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LUHS After School Group Spring '07

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Intercultural Leadership Initiative

After School Leadership Program #34

May 22, 2007

LUHS

Students: 5 ILI Staff: Matt White & Alice McFarlane.

Today was a short meeting. As the end of the school year gets closer, the students have more activities going on and school work to complete. We still began with attitude of gratitude. Today it included one senior being thankful for only 6 days of school remaining. We enjoyed a time of eating snacks, listening to music and sharing stories. We spent the remaining time covering details that the students need to know for the all area-wide 8th grade Transition Day tomorrow. There will be 200+ students at the daylong session in the LUHS school forest. Students come with their 8th grade teachers and are “handed off” to their 9th grade LUHS teachers where they will be split into “families” for the day that will be their homerooms for the next 4 years. LUHS ILI students will be there as mentors along with a group of LUHS Journey student mentors. It will be a great day!

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Intercultural Leadership Initiative
2006-07
After School Leadership Program #33
May 16, 2007
LUHS

LUHS ILI Students: 3
ILI Staff: Matt White & Alice McFarlane.

We had a smaller turnout today due to the Journey class trip to Tettegouche. We spent the afternoon preparing for Transition Day. The students had come up with a list of questions, and had brainstormed a list of activities that they could use on a previous afternoon. Today we answered the questions that the girls had. We used some of the time to look through books for new ideas of activities to use. The students will be assisting teachers during the day. We are setting them up to be ready to help out with name games and ice breakers.

We did attitude of gratitude later in the day, because we had a special treat for our snack today. Once we had shared what we were thankful for, we walked down to the home education room, and joined in with another after school program that was making tacos. They had invited us to join them. We enjoyed their tacos and delicious rice crispy bars.

We returned to the room to cover a few more questions. We did an overview of the adventure elements out in the school forest. We talked about the basic way that each one can be set-up, and then talked about how each activity can be changed depending on what the group needs. We also talked through safety, and specific concerns for each of the elements.

One student asked what the ‘wild woosey’ was, so we put tape on the floor to demonstrate. We placed the tape in a ‘v’. A pair starts at the narrow end, with hands out to lean against each other. The goal is to get as far out on the ‘v’ as you can. This involves trust by leaning against your partner. Trusting that they will continue to hold you up. Granted, we were only on the floor, so we couldn’t fall very far, but there is still a need to trust. The wild woosey out in the school forest is set-up with wire cables to make the ‘v’, which is elevated off the ground a few feet.

We will meet with the students one last time to finish preparations before Transition Day. The students are looking forward to it. One student said that she has been looking forward to this day all year long!

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Leadership Program #32
LUHS
May 9, 2007

LUHS ILI Students: 6
ILI Staff: Matt White, Craig Kerr & Alice McFarlane.

This afternoon we enjoyed food left over from the community meeting. We told the students about the meeting and how it went. We shared with them that the adults understood why they chose to not complete the play. And then asked the students how they were feeling about it. They are disappointed about not finishing something that they started, and that they wanted to do well at. They wanted to use the play to make a difference and to make their voice heard. We told them that their voices were in fact heard! We talked about how to work through their disappointment and to look
at it from a different viewpoint to see the good things that have taken place because of all the time they have spent together. It will take time for them to work through it in their own way.

We talked about the upcoming Transition Day. The students are excited about the opportunity to be involved with the 8th grade students. They were sharing stories from other years when they have helped. We will be using the next two weeks to prepare for Transition Day.

The whole group worked together to take down the ILI bulletin board in the commons. Since the year is almost over, there are no more announcements that need to be put up. One student made a cape out of one of the large pieces of paper and rolled down the hallway in his wheely shoes as we made our way back to the ILI room. We finished with one of the student's favorite activities that always makes them laugh; 'Ha, Ha, Herman.' We rarely make it through all the ha, ha's without someone laughing. Tonight we took the activity to another level, and tried starting the ha's from both ends of the line. We didn't make it through, but we did laugh a lot.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Drama Practice
4:00pm-6:00pm LUHS ILI Office
May 1, 2007

LUHS ILI Students: 6
ILI Staff: Matt White

We started by taking a long period to visit and celebrate our friendships. This was not without purpose. After this time, in which we gave each other many riddles and jokes and stories, we talked through many of the feelings we have been having about the play. To really be free to speak our thoughts and feelings and hear each other’s, we needed to be fresh on our appreciation of each other.
       The students have been feeling very burdened by the task of a full scale production. They have been discovering that the time it actually takes to put on something of the magnitude they have imagined (which, in the eyes of this reviewer, has been a great vision) is more than they can commit to the project. If they give it the time it deserves other things will likely suffer as a result. Important things like Grades andWork. “ I don’t have enough time to memorize lines and do all the home work and such that is expected of me.” “How can I do this extra stuff and still get homework done? “ “ I can’t skip work so how could I be at all the practices?” “And if I can’t be at the practices how can I be expecting to really be in the show?” These are the questions they have been trying to sort through. How to find the time and where to put their energy is a hard question for many of the students. We think they are learning a lot. The margins that we run on in our society make it difficult to find the right formula for success both as individuals and as groups. We live in a place that says there is a lot to do and be done by us and for us. It pulls us in a lot of directions. It’s hard to tell what deserves our best efforts. They want to do a lot of great things but where does the time come from? How do we find out what is a good idea without spending the time to find out? If we spend that time will we have to pay for it later? What will need to give?
    All this said the students are pretty much in agreement that they will at the least have to downsize the presentation.   What that is yet is still to be determined. Is it a cancellation? Or is it a small performance for a select group? Over the last few weeks the group has been very small. The group has had various valid reasons for having to be elsewhere. As spring has moved in the students are finding themselves very divided in time commitments. This will only tend to get more difficult so as the school year closes out.
   We really think this has been a great experience for them so far. It will be exciting to see where they will end up through this process. Having to work our dreams into the fabric of reality is tough work but something that future leaders have always had to wrestle with. No doubt, there are many future leaders in this group!

