Betcha Never

In early June I went to Kodiak for work's second Rural Providers' Conference there. It's so much easier to do something a second time around! The Youth Track I organized with a group of youth was a lot of fun, and a lot of learning too. We had 30 youth from around the state participate during the week, but with 3 afternoons to ourselves. I also helped host 10 youth and their chaperones from my program. The group really bonded, which made the entire experience so cool! Again, I learned lots last year that I think paid off for structure, content and preparation.

It didn't hurt that the weather was GREAT all week (except on that Friday when my co-worker and I were hailed on while buying crab out of a boat).

These teens from villages across the state just loved going to a new place. It was "beast," one of them said. Oh, those kids and their lingo! Here's my group of teens:Their favorite session for the Youth Track was an instructional lesson with the Kodiak Island Drummers. All of them wish this group of phenomenal kid drummers would go teach at their community. They made a lot of good noise in the sunshine!One of my favorite moments of the week was when I asked them to play "Betcha Never." Good little game to get to know each other better. One of my quiet youth leaders said on his turn, "Betcha Never shot and killed two black bears in one month." Needless to say he wowed the group. Later, while we were all walking back from a hike, I asked him more about it. This is a 12-year old away from home who barely spoke. At the invitation to talk about his life outdoors and hunting, he couldn't stop talking about the unexpected bear hunts he did in May. I asked if he kept the hide. He looked confused and said he didn't know but that he did keep the claws. With a smile he said, "I have some in my pockets!" OH, okay! "Do you want one?" With that I was gifted a bear claw with some black hair still attached. I carried the claw in my pocket all week.

Betcha never.

*Amy