Wait...what is this group again?

Youth Adventure Program is run through the Community Service office (part of the Student Engagement Center, upstairs in Reid).  We provide outdoor and environmental education programs for at-risk youth in the Walla Walla valley. YAP was started in the spring of 2007 and incorporated into the Community Service office spring of 2009. 

Well cool--but what would I be doing?

YAP runs its programs with all-volunteer leader teams.  The Community Service intern plans all the logistics with the youth groups in town and you all run the programs! We have more experienced Head Leaders who oversee the events and often help with lesson planning, and then on each program we try to have enough volunteers so there is a small leader to kid ratio.  As program leaders, you will be helping to run different activities during the event,contributing to group dynamics, and working with kids one-on-one as they experience different activities in the outdoors, often for the first time.

What if I don't know anything about outdoor leadership or environmental education?

That's ok! We welcome leaders of all experience levels, and YAP is a great way to get started with outdoor leadership! YAP provides a basic training for ALL new leaders at the beginning of each semester. After this, you can participate in any of the less technical programs--hiking, campfire, challenge games...

For more technical skills (rock climbing and kayaking) we will require extra trainings for safety reasons (both yours and the participants). These will be offered throughout the year and advertised over the listserv.  

We will also offer other optional trainings (plant id, walla walla history, working with at-risk youth, games) throughout the year.  

Great! How often do programs happen?

Up until this past fall, YAP was only able to do one-time program events.  We will still do these one-time events with different throughout the semester, but we also have several youth groups we are doing weekly events with.  We prefer if leaders can commit to working with the same group of kids each week, but welcome leaders to come every other week or as their schedule permits.

What if I have an idea for or experience with another type of outdoor activity or team building game?

PLEASE share them with YAP! We're always looking for new games and activities to incorporate into our programs.