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Leadership Program #31
May 2, 2007
LUHS

Students: 9
ILI Staff: Matt White & Alice McFarlane.

The students came in discussing different points of view on belief systems, and things they agree and disagree about. We spent some time discussing that topic. And we all agreed that people can mess up any good system of thought.
The students wanted to play a figure 8 game, but others wanted to do attitude of gratitude and eat first. So, we shared what we were thankful for, and then ate our fill of snacks.

We told the students about the upcoming community meeting on May 8th. We will have a school ride for them to ride up to Camp Jorn shortly after school, and then returning back to the school by 9pm. They are interested to come again.

We headed outside, in search of two poles that were relatively close together for playing the figure-8 game. The activity simply involves running around the poles in a figure-8 person without running into the rest of the group. The key is timing and pole-iteness. The students then wanted to do the human knot. We had an odd number of people, which can make it interesting. After a few minutes of twists and contortions, a group of 4 had a circle all of their own (unintentionally). Then we wondered if the remaining knot was actually one circle or two. One student suggested passing a squeeze with our hands to see if we were all connected. We learned that we were one circle, and after a few more moves we were untwisted.

We played a few games where we passed sounds and motions from one person to another. They required quick thinking and action to pass the motion and sound on to the next person. Matt asked the students how these activities could be used while leading a group. The students had good ideas: as an ice breaker and to help them focus.

We came back inside to share some stories until it was time to go.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Drama Practice
4:00pm-6:00pm LUHS ILI Office
4-24-07

LUHS ILI Students: 2 ILI Staff: Matt White

With such a small number of students, we decided to take a different approach. This is a really busy time of year for students and many of our students have other responsibilities as well. If only we could meet during school we would be able to accomplish so much more! We went outside and took a long walk around the school and watched the many sports activities practicing while we discussed some ideas for setting drama practice times up differently. Also we talked more about many of the trends we see in young people’s social groups. Do they look at things just as temporary? Or do they really look at things as building something? Relationships? Jobs? Plays? What are the things we really work towards?

The students had some places to go so we called it a good meeting around 5:30.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Drama Practice
4:00pm-6:00pm LUHS ILI Office
4-19-07

LUHS ILI Students: 4 ILI Staff: Matt White, Alice McFarlane

The recent events of tragedy in our nation at Virginia Tech deserved some serious discussion. We are finding that our message is changing in the light of the lessons and ideas we are learning. We spent the whole time talking about trends, pains and tensions in our society. We looked at the changes since WW1 and how trauma has had a collective shaping power in our culture. It is refining the student's message in their performance.

We also discussed the amount of margin we run our lives with-meaning the ability and energy we have left over for unexpected events or pressures. The pressure they feel, meaning the perceived weight of their lives, feels very heavy to our students. So we discussed what we may want to do to bring some of those feeling off our shoulders here in our own part of the world. They left deep in thought. They are fantastic kids. They try to step up to challenges without fear. Or maybe it is their fear, and stepping up anyway, that makes us respect them.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Leadership Program Meeting #30
4-6pm LUHS School
April 18, 2007

ILI Students: 7 ILI Staff: Alice McFarlane, Bob Kovar, Craig Kerr, Matt White
UW La Crosse Students: Jamie, Vicky, Nicole, Scott, Jesse, Vicky, Nicky, John, Sonia, and Song
UW La Crosse Staff: Matt, Guy, and Larry

Today we had a wonderful group of visitors from the UW-La Crosse. We were excited to have them come be a part of what we do. They arrived about 2pm and had a time to talk with the ILI staff about the ILI program. This is a culturally diverse group of graduate students and we also had some great discussions on many issues, including the importance of schools embracing culture with regards to keeping students connected and providing them with a sense of community, and how few schools actually are committed to this. These students are incredibly bright and innovative in their thinking and gave us great hope that the new future of education in Wisconsin may look much brighter in our future. They also stayed to be a part of our after school leadership program.

We met outside in the wonderful outdoor classroom. Mrs. Billings and her horticulture classes have done a fabulous job with the plantings in this area. We began our time with our Attitude of Gratitude as we always do. One of our students explained what the purpose is for starting this way. Everyone shared a variety of things that they were thankful for. Then, we began our sharing time. It is a wonderful time for everyone to connect in a real way.

When we wrapped up our time of sharing we gathered into a circle and began an alternative “toe tag” activity. We stood in a circle with our hands out and played to same way you would if we had been seated. The UW students and staff really enjoyed this activity. Matt and Alice were over with our ILI students helping them prepare for the activities that they were going to take the graduate students through.

The ILI students came over and joined our activity and then took the group through a couple more activities: Ball Toss and Have You Ever. The UW students really enjoyed these activities and the ILI students did a fabulous job of facilitating these older students. We are very proud of our students and the way they continue to grow and develop.

Craig talked to all the students about what was going on during the activities and how we use them with our younger students. He then split the group into two and had them do “The Human Knot” activity. This was quite a difficult experience for one group and a perplexing one for the other (they ended up in two circles). After the time was up we headed into the school for a final wrap-up and it was time for us to depart.

