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Home | Chief's Letter | Calendar | News | Camp | Photos | Longhouse |  |
| The Smoke Signals is a newsletter for the South Hills Area YMCA Guide Parent/Child Program | ||||||||
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South Hills YMCA Guides Program:
A Field Guide to Getting the Most Out of a Great Father/Son Program Autumn, 2009 Introduction: A message to new Indian Guides You are about to experience one of the moments in your life that will change you forever. Never before has an opportunity been presented to you, that will make more of an impact on you as a father and permit you the chance to strengthen your relationship with your son. Our society directs us to work harder, achieve more, and be a good provider. However, the only legacy of value we leave behind when we depart this world is our children. The YMCA mission to teach all people caring, honesty, respect, and responsibility has its roots in the Y-Guides parent child program. These values are developed at the youngest of ages, and our children look to us for direction, protection, and guidance. To this point in your life, as a parent of a young son(s), you are special, loved, feared, and respected. As your son grows right before your eyes, he will be exposed to all kinds of people, situations, and challenges. The Y-Guides program will help prepare you to guide him through the difficult times, share the best of times, and make lifelong memories. Spending quality time experiencing fun activities and events, affords you the opportunity to devote uninterrupted time, to form a loving father / son relationship. Seize the moments for they pass by quickly! The information in this handbook is designed to give you an overview of the South Hills Area Y-Guides program, one of the largest and most successful in the country. The investment of time is minimal; money, affordable and priceless. The return on your commitment to parenting will bring you a heart filled with love, and relationship with your son that will last a lifetime! 1. Goals and Aims of the YMCA Guides Program Purpose To foster companionship and understanding between father and son. Objectives
Motto Friends Always! We, Father and Son, through friendly community service to each other, to our family, to this Tribe, and to our community, seek a world pleasing to the eye of the Great Spirit. 2. Program Overview The YMCA Guides Program is designed to foster companionship between a father and his son. The Program is open to all South Hills families and has been offering fun and adventure for South Hills families for over 30 years. Each year in the fall, new enrollees are grouped into tribes, often organized by elementary school or neighborhood within each Township. The tribe provides the infrastructure for the new enrollees to gather and participate in a series of activities and outings over the course of the three to four years that they participate in the program. Tribes participate in their own “tribe” events and in “Longhouse” events. Longhouse events are organized and hosted by the South Hills YMCA for multiple tribes from the various South Hills townships and include three Campouts each year along with chule car (pine car) races, ice cream socials, picnics, a banquet and baseball game at PNC Park, and other activities. Tribe events are organized by the tribe and are typically exclusive to the tribe and their families. The success of the tribe depends on the drive and organization of its members. Tribes whose members all contribute and participate in events and activities derive the most rewarding experience from the Program. While the Program focuses on the father/son relationship, it also fosters great and lasting friendships for both the sons and fathers within the tribe. These friendships will often survive well beyond the term of the Program. 3. Your Responsibilities By enrolling in this program, you have taken the most important step to create lasting memories with your child. However, we have learned a few insights to help make the experience more enjoyable for both you and your child. You get what you put into it. Like everything else in life, you get out of it what you put into it. But, in this case the return on investment is huge!
