YMCA Adventure Guides: Program Overview
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Objectives Purpose Aims Motto Pledge Program Activities Structure Leadership Program Rituals |
| • | Foster companionship and understanding and set a foundation for positive, lifelong relationships between parent and child. | |
| • | Build a sense of self-esteem and personal worth. | |
| • | Expand awareness of spirit, mind, and body. | |
| • | Provide a framework to meet a mutual need of spending enjoyable, constructive, and quality time together. | |
| • | Enhance the quality of family time. | |
| • | Emphasize the vital role that parents play in the growth and development of their children. | |
| • | Offer an important and unique opportunity to develop and enjoy volunteer leadership skills. |
Purpose
To foster understanding and companionship between parent and child
| 1. | To be clean in body and pure in heart | |
| 2. | To be friends forever with my dad/mom/son/daughter | |
| 3. | To love the sacred circle of my family | |
| 4. | To listen while others speak | |
| 5. | To love my neighbor as myself | |
| 6. | To respect the traditions and beliefs of all people | |
| 7. | To seek and preserve the beauty of Our Creator’s work in forest, field, and stream |
Program Pledge
We, YMCA Adventure Guides/Explorers, through friendly service to each other, to our family, to this Circle/Expedition, and to our community, seek a world pleasing to the eye of Our Creator.
Program Activities
Circle meetings and Expedition adventures constitute the core of the program.
| • | Circle meetings and gatherings (biweekly or monthly in a family home and once a month for Circle adventures) | |
| • | Expedition adventures (Circles coming together for Expedition adventures such as campouts, parties, or parades) | |
| • | ExpFamily-oriented activities (ceremonies, games, crafts, songs, stories, skits, and outdoor pursuits such as camping, hiking, and swimming) |
Program Structure
Participants are grouped as follows:
| • | Guide and Explorer—parent and child pair | |
| • | Circle—group of Guides and Explorers | |
| • | Expedition—group of Circles within a YMCA, often organized by gender (e.g., father–daughter Expedition, mother–son Expedition, etc.) though some Expeditions might be coed | |
| • | Federation—group of Expeditions within a YMCA Association (e.g., the father–son and father–daughter Expeditions together make up a Federation) |
Program Leadership
The program is run by YMCA staff and program volunteers. Volunteers are recruited or elected by Circle members to assume these roles. There are Circle Officers, Expedition Officers, and Federation Officers, each of which includes the following positions:
| • Navigator | • Naturalist | |
| • Compass Bearer | • Scout | |
| • Log Keeper | • Elder | |
| • Treasure Keeper | • Outfitter |
Program Rituals
The YMCA Adventure Guides program is heavily based on rituals and traditions that bring a sense of continuity, community, intrigue, and magic to the program. These rituals and traditions include those listed here as well as others, depending on the particular YMCA’s choices.
| • Program names | • Rites of passage | |
| • Circle and Expedition property | • Awards | |
| • Program attire | • Ceremonies |