The next meeting is Wednesday April 25th from 1 – 6pm. Early Release Day

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Drama Practice 4:00pm-6:00pm LUHS ILI Office
4-17-07

LUHS ILI Students: 4 ILI Staff: Matt White

We started with some snacks made by a student. Very tasty brownies! While we were eating we talked about the mood in the school and the whole nation in the light of events in W. Virginia yesterday. It felt distracted and somber for a while. We discussed a few ways this may or may not enhance the production we are working on. It is so tied to the topic that prompted the interest for the play in the first place. But is it OK to take someone else’s experience and add it to ours? Or should we just use the things we know first hand?

We talked for a while and then tried to get to work on the script. A few students had to leave early and with such a small group present we decided to go encourage a friend we haven’t seen for some time while he was playing on a visiting baseball team. Then it was time to head home.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Drama Practice 4:00pm-6:00pm LUHS ILI Office
4-12-07

ILI LUHS Students: 5 ILI Staff: Matt White

The students arrived on the dot ready to get to work. Matt had to tell them to slow down to consume a few chips and sodas. They then discussed a few of the finer details of what was due on certain dates in order to be ready for their performance. Then it was straight to working on the script.

The students ran through things numerous times testing dialogue and staging to get what they think they want to see in their performance. Some scenes are starting to have a “finished “ kind of feel to them. It still needs a lot of finalizing but definitely seems more cohesive. We had a “fun-time” break around 5. Next the students started to try to put all the pieces into a readable script with stage directions so that it is easier to explain the whole concept to the actors and reviewers. The students all left feeling lighthearted and positive about the time spent.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Intercultural Leadership Initiative
LUHS ILI After School Group
Drama Practice-LUHS ILI Office 4:00-6:00pm
4-10-07

LUHS ILI Students: 7 ILI Staff: Craig Kerr, Alice McFarlane, Matt White

The ILI staff started out the evening with a series of questions that led onto a discussion of some serious issues that staff and students alike have to wrestle with in our community. It was a time of honesty and idea sharing that really helped the ILI staff understand better where youth are coming from. The staff appreciated the student’s candor. If they thought something was not right they said so. This is a great gift to be able to have such open discussion about such serious issues and making positive choices in life. The staff was able to illuminate points of view for the students to ponder that they might not always have in the front of their minds.
That discussion took up the whole first hour. We then had a quick break and then reconvened for work on the play. We first discussed some of the deadlines that are fast approaching. After brainstorming what needed to be included in those deadlines (props, costumes, music, etc), we moved on to more script work. Before we knew it, it was time to go for the evening.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Leadership Program #28
April 4, 2007
LUHS 4:00-6:00pm

Students: 7 ILI Staff: Ernie St. Germaine, Craig Kerr, Matt White & Alice McFarlane.

Today was filled with much emotion. We had laughter and tears. As students shared what they were thankful for, some shared more about what is going on in their life. For some that meant something they are really excited about, and for others it meant something that is hard or sad. This group of students is very supportive. They can join in and be excited for one student who has had a great day, and then when another student shares a hard day, they sit and listen, while those nearby reach out a hand for comfort and offer a tissue for the tears.

To start our discussion today, Craig rolled back the white board to reveal the word ‘Honor.’ He asked the students what they thought of the word and how they would define it. The students described how they thought it was defined in the ‘olden’ days, and then examples of how it is portrayed today. As they talked, it became clear that the students do not connect with the word honor. They connect with the idea of it, but they used the words ‘respect’, ‘will power’ and ‘integrity.’ They all had great contributions to the discussion. One student said that honor was something that only a few people could achieve at a higher level. Ernie shared with the students his definition of honor. That honor is something each of has within us. Honor is often viewed as something that we give to others. But we first need to be able to honor ourselves with our actions and our words. The students appreciated his definition, because it made more sense then the one we read in the dictionary.

We continued to talk about honor, and the different ways it plays out in our day-to -day lives. We make choices each day to honor ourselves and those we live with and love. The choices are not always easy. These students have thought deeply about the things they have seen and their actions reflect the depth.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Drama Practice
LUHS ILI Office
4:00-6:00pm
March 29, 2007

LUHS ILI Students: 6
ILI Staff: Matt White, Alice McFarlane

     After a time of comparing notes, we in the group figured out that tonight would be a small group. So we decided we needed some snacks and got some from McDonalds. Man—do they make a lot of money off of high schoolers! We shared stories about our day and the blood drive at the high school. The students had a lot of questions about why they do what they do and the questions they ask. It was an interesting conversation. Good questions are great even if we don’t find the answers.
      We also talked about some of the things that happened during the week during 4th grade sessions, comparing notes and sharing stories about the things we hear and see from 4th graders.
            Then the students asked if they could play some music. Matt said “o.k.” While he was watching and seeing the variety of music they enjoy, he saw some neat things he wanted to point out. He asked the students to write on the board their top 10 favorite and influential bands or artists. And then when they had finished, he asked everything they knew about music history and put it all together on a time line. He asked if anybody could figure out what brought about changes in the popular music. And amongst numerous ideas, someone said, ‘someone being bold enough to mix genres.’ This often led to a new form of music. It was an acceptance of multiple forms that bonded things together to make something new. And it’s neat to see that that is what we do in ILI. The fact that everyone in the room enjoyed everyone else in the room regardless of what they listen to is a small but easy to see example of the groups acceptance of each other.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Leadership Program #26
4:00pm – 6:00pm LUHS ILI Office
3/14/07

ILI Students: 10
ILI Staff: Craig Kerr, Alice McFarlane, and Matt White

The students came in with their normal exuberance. Once we settled down, Craig asked for the students to make sure that they were to the ILI room on time so that we could get started because of wanting to make the most of the time that we have together. He then told the students that he had something that he wanted to share with them. Craig clicked on his computer and we all listened to the interview that Nick Vanderpuy did with Jazmyn about the performance last Thursday at Norwood Pines restaurant. It was really exciting to listen to the interview that also involved John Berg and Wendy Smith (Jazmyn’s Grandmother). Everyone applauded when the radio piece was done!