4. The Formation of a Tribe Overview: New tribes are formed each fall at the Rally Night organized by the YMCA. Members of the YMCA Guides Program will gather information (name, address, school, age of son, etc.) from all of the new enrollees in the Program. While the kids are entertained by camp songs, the YMCA and Program officers will group the new enrollees into new tribes. New tribes will select a tribe name from a list provided by the YMCA, introduce themselves to each other and begin planning their first Dad’s meeting. New tribes will typically have between 10 and 16 father/son pairs. Each new tribe will be assigned a Skejunka. The Skejunka is a volunteer Dad that has participated in the Indian Princess or Indian Guide Program in the past and has often been the Chief of a tribe, or a tribe officer. The Skejunka’s role is to help the new tribe get organized, join the first several meetings of the new tribe to describe the program and ensure that the new tribe gets off to a great start. New Tribe Gatherings: New tribes will have several very important gatherings in the first two months of their formation. These are as follows:
Tribe Leadership: There are several leadership roles within the tribe. The most important role is Tribe Chief. It is critical to the success of the tribe for a Chief to be selected during the first Dad’s meeting. Often, a member of the tribe that has participated in the Program previously with another child will volunteer to be Chief. If all of the members are new, a natural leader might step up, or the tribe might nominate and elect a Chief. While Chiefs typically lead the tribe for all three or four years of the tribe’s existence, some tribes have found success in making the Chief a rotational assignment, with a new Chief stepping in each year or part of a year. The following are the key leadership roles within the tribe. Chief – The Chief is the leader of the tribe and is primarily responsible for communication to the tribe members. Relying on email, the Chief is responsible for encouraging and reminding the tribe members to sign up for and participate in activities, outings and events. The Chief is also responsible for establishing a monthly rhythm of tribe activities and delegating organizing responsibility for these events to other tribe members on a rotational basis. The Chief is also responsible for staying in touch with the Longhouse officers and Program leadership and communicating any news or developments to the tribe members. The two most important roles of the Chief are communication and creating momentum for the tribe. Longhouse Representative – Many tribes will nominate a Longhouse Representative to ease the workload on the Chief. The primary responsibility of the Longhouse Rep is to attend the monthly Longhouse meetings (first Tuesday of every month at 7:30 pm at the South Hills YMCA) and disseminate updates and key information to the tribe. The Chief may also want to delegate the responsibility to maintain and update the tribe’s email and phone number data to the Longhouse Representative. This is a great position to fill on a rotating basis, with each tribe member taking a turn at attending the Longhouse meetings. Wreath Sale Representative – Each November, the Indian Guides Program holds a holiday wreath sale to raise funds for the Program. All of the Guides are encouraged to sell holiday wreaths and each tribe needs a representative to coordinate the sales efforts for the tribe (collect order forms and money, pick up wreaths at the YMCA and ensure that each Big Brave and Guide get their wreaths to distribute. The proceeds from the Wreath Sale fund FREE Longhouse events and an annual gift to Camp AIM. Partner with Youth/STRONG COMMUNITIES CAMPAIGN /Camp Aim Representative – Each year in March, YMCA volunteers raise over $175,000 to underwrite Camp AIM; a summer day camp for the region’s mentally and physically challenged children. This is a great opportunity for the Guides Program to give something back to its community and each tribe is asked to participate in a fundraising phone-a-thon to support this worthwhile program. The Partner with Youth Representative will coordinate the efforts of the tribe and participate in the Phone-A-Thon. There are many variations on your approach to tribe leadership and you are encouraged to come up with a plan that ensures excellent communication among the tribe, while sharing the workload. None of the leadership roles are overly demanding on time, and each can be rewarding for you and your son. 5. Activities There are three types of activities involved in the Indian Guides Program. These are Campouts, Tribe Events and Longhouse Events. To optimize you and your son’s overall experience in the program, it is best to take advantage of as many of the activities as possible. Each of the activity types is described in more detail below. 1. Campouts: Campouts are a primary activity and are core to your overall Indian Guides experience. There are three campouts each year, one each in fall, winter and spring. Campouts are held at two beautiful YMCA camps within an hour or two from Pittsburgh, Camp Kon-O-Kwee in Zelienople, and Camp Deer Valley near Mt. Davis in Fort Hill, PA. Both camps are well managed and well maintained and offer a host of amenities to their campers. Both camps offer meals served in state-of-the-art dining halls (both recently built) and lodging in cabins and lodges. Lodges and cabins offer fully functional bathrooms and showers, heat for the winter and comfortable bunk beds. Bring sleeping bags for the bunks, but leave your tent at home! Each campout is attended by multiple tribes from several South Hills communities. As an example, all of the tribes from Mt. Lebanon, Bethel Park and Chartiers Valley might share a campout. Typically, campouts have approximately 300 attendees (150 Big Braves and 150 Little