Westport Nov 19-21, 2004
“Love”
I had a great time at this retreat! 28 0 4
This was my first JYM Retreat. 7 25
I made new friends at this retreat. 28 5
Please list the people and/or things
You love most: climbing dunes, cleaning and playing, Joel and the beach (4), dogs (3) and Amon, my friend (4) and squirrels and donuts, dunes and finger knitting and kooky dress-up, Niagra Falls, all of it and Christean and others that I don’t know their names, my blanket, to do arts and crafts, mole whackers and otters, Becky and Kevin (7) and staff and JYM ball (2), Darien, Rhys, and Cerrmer (?), Cameron Jack (2), Amelia, bullfighting, whipping, making head bands, Gretchen, Sara, mommy (3), dad (2), family (2), Quinn, Grace, Wendyl, pets, Grandma, JYM, can’t name them all, Robyn, Rye
I enjoyed visiting the Beach! 30 0 3
I enjoyed the singing. 19 5 8
I had fun with the dress up clothes. 28 3
I liked the food we ate. 28 0 5
I am a neat, fantastic, human person! 19 3 9
I learned new things in Small Groups. 23 10
I felt safe and comfortable here. 31 0 1
I felt a little homesick sometimes. 6 22 4
I want to clean toilets next time. 9 15 17
I want to come to another retreat. 31 0 2
I also go to Yearly Meeting. 24 5
I go to Friends Meeting at home. 27 2 4
I think the adult leaders were helpful. 26 3 4
I know what JKMPL stands for. 20 6 6
I heard somebody snoring last night. 22 8
What was the theme of this retreat? Love (27), playing, Quakerism, can’t think of it, fun
Comments: was great/fun/loved it! (6), good food (2), want to go to the next one so I can see my old friends, wish Jr. High people could be here, which came first the chicken or the egg?, thank you staff and kids, sock puppets rock, new dress-up is awesome, jr. staff RULE, I always felt safe here and did not worry, liked arts and crafts and breakfast and lunch and dinner, liked the dunes,
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Westport Nov 19-21, 2004
“Love”
staff eval
Regarding this retreat and your role as a staffer, what worked best for you overall?
-sleeping in big room in protected space, the “Loving Purely” small group went remarkably well-kids got engaged
-liked hanging out with friends from JYM, everyone was really nice (jr. staffer)
-having so much staff to help (didn’t feel overburdened with responsibilities)
-having enough staff allowed me to enjoy and supervise along with some pure leisure!
-JYM ball worked well, upstairs boys were pretty quiet Friday night and rest hour
-being there for anything that kids of Wendyl needed
-number of staff and various personalities and skills worked really well, had a lot of teamwork and cooperation
-group resource leader: working with Amy and sharing the responsibilities
What didn’t work as well for you? (Was it related to program delivery, leadership, personal limitations, difficulty with theme, human dynamics, the Moon, etc?)
-everything fine other than having to leave early (Anne) and having small groups a bit confused (but it worked out to be better than the first one)
-didn’t like the serving because we had to eat last
-think staff need to be reminded to sit amongst children during program, not on periphery so children can be more focused (teacher in me-but it might be nice) (Amy L-V)
-mornings never work well for me
-need to have staff meeting on Friday night to clarify small group
-like idea of jr. staffers, however think they were close in age to JYM kids, they sometimes were more misbehaved than the retreat kids and had to spoken to several times (aka sleeping time)
-one case of human dynamics, a personality quirk of one retreat student of the young people
Can you comment on the specific content of what was discussed in your Small Group? Did we reach our goal as it related to our theme?
-“Loving Purely” kids talked about how you can love God, haven’t seen, if they don’t love people, drifted into “what is God” can’t remember quotes unfortunately
-read really good book called Wolf Wing while everyone else was in small groups (jr. staffer)
-went from general to specifics as theme related to their short lives
-absolutely
-talked about what pride is, also about love, liked the skits on Saturday night
-they understood the power of love!
-first small group was great and could have continued indefinitely but second one lacked energy
-definitely! Discussed how love related to the hygene kit and why helping opeople we don’t know, children were enthusiastic and listened to our stories too
-personal meaning of Martin the Shoemaker story, was much participation of kids
Please comment on the effectiveness and value of our other activities, such as games, beach trip, free time, interpersonal discussions among children and staff.
-All great, loved being able to interact with kids during free time, seeing Henry fit right in was great
-enjoyed beach, brought half beach back in pants and shoes, everyone got along well and helped people they didn’t even know
-bonds us, and kids love down time, loosely structured in their over structured lives
-interpersonal discussions were rich and fulfilling with children and staff
-rest hour very effective, small groups weren’t amazingly effective-we had trouble staying on topic
-they are all done with joyful noise and freedom to express themselves, saw a great deal of change in many newbees
-think free time always works, but think beach was a little too chaotic, children weren’t listening when we were traveling and had to keep stopping for stragglers since we were spread out so much
-very valuable and joy to watch
Other thoughts and suggestions?
-need to have dress up in JHYM, so much fun! (jr. staffer)
-thought: retreats are more intimate than JYM-only short, suggestion: request more fruit for snacks
-great weekend!
-didn’t play capture the flag, JYM ball very fun, miss dress-up
-it was all fun and games
-love helping with retreats! They’re awesome, feel so special and privelaged that I’m welcomed so openly into JYM community!
-keep jr. staffers, they were awesome, heard number of thank yous
How did we fare without my ‘former’ co-leader and our friend, Gretchen?
-fine! Singing was where she was most missed
-*tear* but now I get to have her!! (jr. staffer)
-WAH! Whydya hafta say the G-word?? We did fine but it was different without her, I’m upset not to see her on Sunday AM
-we did very well, she will always be missed, especially for singing, but the program will conquer on!
-we did great, and now we get her (jr. staffer)
-just fine!
-ok, I guess
-Fine I think, but I know we all miss her dearly!
-fine, you handled it very well