After listening to the interview we went right into attitude of gratitude. After the last person we all began to sing happy birthday to one of the students. Then Matt revealed a wonderful creation of Alice’s, a dirt cake in a pot with handmade flowers. It was wonderful and all the students thought that it was so cool. We all enjoyed eating her wonderful creation. While eating we talked about a lot of different topics. It was a great time of sharing and there was a lot of laughter and smiling.

Craig talked with the students about expectations. He asked them what they thought was the “curriculum” and the “hidden curriculum” of the school. Then he asked them the same questions about ILI. The students listed their thoughts and we had a great discussion on the expectations that both the school and ILI have for them. The conversation ended with Matt explaining that this conversation was not to weigh them down with rules but to inspire them to be the best person that they can be.

The next time we meet is March 28th.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Intercultural Leadership initiative
Drama Practice
LUHS ILI office 3:45-6:00
March 13, 2007

LUHS ILI Students: 7
ILI Staff: Craig Kerr, Alice McFarland, Matt White

    When the students came in there was a lot of energy in the air. We spent well over one half an hour just visiting, eating chips, telling stories, and talking about the community meeting last Thursday evening. This is always a fun time. Celebrating and sharing the things that we get exited about is one of our favorite ways to spend time.

    Then we decided it was time to do some work on the play. The students ran through a number of different ideas for the second scene. It really took a lot of shape and form as they worked it through. While the actors were working on those things the rest of the group tried to get more clarity on the script for the scenes that are left to work on.

     Then we decided to play for a little while before we left. We played a number of different improve acting games that required all to be quick thinking and cooperative. There was a lot of laughter shared as well as a building of more trust.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Leadership Program #25
March 7, 2007
3:45-5:45pm LUHS

ILI Students: 9
ILI Staff: Craig Kerr, Alice McFarlane, and Matt White

We had another guest visit with us today. Her name is Anja Hoehn and she is a student at Wartburg College in Northeast Iowa. She is a graduate of LUHS and is double majoring in German and Secondary Education with a minor in Intercultural Studies. Anja is taking a human relations class and has to do experiential projects. She chose to come interview some of the ILI staff and students who are involved with the After School Leadership Program.

We began our Wednesday after school as normal with our attitude of gratitude. The students shared what they were thankful for. One student was thankful for the support of all the others students in the room. Another student was thankful for Alice making her favorite snack (taco dip). We all dug into the taco dip and talked with each other about what had been happening in our lives.

Craig told the students that Anja had some questions to ask them and then turned it over to Anja. She began to ask the students some wonderfully thought out questions. As usual the students had very honest answers to her questions. One of the questions Anja asked was about how ILI had impacted the students individually. One of the students answered that they became friends with people she would not have been friends with normally. Not that she did not like them, but she did not spend much time with them. That student went on to say that there are a lot of different “cliques” represented in the room and it is nice to know that, really, we are all alike. Another student responded that being a mentor to the younger students had impacted them. The student went on to say that they liked that the younger students looked up to them and that they listened very carefully to what they had to say. All of the students enjoyed and were fully engaged in the questions and the discussion that was going on.

When Anja was done asking her questions, Craig asked the students if they had any questions for her. One student asked Anja to explain the class she had to do the assignment for. The students really enjoyed hearing about Anja’ college experience. Another student asked her what she had heard about ILI when she was at LUHS. Anja related that she only thought that ILI involved the grade schools. She was not aware that ILI was also at the high school level.

After Anja left, Craig asked the students how they felt about having so many visitors come and ask them about what they were doing and how it was helping the younger students, the community, and themselves. Most of the students responded that it was exciting to have people outside of the LUHS area be interested in what they were doing and that it felt good to be recognized for the work that they are doing. One of the students felt that their idea of ILI was getting bigger because of the visitors. One of the students who has been in the program since the fourth grade related that when they were in grade school ILI was about changing the high school. When the continued in high school it was about impacting the younger students, and now it is about reaching the wider Lakeland area and beyond. This student was very excited about this idea! The students had a wonderful discussion on this topic and they were all felt valued for the effort that they are making to influence positive change.

The next meeting is Wednesday March 14th.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Drama Preparation
March 6, 2007
LUHS

ILI Students: 7
ILI Staff: Matt White

After 10 minutes of visiting and sharing the day’s events with one another, we got right to work. First up, deciding on a final format for the presentation at the March 8th community meeting. It took a lot of discussion and decision making to decide what to keep in and what to keep out. But we finally had something we all could get excited about.

Next we had to take the different segments of the plan and script or stage them to satisfaction. Trying to say things we are passionate about while keeping it around 20 minutes is a task that tests the whole groups communication skills. But the staff can really see the students growing through the process.

