ways in which power is gained: Knowledge and Skills—education and the acquisition of new skills; Social Skills—ability to interact well with people, conflict resolution skills; Social Position—age, sex, ethnicity, and gender; Abilities, Strengths, and Talents—Natural Abilities and Personal Strengths and Talents; Rights and Responsibilities—as a citizen of a country, the responsible use of rights; and Self Knowledge—Knowing what you believe, your values are, and your priorities. All of these categories have an effect on how much power we have and how much we can gain. Then they turned to the question how can power be used? Positively and negatively was the answer. We had a discussion on how people use power in a negative way and how people use power in a positive way. We also talked about the ability to give away power. This is where you give away power to someone else and the positive and negative results of that action. We talked about having to give up power to those in authority over us, and the ability to keep power in that situation to make positive decisions. We also talked about peer pressure and how we give our power away to others when we follow the crowd when we don’t really want to. Finally we talked about how we use our personal power in our own lives. Do we use it for positive things or do we use it for negative or do we just give others our power. They were left with the challenge of, “How will you use your power?”
Next Session March 10
Bob Kovar,
Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
2007-2008
AVW/LdF/NLS Session 2 Group 4
Camp Jorn 9:00am-2:00pm
1/11/08
AVW Students: 5 AVW Teacher: Laura Geigner
LDF Students: 4 LDF Teacher: Katie Black
NLS Students: 4
Volunteers: Gretchen and John Spickerman
ILI Staff: Alice McFarlane, Craig Kerr, Matt White, Bob Kovar, Ernie St. Germaine
We followed the same structure as the rest of the week for our last 8th grade session today. Once again our focus for this session is F.E.A.R.: False Evidence Appearing Real. The reason for this focus is to help students understand how conflict arises locally and globally when all of the evidence is not considered as we make important choices and decisions in our lives and communities.
Once again, due to the smaller size of the group and how well they were interacting we kept them all together today. We spent the morning learning more about each other. The activities required students to sift through information about each other to distinguish what was true and what was not true. One simple activity was “Two Truths and a Lie”. Students told the group two truths about themselves and one lie and everyone else had to try and figure out what the lie was. They had to consider lots of information and then decide which evidence was real and which was not. It was a really fun way to understand how easy it is to mislead others if we want to and, conversely, how difficult it can be to find the real truth if we want to disguise it. Lots of laughter and some pretty outrageous lies-but also some really cool truths that you’d never think were true!
We finished the day again with a long discussion about treaty rights and the spear fishing controversy of the late 1980’s. One student’s excitedly said “This is the most I have learned in ILI ever!” a sentiment echoed by others. When we can have young people excited to be learning about the spearfishing days, some very dark days in our history as a community, we are making true progress. How much more is there to teach about that they want to learn about? We think a great deal-this is just the beginning-a great week!
Next session March 6.
Bob Kovar,
Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
2007-2008
AVW/LdF/NLS Session 2 Group 3
Camp Jorn 9:00am-2:00pm
1/10/08
AVW/LdF/NLS Session 2 Group 3
Camp Jorn 9:00am-2:00pm
1/10/08
AVW Students: 5 AVW Teacher: Linn White
LDF Students: 3 LDF Teacher: Anne Wewasson
NLS Students: 4
LUHS Mentors: Jazmyn Deragon, Larissa LaBarge, and Gilbert Lyons
Volunteers: Dick and Joan Fahning
ILI Staff: Alice McFarlane, Craig Kerr, and Matt White
We followed the same structure as the last two days for the session today. Once again our focus for this session is F.E.A.R.: False Evidence Appearing Real. The reason for this focus is to help students understand how conflict arises locally and globally when all of the evidence is not considered as we make important choices and decisions in our lives and communities.
Due to the size of the group and how well they were interacting we kept them all together today. We walked them through a number on hands-on activities that illustrated our point and had some good discussion on what causes fear and what happens when we react in fear. We discussed how when we become afraid most of the information we are taking in is from the negative or “oh no, something is going to happen” attitude which blocks out some of the positive messages that maybe being communicated as well. We also discussed how and what we need to do to get past those fears. What can we do to not be controlled by them and live our lives in peace, within ourselves and with others? We ended this part of the session with sharing the statistics about the spear fishing controversy. The students were all very interested to see the actual data. A teacher commented that she thought that she would never see a group of people talk about this issue in such a non-confrontational way in her lifetime and she was glad that we were having this conversation.
At the end of the day, as on Tuesday, the students asked questions about life at the high school. Again, the 8th graders were hanging on every word that they said. The high school students answered with honesty and humor and we are proud of who they have grown into.
Next session March 6.
