Leadership
Our Leadership program is the cornerstone of Outdoor
Outreach programming. Through an application and interview
process, promising teens are selected to participate in an
intensive, year-long training that provides them with the
skills necessary to instruct and mentor program
participants. The program is designed to promote each
individual’s natural leadership strengths while providing
tangible academic, emotional and social support. Part of
this exciting process is giving candidates the opportunity
to teach and mentor their peers through a paid internship
after completing their training. Ten youth have completed
the leadership training and are now helping to supervise
Outdoor Outreach trips. We continue to monitor these young
leaders as they balance their part-time jobs at Outdoor
Outreach, college classes,
financial independence and the
challenges of moving into the world as working adults.
A Leader of Tomorrow...
Editor’s Note: This article was written and submitted by Juan Herrera, a current participant in the Outdoor Outreach leadership program.
"My name is Juan Herrera and I've been involved with
Outdoor Outreach for five years now. I lost my father
when I was 9 years old and my mother when I was 14. I
was sent to live with a stepsister, but ran away because I
was being abused. I ended up at a teen center for
homeless youth where I lived and got my high school diploma.
Through the teen center I got the opportunity to participate
in Outdoor Outreach activities.
Once I started doing the different trips like
snowboarding, rock climbing, mountain biking and surfing I
found out I was an adrenaline junkie. I love all
outdoor activities. I've snowboarded double black
diamonds at Mammoth, rock climbed an 800-foot face, mountain
biked some of the hardest trails in southern California,
been flipped over in a class IV rapid, and I'm a pro surfer
in the making. In fact, it is my goal to surf Pipeline in
Hawaii.
The best thing about all of this is that it is now my
job. I've been in the Leadership Program for close to
four years now. I'm now an instructor for all of the
different Outdoor Outreach trips. It's great to be
able to share all I've learned and give youth the same
opportunities and experiences I've had. I have the
best job in the world. Besides working at
Outdoor Outreach, I just graduated from San Diego City
College and have received a scholarship to attend San Diego
State University. I plan to be the Executive Director
of Outdoor Outreach one day. I've been called all
sorts of things in my life: homeless, at-risk,
underprivileged, troublemaker, loser. Now I'm called rock
climber, surfer, and snowboarder." |
