Working directly with our community partners has been the most impactful part of SOAR. At one of the first site visits I attended with Lafayette Mentors, we did a Minesweeper activity with the children. This activity consisted of a blindfolded obstacle course with several leaders providing guidance as someone traverses the course. I was originally apprehensive of how excited the children would be, seeing as only one of them would be blindfolded at a time. I didn’t want any of them to lose interest after one person had completed the course. By switching up the obstacles and creating some interesting rules, however, they really seemed to enjoy it. It was rewarding to see the children practicing the skills we’d been teaching them over the past two years. The blindfolded individuals were able to actively listen to and take advice from their teammates while the others successfully guided them without speaking over one another. In this moment, I could truly see them embodying leadership competencies from our curriculum and leading intentionally.

      This sentiment is one I experience at each and every site visit I attend. Teaching the children our curriculum through an interactive, game-based approach never fails to excite me. From planning activities to revising the curriculum to performing activities, I’ve loved every moment of my time with SOAR. My role and experiences on our impact team have taught me the importance of interacting with your community. Knowing the impact we are having on these children and their future leadership potential is an incredible feeling. I cannot wait to see how they continue to progress in the next few years as SOAR continues to teach new and unique activities to them.