Braves). Your Little Brave will not only be able to share time with friends in his tribe, but will see other friends from the community, as well. Campouts are “sponsored” by second or third year tribes who organize a combination of planned activities and free time for tribes to conduct their own activities. Campers usually arrive on Friday night or Saturday morning (either is acceptable) and stay until Sunday lunchtime. Both camp locations offer spectacular hikes to scenic vistas, along with archery ranges, obstacle courses, sledding hills, fishing ponds and creeks, boating and a host of additional outdoor activities. Tribes take turns sponsoring campouts, and the sponsoring tribe arranges additional activities such as nightly movies, games of chance and scavenger hunts. The Longhouse organizes a Saturday night campfire and sing-a-long for all of the campers to enjoy. You and your Little Brave can choose to “do it all” at camp or simply enjoy the great outdoors at your own pace. Either way, the experience is always rewarding for both of you. A list of “what to bring to campouts” is included in the Appendix of this handbook. 2. Tribe Activities and Events: Tribe activities and events are those that are organized by your tribe for your tribe and can also include other family members. Tribes are encouraged to organize tribe events on close to a monthly frequency, to establish a regular rhythm for the tribe and deliver maximum value to the members. The tribe can decide on the nature of these events and they can be a combination of outdoor and indoor activities. Some tribes prefer to emphasize all outdoor events throughout the year. Others prefer a combination of indoor craft gatherings and outdoor events. You can discuss this among your tribe in your early meetings and chart the appropriate course for your tribe. The best way to ensure a steady flow of events while distributing the planning workload across the tribe is to assign each month to a pair of Big Braves in your tribe. It is then that pair’s responsibility to plan, organize, communicate and execute the event for their month. Some tribes target Sunday afternoons for events, as it is often the most open time on the calendar and others focus on week nights. The following is a list of possible monthly events that you can plan for your tribe: Ice skating (either at the downtown rink at PPG or one of the local indoor rinks) 3. Longhouse Events: Longhouse events are organized by the YMCA and are typically open to all tribes. These events are often offered free of charge or at very low cost by the Program and are a great opportunity for your tribe to get together without any planning required. The following is a list of events planned for the 2008-2009 season:
5. Vests, Patches and Coup Sticks Vests - Each tribe acquires its own vests to be worn by both the Big Braves and Little Braves at campouts and events throughout the year. Vests are a great way to create an identity and esprit de corps for your tribe. Patches are earned for every campout and Longhouse event and should be sewn on to the vests. Vests can be ordered from a local provider (information provided by your Skejunka) or you can arrange for custom vests for your tribe. Creative vest design is a fun way to distinguish your tribe from the others in your Longhouse and can represent a craft project for the tribe. New tribes often seek a volunteer to pursue vests on behalf of the tribe. It is optimal to secure your vests by the first or second campout in your first year. The YMCA provides a list of vendors who sell vests as well as embroidery services. Vests are often an item that you come across late in life in a box in the attic, after your son is grown and on his own, that brings back a host of happy memories. Patches - Patches are distributed at all campouts and Longhouse events for both the Big and Little Brave. Special patches are earned for wreath sale participation, Partner with Youth participation, campout sponsorship and other special events throughout the year. Patches are an important “badge of honor” for your Little Brave and should be affixed to the vests as soon as possible. Coup Stick - The Coup Stick is a creative way to identify your tribe’s table at meal time during campouts and is a great craft opportunity. Tribes have free reign to design a creative tribal symbol that can fit on the dining tables at camp (typically made of materials from nature). Once a coup stick is made, feathers or other symbols can be added for every campout or every attending Little Brave. Your Skejunka will be pleased to get you started with creative Coup Stick ideas to further distinguish your tribe at campouts. 6. The “10 Habits of Highly Successful Tribes”: What makes a new tribe successful? Read this list of the 10 habits of highly successful tribes to find out!
7. Important Contact Information The YMCA Guides Organization is available to help you and your tribe. If your tribe is having trouble getting off the ground, call your Skejunka or either one of the individuals listed below. They will help you get the tribe back on track. If you only have a few members showing up for events, it may make sense to merge your tribe with another one. Do you or your son have special needs? Call Mike Lloyd at 412-833-5600 (below) for additional help and information. Mike Lloyd YMCA Indian Guides Program Director mlloyd@ymcapgh.org Appendix Indian Guides Campout Packing Checklist
If the tribe is cooking out on Saturday night after the campfire:
Food & Drink:
Fall and Spring Campout Items:
Winter Campout Items:
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Home | Chief's Letter | Calendar | News | Camp | Photos | Longhouse The Smoke Signals is a newsletter for the South Hills Area YMCA Guide Parent/Child Program
South Hills YMCA, 51 McMurray Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15241 |