Week 2:
All the Camps

June 21, 2019

The past two weeks I’ve been able to acclimate myself to my new work environment at Youth Services and my new home environment in Evanston. Although I grew up in the Chicagoland area, I am not very familiar with the North Shore. Each day on my drive to work I pass a bike/walking path with statues alongside it. So far, this June has been really mild and often gloomy, but I hope to go over there on one of my days off.

My blog last week was delayed due to a personal emergency, so this post will combine my second and third week. All Counselor Training was a great success and I was very busy getting to know all of the Youth Leaders and hearing them brainstorm their fantastic workshop ideas. Some topics included Empathy 101, LGBTQ+ History, Decolonizing Gender & Sexuality, and Body Positivity and Language, but the Youth Leaders have many more workshop outlines in the mix.

We also discussed the four main values for camp which are trauma informed, body positive, anti-oppressive, and non-punitive. Youth Leaders are responsible for teaching campers about the four values and how they apply to camp life once they arrive for orientation. I have experience working in youth spaces that do not share these values, so I am excited to see how they impact youth experiences as they align closely with my personal values.

Youth Services summer programming began this week, with my first group being Trail Mix, the outdoor and nature themed evening camp. I really enjoyed getting to know each of the participants and welcoming them to our summer programming. We did several getting to know you activities and went over group guidelines, both important when working with a new group of young people. Our two main activities for the evening were making rainbow trail mix and rainbow ‘I spy’ jars. I was really glad for the chance to spend time with young people as working with LGBTQ+ youth was my main motive for interning at Youth Services. I look forward to meeting more young people and planning further CampPride programming this summer.

My supervisor Lizzy also assigned me two new projects to work on throughout the summer. One is reviewing youth evaluations and statistics from our Pride programming and compiling an internal and external year-in-review document. Not only will I learn more about Pride programming and the experiences of LGBTQ+ youth, this is a great opportunity to put my spreadsheet skills to use. Last summer I was a chemistry research assistant at the Cornell Summer Research Institute with Professor Craig Teague in which I looked at a new method of carbon dioxide capture, which involved a plethora of data compilation and analysis.

Additionally, I am compiling a curriculum binder for our school year groups. With feedback and materials from each Pride facilitator, I am making a physical and digital activity guide that will serve as an archive and guide for future programming.

This binder will also include a media guide, which is important with the increasing presence of LGBTQ+ characters in books, television, and movies. Unfortunately, not all representation is good representation, as some portrayals of LGBTQ+ characters stereotype and further stigmatize people with marginalized identities. This is particularly the case with transgender characters, as media representation is extremely rare and when it does exist, it often further victimizes trans people, and places too much attention on physical transition and violence rather than portraying transgender people as we are: three-dimensional, vibrant people with our own complex stories to tell. LGBTQ+ representation in the media is a big personal and professional interest of mine, as I know that the words we use and the stories we tell greatly impact the public’s perceptions of a group of people. GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), a vital LGBTQ+ nonprofit has developed a comprehensive Media Reference Guide for individuals and journalists alike to understand what language and narratives are appropriate and what is defamatory, as there is often confusion as to what terminology is up to date.

My media guide will be focused on age appropriate films, TV shows, and books for our group participants to enjoy with their families and discussion guides for in-group viewings. So far, I plan to include an episode from The Fosters about a transgender character’s difficult relationship with family and some content from Her Story, a trans-made web-series about queer women.

So far, I am enjoying the variety of projects and activities at Youth Services and I look forward to developing my skills and learning more in the weeks to come.