To finish our time we did a few run-throughs of the scene that we will be acting out for the meeting. It is such a true and joyous pleasure to work with these students.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Overnight and Service Learning Winter Retreat 8th – 12th Grade
March 3 – 4, 2007

ILI Students: 11
ILI Staff: Craig Kerr, Alice McFarlane, and Matt White

We all met at Lakeland Union High School (LUHS) at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning. It was a blustery morning, yet the students showed up with smiles and excitement on their faces. When everyone finally arrived, Craig had everyone get into a circle and introduce himself or herself, explained why we were here, and had them think about who they wanted to be the next 30 hours.

We all loaded the vans and headed to Minocqua Winter Park to volunteer to help put with the Lakeland Loppet, a cross-country ski race. We arrived and found Kris and she told us what she needed us to do. The students were enlisted to direct traffic, give and take electronic timing chips to/from racers, hand out post race refreshments, and hand out refreshments to the skiers along the race course. The students were very helpful and had a great time volunteering. Some of the comments the students made were, “I give a lot of credit to these racers.” And, “ I could never do this.” One of the highlights of the service we gave was when one of the racers crossed the finish line and fell down and began to vomit. One of our students immediately ran and got him a cup of water and was there to help him up and get a paper towel so he could clean himself up. If that is not humble service then we don’t know what is! The weather was cold, snowy, and windy, yet the students were positive and had a good time.

At about 2 p.m. we said good-bye to Winter Park and headed to Trig’s to get our supplies for the night. We thought it would be a good idea to take the students to help us with this task. We divided into 3 teams and off we went to secure our provisions for the adventure before us. The students were happy to help and we were done in no time.

We all loaded up again and headed out to the school forest. When we arrived everyone helped with getting all of the things we needed up to the lodge. It was wonderful to see everyone working together and enjoying each other’s company. One student commented that it was cool to see people carrying other people’s stuff to the lodge and no one was complaining. Once we had all of our stuff at the lodge and fire pit, we broke into 3 groups once again and everyone had a job to do. One group took the tubes and made sure that they had enough air in them to use for tubing, one group prepared and started the camp fire we were going to use to cook dinner, and the other group prepared the lodge for everyone to bring in their things. Once again the students worked well together and the tasks were much more enjoyable.

When all the jobs were complete we headed to the tubing hill. One of the students was going to try to use the sled to pack down the snow for the tubes. As the student started down the hill he somehow got turned around in the sled, and found himself going down the hill on his back, headfirst. This did not bode well for him. He ended up hitting a tree. He was checked out by the staff, both who have been trained as wilderness first responders and we called his dad. Unfortunately he had to leave, and everyone was sad to see him go but he was okay. The students stopped using that part of the tubing hill and used the other run. There was a lot of screaming, laughing, and snow flying as the students tubed down the hill. They had a great time even though they had to walk up the hill once they had ridden down

After the students had their fill of the tubing hill, it was time to head to the fire pit to prepare dinner. Our dinner was “Ho-Bo dinners.” Ho-Bo dinners consist of ground beef, potatoes, carrots, onions, green peppers, spices, and other optional ingredients (i.e. mustard, ketchup, Tabasco, etc.). All of the ingredients are put into tin foil, wrapped up, and put in the fire to cook. This has become one of the student’s favorite parts of the whole time together on the trip. When students start to ask about the winter retreat they always ask if we are going to make Ho-Bo dinners. All of the students enjoyed preparing and cooking their meal. The students that had been on this retreat before showed the other students how to make their dinners. It was fun to see them share their knowledge with the other students. The sun went down and it began to get even colder and the students enjoyed eating a piping hot meal they prepared themselves. After some of the students had finished they began to clean up. When everyone was done we cleaned up the fire-pit area and got ready to head to the vans. I

We loaded up and headed to the high school to watch a movie. We all settled into the climbing room and the movie began. The movie was “Whale Rider.” The movie was about a Maori girl who was born in the line of hereditary chiefs. When she was born both her mother and twin brother did not live through the birth. The movie then follows her life through many hardships and struggles until she finally reaches her true identity of being the next hereditary chief even though she is a girl. The movie is quite an inspirational and touching movie. Many of the students even admitted to crying in parts of the movie. After the movie, Craig explained that ILI is here to help students to become who they can be. Matt added that we may not know where the journey will take them, but we will happily walk beside them to help them navigate their course.

When the movie was finished we put on all of our outdoor clothing and loaded up the vans to head back out to the school forest. We returned to the lodge and everyone set out their stuff to get ready to go to sleep. However, there were s’mores to be made! Most of the students elected to go out to the fire pit and make their deserts. Craig stayed back with the couple of students who chose not to go and fed the wood stove in the lodge. Slowly the students returned from their s’more making adventure and began to snuggle into their sleeping bags for the night. Once everyone was settled Chelsea read us a bedtime story from a book that Kayla had brought. Everyone really enjoyed being read a bedtime story. Chelsea was a great narrator! The story finished and the lantern was extinguished.

The next morning we arose at 8 a.m. packed our stuff and everyone helped carry out all of our collective gear. Again there was no complaining and everyone was working together! We then had a wonderful breakfast at Ella’s restaurant. When we did our attitude of gratitude a few of the students were thankful to be in a warm building and to be getting ready for a good breakfast. One student was thankful for everyone who helped put the overnight together. Other students were thankful for the opportunity to be a part of the experience. We had a great breakfast together.

Finally we headed to The Waters for playtime! All of the students and staff were excited to play in the water. Some of the students headed for the hot tub others headed for the water slide and the games began! However, all too soon our time was up and it was time to wrap-up our experience.

