Volunteer Training this year got an upgrade. Not only did we do our typical “soft skills” session Friday night and our “hard skills” kayaking session on Saturday, like we’ve done in the past, but this year, volunteers had the option of TENT CAMPING too at Camp Chickami in Wayland! We love how this Volunteer Community is always up for a grand adventure! It was an awesome weekend full of good questions, curiosity, positive risks, and learning about adaptive strategies among a supportive community.Our session on Friday night at the Waypoint office covered Disability Awareness and Sensitivity as well as our signature “CAP Sauce.” Volunteers got to hear about the three ingredients that go into every program to give it that Waypoint flavor. We had a cookout, watched a video, and got to dive in to important topics such as inclusion, language, statistics, etiquette, and those three key things: Community, Access, and Preparation.

Then the crew camped at Camp Chickami (thanks for letting us use your site, Camp Chickami friends!) and played a thrilling game of “Waypoint survivor.” You all know this fun night was  dreamed up and designed by our very own Volunteer Coordinator Extraordinaire, Steve Dastous.

Lastly, on Saturday morning, we kayaked at Wayland Town Beach. We used task analysis techniques to teach 3 basic skills, (putting on a life jacket, getting in and out of the boat, and paddling), practiced transfers, got to use adaptive set-ups for seats and paddles, and practiced a t-rescue scenario. Volunteers got the basics of adaptive kayaking and walked away with a better understanding of their role on Kayaking programs in general. We couldn’t have had a more engaging group of volunteers and more perfect day to train. Thanks also to our new Trip Leader, Kelsey Gross for leading us! Check out pictures!

Friday night at Camp Chickami playing Waypoint Survivor.