Lead Service Learning Trip to Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware
By buildOn member Van Au, 10th Grade, J.R. Masterman High School
July 2008
As part of summer phase of buildOn's Lead program, nineteen anxious Lead team members boarded a bus in late June for a five-day service-learning trip, where we would combine community service with learning about our environment.
With crowded suitcases and heavily humid weather, everyone finally arrived at Youth Camp #3 at Cape Henlopen Park in Delaware. We were welcomed with open arms and warm greetings by the kind staff members. Quickly, we found our beds, unpacked, and sprayed ourselves profusely with bug spray. After scheduling shower times and meal preparations, we all went to sleep, desperate to see morning and start the service projects.
As morning came, we ate breakfast and wrote in our journals, which eventually became our daily routine. Andrea and Rob, the camp staff members, helped us get our directions straight and how to complete each day’s service projects such as weeding, cleaning windows of other Youth Camps, fishing for sea creatures at the bay, cutting invasive plants in the woods, and working in a World War II Army battery. All of the projects allowed every single one of us to understand Cape Henlopen State Park and its occupants.
Other staff members gave us historic tours and talked with us about the importance of service. We learned new skills due to the constant work and bonded together. Everyone stood up for one another and the park staff helped link us to nature.
Besides watching out for the bugs, we had to constantly apply ourselves with sunscreen everyday, since most of our time was spent outside in the sun. Some of our fun times were at the beach where we built (or tried to build) a sand castle, buried each other in sand, played volleyball, took pictures, swimming, flipping and splashing in the ocean, collecting seashells and baby clams, and eating expensive gelati and other beach treats. Along the way, we created a scroll of memorable sayings and silly jokes.
There were so much to remember and plenty of activities to do, like when our buildOn Program Coordinator Luis made a campfire for us to roast marshmallows and make s’mores while we told ghost stories. The starry dark sky was an amazing sight where we spotted the Milky Way, the Big Dipper, and played games very late our last night at camp.
Our only regret was when it was time to leave.
To show our enduring gratefulness, we wrote thank you letters for the considerate and welcoming staff members and they gave us great T-shirts and a book to remind us to stay connected to nature. On our bus trip home, everyone discussed of their favorite moments during the trip with one another and voted for who the hardest worker, best leader, funniest and the person with the best attitude were. This was a great start to our summer.