Teaming Up on the 2023 Youth Service Trip
By Bajinnem R. Cranol
Last summer ORUCC’s youth went on a trip to Duluth, MN. We spent a week doing service work helping at a number of different locations including a farm, a Boys and Girls Club, and a state park. While doing this we were separated into three separate teams. Each of these groups would work together while at sites during the day. We also worked together in other situations, such as preparing meals. These groups helped us stay organized and effective, but they also helped in other ways too. We worked together, but we also laughed together and played together all the while.
A youth leader was assigned to each team, an older kid who had already been on many service trips. The team leads were in charge of directing and managing their peers. At sites they would help make sure everyone was being productive, and afterward they would guide group discussions and bonding. Despite their increased responsibility, the leaders still talked and joked with everyone else, and it never felt like they were trying to boss anyone around. Adult chaperones were assigned to each group as well, but they mostly let the kids lead themselves.
When at the sites I always felt like I had agency to work in the way that was best for me, though the team leads and chaperones were always there to make sure that it didn’t get too chaotic. For example, one day we were working at a state park making a new trail. My group was laying mulch down, but there wasn’t really enough work for all of us at once. I decided to grab fallen branches and sticks to line the sides of the path with in order to create clear edges and make it look nicer. I wasn’t reprimanded for doing the “wrong thing”, but quite the opposite; others took note and even started helping. Our team lead supported me, too, as they did to other creative ideas countless times.
Another reason that the teams were so useful for the trip is how we were split up. Instead of being divided by existing friend groups or age ranges, we were mixed together. We all got to know people that we didn’t before, and even form new friendships. Some people who would hardly ever talk to each other in their day-to-day lives could connect on this trip. Not only in the teams, but during free time too, there was a palpable sense of community. There are many people that I got to know better on the trip. I didn’t just talk and play with the people I already knew, I made new friendships. By the end of the trip our group even had in-jokes and references that no one else would ever understand1.
The mission trip was a great experience in every way. From bus rides to manual labor to conversation with friends, there was so much to enjoy. The teams were a very important part of those things too. The bonding, the new friends, the sharing of work, everything about it made the experience that much better. I can’t wait until the next service trip, and I hope they have teams then too.
1CLEAN THAT POT! CLEAN THAT POT!
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