We ended our experience by asking the students two questions: 1) What was your highlight? and 2) What is something that you learned that you can put into practice today? One student said that their highlight was just being with everyone and making new friends. Another student said that there were too many highlights to just pick one. Others recounted funny happenings or memories from the last 30 hours. One student said that they learned that no matter what you go through there is something positive at the end. One student said that they were reminded that no matter what you are going through that you are not alone. Another student said that they had dreams that they were working towards and they could do them no matter what other people said.

The students left with a great experience and gave us words to live by.

We will do this again the first weekend in March 2008!

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Drama Practice
March 1, 2007 LUHS ILI Office 3:45-5:45pm

LUHS ILI Students: 6
ILI Staff: Matt White

         This evening we got right down to work. There is much to do with the Community Meeting performance coming up next Thursday. We discussed the many elements of putting on a good performance: mood, staging, props and costuming, minimalism versus large scale production. There are all kinds of things to discover while putting on a production and we’re finding them!

          In talking through the production, and the values we are trying to represent, we were led into a number of really good conversations and observations about school life and December’s lockdown in particular. We were very encouraged and impressed about how deeply the students really think about things. We shared helpful and thought provoking quotes and ideas. Some of this ate into precious practice time but we felt it was important for students to understand how motivation is integral in getting ones point across.

           Practice time was characterized by a lot of fun and laughter without getting off task. We left feeling very productive and like we are making headway on important issues.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Intercultural Leadership Initiative

After School Leadership Program #24
February 21, 2007
3:45-5:45pm LUHS

ILI Students: 6
ILI Staff: Craig Kerr, Alice McFarlane, Matt White.

    As students started to show up they got recruited to help cook the pizzas. While we waited we visited and shared stories about what has been happening in our lives. Then the pizza was done. A good round of AOG(Attitude Of Gratitude) and then we dined together. As always it was a fun and encouraging time.

    Shortly before 5:00 we had a time to take care of logistics and announcements concerning upcoming events including the overnight this weekend for ILI high school and 8th grade students and the upcoming sessions with 4th graders. We discussed how ILI staff plan the programs for grade school sessions, engaging them briefly in the process so they could understand how they might participate in planning in the future. Then Craig briefly described what we will be learning in the After School meetings during the month of March. Ernie will once again be coming in to teach students about local history and issues, to help them understand why our communities are the way they are today. These sessions touch on law, treaty rights, history, sovereignty and many other aspects of our social milieu. In past years, students have really loved learning about all this and it is a time for many students to ask the questions that are on their minds and have the opportunity to explore issues more in-depth.

   With the time remaining we went to the climbing room for a few ascents and descents.
It was fun to be able to help and encourage each other.

Before we knew it, it was time to go. We think that these are truly wonderful young adults, when you see them please remind them you feel that way about them too!

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Drama Practice
February 27, 2007 LUHS ILI Office 3:45-5:45pm

ILI Students: 5
ILI Staff: Matt White

After the initial small turn out we decided to sit and visit and play games and tell stories for a while to make sure no one would show up late. We shared and demonstrated some “magic” card tricks and new card games.

We then decided to discuss some ways to help our drama practices flow better and include everyone’s gifts. After talking over some of the different ways people feel and want to be useful we then explored what goes on when we ask people to jump into projects. We decided that we needed an agenda that has different phases of interaction so everyone involved gets a chance to interact in their own way and have their voices heard. We came up with an agenda to try out this coming Thursday when we hope there will be more people again.

We then tracked down some snacks and shared some stories and things going on in our lives. The students shared some deep things with each other that deserved close listening. Everyone went home feeling cared for and listened to. It’s powerful to have a place for youth to go that accepts their good days and bad days with equal interest and care.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Leadership Program #23
February 21, 2007
3:45-5:45pm LUHS

ILI Students: 16
ILI Staff: Alice McFarlane, Craig Kerr, and Matt White
Community Guests: Steve Eliasen, Al Kolbeck

We had another set of visitors with us tonight. Steve Eliasen and Al Kolbeck are professional photographers hired by Wisconsin Public Service to do a photo shoot for their community report. These guys were wonderful. They brought in their equipment and we toured the building with them and picked a couple of places that they wanted to shoot.

When the students started coming into the room it was a tight fit with all of the photo equipment. They were all excited to know what all of the equipment was for. Craig explained whom the photographers were and what they were here to do. He then gave the students an overview of the afternoon.

We started with our “Attitude of Gratitude.” It was a very emotional time because two of our students were moving away and this was going to be their last time with us. We then enjoyed the hard work of Alice, our resident baker, and talked about what was happening in our lives.

After we were done sharing we all moved out into the “Atrium” at the high school entrance and the students got into groups of two and three and decided on activity they were going to facilitate. The students were grouped with one experienced high school facilitator and others that are less experienced. Once all the groups had an activity planned, they took turns facilitating those activities with their peers. This process was a great learning experience for all of the students. The activities that the students choose were: Mosquito Tag, Have You Ever, Three Headed Opera, Laser Tag, and Samurai Tag. The students were having a great time facilitating and participating in the activities.

The photographers were taking pictures throughout the whole experience from the “Attitude of Gratitude” until the final activity was facilitated. When we were all finished all of us went back to the ILI office and Steve and Al talked with the students. They started with a brief explanation of how they wound up in photography and ended up talking about how impressed they were with the students and how they interacted. The consensus from Al and Steve was they thought the world will be a better place when these students move into places of influence. The students were very grateful to hear what they had to say. That conversation then lead into the students asking questions about photography, and both the students and photographers really enjoyed this conversation.

The next meeting is February 28, 2007

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Leadership Program #22
February 14, 2007
3:45-5:45pm LUHS

Students: 11
ILI Staff: Matt White, Alice McFarlane.

Our goal for today was to revisit the purpose for and reasons why we started the After School Leadership Program. We have had several students join us over the past few months, and we wanted to make sure that everyone knew what we are about. The first activity involved the students choosing to play a game they already knew, a new game, or another one they didn’t know. They voted to play a new game.
            We moved out into the hallway where Matt gave everyone a post-it note to place on the floor as a space marker. We stood in a circle with one person in the middle. The middle person’s goal was to take someone else’s spot. The people in the circle could switch spots with each other once they had communicated with their eyes to make the switch. There were some good slides as two people raced to a spot. And a few people got their spot stolen. The final challenge involved the middle person leaving the area so that the rest of the group could come up with a method for switching that she would have to guess. Once she returned, the group started to move, but it turned into chaos. Everyone was supposed to move to the right the first time, and then switch with a partner for the second move. Instead, one person moved to the left, a few pairs switched spots, and everyone else tried to move to the right. Matt had everyone sit down and asked the students how this game relates to ILI. The students had good connections that related to our past several weeks together and how the group has been interacting.
            We moved back into the ILI office where Matt gave the students a puzzle to put together. The only instructions were that there had to be 3 of each color in it and that it would end up the size of a piece of construction paper. The confusing part was that there were extra pieces and they had to figure out which side was supposed to be up. They spent a lot of time on the puzzles. Some students said it made their head hurt and that they wanted to give up. Other students stuck with it, and in the end completed the puzzle.
            Matt asked the students to write on a puzzle piece an expectation they have when they come to ILI. He talked of how we each come in with expectations, and that we as leaders bring in expectations, and all those have to fit together to make ILI work. There are other puzzle pieces involved as well, when you include the expectations of each individual, the group, the high school and our community.
He then explained how we have only 12 weeks left of Wednesday afternoons. Some of those will be spent learning from Uncle Ernie, and the rest of them will be spent in preparation for the students to assist teachers on Transition Day for the 8th graders in May.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Leadership Program #21
February 7, 2007
3:45-5:45 pm LUHS ILI Office

Students: 14
ILI Staff: Bob Kovar, Matt White, Craig Kerr, Alice McFarlane

            Bob started the afternoon by sharing with the students several opportunities for sharing what they do in ILI with the community-statewide and locally. He told them that there are many people across Wisconsin who are very interested in the work and effort LUHS ILI students are doing for their community. There are some actively asking us if they can talk to the students here to get their “story” and perspectives on important issues facing students here in the Lakeland area. There are also local people who are interested in learning more about what they do here in ILI sessions. Bob asked if the students would be interested in performing a part of the skit they are working on at the next Lakeland area community meeting. He also told them about an opportunity for them to be interviewed by WXPR Public Radio. The third opportunity involves a TV crew from The Wisconsin Education Communication Board who are interested in coming up from Madison to video the students to learn about their leadership roles in the community. They are producing a series on youth leadership across the state. The students seemed excited and will discuss these opportunities over the next few days.
            Our group size has increased over the past few weeks with new students joining. We even had one more new student join us today. Pretty soon we will need to find a larger room to meet in, which is a good problem to have.
We took time to hear the student’s thoughts about the visitors we had last week from the Wisconsin Community Fund. Some students were not able to be here last week, so they wanted to hear about what had happened. The students who were here last week thought it was neat to have people come in to ask questions about what we do and show interest.
            We moved into a brainstorm discussion about ideas for the upcoming ILI 8th grade session. The students offered advice that they would give to incoming freshmen. During the 8th grade session next week, the high school students will have time to answer any questions that they have about high school. We had good discussion about several topics.
            We concluded with Matt, Alice and Craig sharing their disappointments, highlights, and goals. We had the students share the last two weeks, and so we wanted to share ours with them this week.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Leadership Program #20
January 31, 2007
LUHS

Students: 11
ILI Staff: Ernie St. Germaine, Bob Kovar, Craig Kerr, Matt White, Alice McFarlane.
Guests: Bruce Moffat & David Granados from the Wisconsin Community Fund, Greg Linder from Lakeland Community

Our afternoon began with a “site visit” by Bruce and David from the Wisconsin Community Fund (WCF). The WCF is a non-profit that raises money to help fund social justice projects in Wisconsin. This group has supported us in the past, and they were here to ask ILI staff and then ILI students questions about the ILI program to decide if they will fund our grant request. ILI staff spent about 45 minutes answering their questions and then they wanted to meet the LUHS After School ILI students and ask them questions. The students had no prior knowledge of the questions they were going to be asked. Yet, they did an amazing job answering all their questions and we were incredibly proud of their poise and honesty. Bruce and David asked:

“How did you become involved in ILI?”

Several of the students have been involved in the program since grade school and decided to continue once they reached high school. Other students were invited by friends. We actually had 3 new students with us this afternoon, a perfect example. Other students shared some very serious reasons why they are involved and how it has helped them.

“How would you describe ILI?”

The students described ILI as a place where they can be themselves and where everyone is welcome. Many of the students said ILI was the most important part of their day, and that they really felt safe and accepted here. Another student said “we actually learn and have fun at the same time!”

“What can the program do to improve?”

One student said “nothing.” Another student said she wished more students could be involved, that it met more often and that ILI should be in other communities.