Bob Kovar,
Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
2007-08
AVW/LdF/MHLT/NLS
8th Grade Session 2 Group 2
Camp Jorn 9am-2pm
1/8/08
AVW Students: 4 AVW Teacher: Lynne Currie
LdF Students: 5 LdF Teachers: Lori Brokopp
MHLT Students: 6 MHLT Teacher: Josh Calhoun and Cathy Snyder
NLES Students: 4
LUHS ILI Student Mentors: Audrey Jackson, Lance Chapman
ILI Volunteers: Dick and Joan Fanning
ILI Staff: Bob Kovar, Craig Kerr, Alice McFarland, Matt White
We followed the same structure as yesterday for the session today. Once again our focus for this session is F.E.A.R.: False Evidence Appearing Real. The reason for this focus is to help students understand how conflict arises locally and globally when all of the evidence is not considered as we make important choices and decisions in our lives and communities. We had the students in smaller groups again today and we walked them through a number of hands-on activities that illustrated our focus. We had the students discuss their fears in a number of ways-we also talked about the difference between fears that we have that are beneficial to us (fear of doing the wrong thing e.g. fear of becoming involved in drugs and alcohol) and how these fears can help us make the right choices in our lives. We distinguished these kinds of fears from the kinds where we are afraid of others who are different from us and how these kinds of fears can be harmful as we try and negotiate our world since we need to be able to live and work together in order to live in peace and harmony. How do we know what to be afraid of and what to see as opportunity? It’s confusing and we get mixed signals from our families, peers and what we see in the media. In the end, we need to be able to make these decisions based on our own experiences and that is what ILI is all about. By the end of the day, we were once again able to apply these activities as examples of how real conflict has occurred-using the controversy surrounding tribal fishing rights as a local example and the fight for oil as a global perspective. These students are able to have these discussions with each other-a huge step in learning how to navigate their lives, friendships and relationships in the community. We challenged the students to think about how they are going to solve issues in their futures regarding resource use (as resources shrink)-one of the students said “if we solve issues like we did today-all working together, listening together, solving together-we can do it!”
We ended the day with our LUHS ILI student mentors answering questions about LUHS written by the 8th graders on pieces of paper. Lance and Audrey were really great-answering questions with a great maturity, sense of humor and honesty. Their best advice to students today was to “stay out of the drama”-the rumors, and other silliness that too often leads to conflict between students. The 8th grade students were really glued to this activity-lots of healthy questions and great answers!
Bob Kovar,
Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
2007-2008
AVW/LdF/MHLT/NLS 8th Grade Session 2 Group 1
Camp Jorn 9am-2pm
1/7/08
AVW Students: 5 AVW Teacher: Carl Karaffa
LdF Students: 4 LdF Teacher: Lesley Grams
MHLT Students: 6 MHLT Teacher: Josh Calhoun
NLS Students: 5
ILI Volunteers: John and Gretchen Spickerman
ILI Staff: Craig Kerr, Bob Kovar, Alice McFarlane, and Matt White
The groups spent the morning doing activities that related to and talked about our theme for the day: False Evidence Appearing Real or F.E.A.R.
Craig began the day by having the students get into a circle and told them that he was going to make a symbol on the floor that represents a number between 0 and 10 and they had to figure it out. Craig spread a number of colored shapes onto the floor, and he began. The students had a hard time figuring out how the symbols on the floor represented the numbers. Craig continued to tell the students that things may appear differently than what they truly are, and that they needed to take that into account as the tried to figure out the numbers. Finally the students understood that the shapes on the floor had nothing to do with the numbers, but that he was actually making the numbers with his hands in front of his knees. He talked with the students about things appearing one way when they really are another or that they are a little different than they appear.
Matt handed out paper and pencils and introduced that activity “Name Bingo.” There is a grid on the paper with different questions written in the boxes. The goal is to find people that can answer yes to those questions and put their name on your sheet. The students really enjoyed this and were interacting well and getting to know each other though this activity.
Matt asked the group to split themselves into two. One group went with Matt and the other went with Alice.
In one of the activities the students had to tell two things about them that were true and one that was made up. After they were done telling the three things about themselves the rest of the group had to try and guess which one was made up. The students had a great time doing this and at the same time were really curious to hear about each other’s personal stories. They were really valuing each other and seeing that there is more to people than what they “thought they knew.”
Both groups did an activity we call “Fear Circles.” In this activity the students write down things that they fear on a piece of paper and the facilitator collects it. The facilitator reads the fear and the students stand in concentric circles based on how much fear is involved in the topic called out. One of the groups had a really good discussion on where our basis of fear comes from. Our fear is often based on the experiences and tales of others. However, that fear can be strengthened or weakened based on our own experiences.
To bring all these examples to life, in the afternoon Matt’s group had a great discussion about immigration and Tribal spear fishing as examples of issues that have caused conflict because of people’s perceptions or fears. Matt had data from WI DNR and GLIFWC showing how the numbers of fish speared are decided upon and the actual number of fish taken. We talked about resource issues and comparing it to oil in world conflicts: people have long had conflict over resource use, especially when those resources are considered rare, precious or in short supply. We discussed the options people have when making these resource decisions and the importance of having good data to make decisions. In the case of fish, the DNR and GLIFWC have used science to estimate the numbers of fish that can be taken out of lakes and the amount taken by Tribal harvest is a small percentage of that amount. Here is a good example of people working together to help guide these decisions based on science-not on emotion. Plus-both have active restocking programs to ensure the resource is not over harvested. The students, having seen this process and data, were wondering why this caused such conflict and agreed that we need to find ways to study all sides of issues before we make a decision about how we are going to react. Being part of the process is important and we need all sides of an issue represented in order to understand the best solutions for everyone. If all the world’s resources are to be fairly used-how do we make these decisions? With force or with negotiation? These are going to be increasingly extremely important questions for this generation to struggle with-we need to help them understand how to best make these choices. None of it is clear-all of it is very complex.
The students had good conversations about the importance of not judging anyone or anything until you have investigated into the truth of what it is you are considering. Often we make quick judgments about issues or people without truly know much at them. This is where conflict will always thrive. To alleviate conflict dialog, discussion, and asking questions about the truth must be the road we travel.
Next session will be March 3, 2008
Bob Kovar,
Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative