Adventure Club & Camp

Discovery + Belonging + Confidence

"The foreigner who resides with you will be as the citizen among you. Love them as yourself, you were once foreigners."

-Leviticus 19: 34

“This is really so special for these kids because, apart from this kind of experience, many of them might spend their first many years in this country only really traveling between their neighborhood, their school, and Walmart.”

-Mrs Kramer (newcomer middle school teacher)

Why:

SLAQ as a non-profit program has the mission of helping youth from diverse backgrounds encounter life as adventure. Towards that goal, in 2023, we began to offer Adventure Club as a program for middle school newcomer youth (recently arrived immigrants and refugees). This program combines outdoor recreation with educational opportunities for language learning, as well as fun community building activities. Through Adventure Club youth are exposed to the beauty of our valley, as their new home, with trusted guides sharing with them why we love where we live in hopes that they will too.

What:

Adventure Club, as an act of hospitality, welcomes newcomer youth to a process of discovery & belonging by combining a variety of outdoor experiences with team building activities, while also facilitating a growing sense of confidence through developing basic outdoor skills.

Typically Adventure Club includes multiple field trips throughout the year, with the potential of a summer Adventure Day Camp for those youth who would like more opportunities involving a little bit more adventure.

How:

Adventure Club functions by having a Serving Leader from SLAQ partner with a newcomer teacher/youth minister/non-profit leader to guide the field trips. The Serving Leader being familiar with the activities and the area, is equipped with the tools and skills needed to develop the itinerary. Having been trained in wilderness first aid, the Serving Leader is also equipped to prevent or handle emergencies, so that the group is always safe! The teacher/youth minister/non-profit leader develops lesson content in order to give the students a fun, meaningful, and welcoming learning experience!

Adventure Camp

For three days in the late spring/summer SLAQ hosts the Newcomer Adventure Camp. A long weekend of exploring the Shenandoah National Park, doing fun team building activities, playing nature bingo, and simply connecting together amidst the beauty of the Shenandoah Valley.

Launch Location: Corhaven Retreat Center

2024 Dates: June 12th, 13th, 14th

SLAQ is a ministry of Coracle that offers youth from diverse backgrounds a chance to discover the sacredness of life and the gift of a “good” creation through real-life adventure, service, & wisdom

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To learn more about our parent organization visit inthecoracle.org