Jazmyn described the process they are going through to put together the performance, why they are doing it, what they hope to have happen and the effect it could have on the community. Students shared what ILI meant to them, some very personal and touching stories. They talked about how much they enjoyed being mentors. After some questions, we invited David and Bruce to join us for Attitude of Gratitude before enjoying some snacks. One of our students was thankful for our guests being there so they could hear the ILI story from the students. She felt good that they cared and were excited about the program. Bruce and David were incredibly impressed by the students and let them know how they felt. Afterwards they told us that the positive attitudes and energy in the room were simply infectious. We have very few adults come into their group setting to tell them these things and it really made them feel good and proud of their efforts.

We then continued sharing from last week, with the questions about high points, disappointments and goals. We will have to continue with our sharing again next week, because we had one more guest join us towards the end of our time. Greg Lindner came to speak with the students about the play they have been working on. He came with questions for them about their experiences with the lock-down and how they were portraying their ideas in the play. It was a full day of talking, laughing, listening to one another.

We work with these students all of the time, but the most powerful part of the afternoon was sitting back and listening to each of them describe in their own words why they are in ILI, what their hopes and dreams are for the program and the gifts and support this group has brought to them. It was incredibly evident that they have formed a very strong bond with each other-“We’re there for each other no matter what!” They expressed an understanding of the ILI process, as they are making it, with great passion, maturity and depth. We should be incredibly proud of these young people, they are great role models for all of us!

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Leadership Program #19
January 24, 2007
LUHS

ILI Staff: Craig Kerr, Matt White, Alice McFarlane.

Our first activity of the afternoon was to write a thank-you card to Kirby Petersen and the staff at Camp Nawakwa for allowing us to use their camp for an overnight this past weekend. We had a great time! Next, bandanas were handed out to everyone for a ‘tail.’ Once all the tails were attached, we moved out into the hallway to start the game. The goal was to get to the climbing room within ten minutes, without losing your tail.
We moved into the climbing room for a time of reflection at the start of a new semester. Our society is constantly on the go, and we often miss out on the chance to learn from our experiences because we jump right into the next one. We wanted to provide the students with time to look back on their first semester and to look ahead to the new semester that has just begun. Each student received a paper with questions on it to guide their reflection. We had a box of lined paper, unlined paper, crayons, markers, pencils and play-do for the students to use for their reflection time. Everyone has a different way for capturing their thoughts, and we wanted to allow the students the opportunity to reflect in their own way. The students spread out in the room and were given a chunk of time to think about and answer these questions:

What were some disappointments from your first semester? Rank these in order of importance to you. What were some of the choices you made that contributed to those disappointments?
What were some of the high points from your first semester? Rank these in order of importance to you. What were some of the choices you made that contributed to these high points?
What choices can you make for yourself that will help make high points more possible and disappointments less?
What are some of your dreams, hopes, expectations or goals for this new semester in your life? List practical step you can take to get there.
What do you want incoming 9th graders to know about where you are now?

We gathered back together for a time of sharing about the past semester and what we are looking forward to in the next one.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Leadership Program #18
January 17, 2007
LUHS

ILI Staff: Craig Kerr, Alice McFarlane, Matt White.

This afternoon was more low-key because the students have finals this week. We allowed time for students to finish up projects, study or go to tutoring. We spent some time to plan for our overnight this weekend. We will be staying at Camp Nawakwa on Friday night. At the start of the year, the students created a list of activities they would like to do during the year. An overnight was one of those, so they are looking forward to this weekend.
The rest of the time was spent talking, and discussing some questions that the students had. They asked about the recent community meeting and we shared with them and talked about future meetings.
It is encouraging to see the way these students interact with one another. They have developed a level of trust that allows them to share when life is hard, to ask questions and to celebrate their accomplishments. They enjoy being together, made evident each week by all the laughter and smiles.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Leadership Program #17
January 10, 2007
LUHS

ILI Staff: Craig Kerr, Alice McFarlane, Matt White.

Over the past few months we have had several new students join our group. We decided to focus on giving the students a shared experience. They share in an experience each week that they come together, but our recent format has been focused more on discussions and shorter activities. Those are all valid experiences, but we wanted to challenge them more as a group.

After sharing ‘Attitude of Gratitude’ and food together, we began our journey. The first part involved a group carry from the ILI office to the climbing room. The students had to be connected during the whole activity while carrying one person. Whenever ‘switch’ was called out, they had to stop, choose a new person to carry, and think of a new way to carry that person. The group was quite creative in their carrying techniques.

Once we were at the climbing room, Craig explained the activity “Light as a feather, stiff as a board.” This activity involves a lot of trust amongst the group. One person lies on the floor, while the rest of the group gathers around and places their hands under the person. One person stood at the head, to provide support and direction to the group for the timing of each lift. First we lifted to our waist, shoulders and then above our heads. On the way down the group rocked the person back and forth-light as a feather. The students could choose if they wanted to be lifted up, or to continue as part of the support group. After the activity, we talked about what it felt like to be in the different roles of lifter, head support and the person being lifted. Craig asked the students if there were any connections between the activity and being a leader. The students came up with great connections and illustrations.

The final challenge of the day was the ‘Electric Fence.’ A rope represented the ‘electric fence,’ which the group had to get over without making contact. The students utilized crates and some rock holds to assist in getting over the rope. Once the whole group was over, Craig asked if they wanted more of a challenge. They were up for it. The second time, they could not use any outside props, only the people in the group. They worked together really well, supporting one another with spotting, lifting and words of encouragement. They had to start over a few times, but each time they came up with new ways to get over the rope. The students came together really well today. They continue to support one another, include the newer students and deepen their relationships.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative