Creating a Legacy of Leadership

BY SARABETH BROWNROBIE

It was lunchtime during YouthFest 2019 and Dominick Rivera was holding court on the porch. With his easy smile and genial demeanor, he had the whole crew laughing. Rivera is part of Christian Appalachian Project’s (CAP) Teen Leadership Program, and Caitlin Speigle, Camp Shawnee coordinator, will tell you that he has always drawn the attention of his peers.

“We thought he’d be a good fit for the program because he brings contagious energy to everything he does, and was always enthusiastic about camp,” Speigle remembered. “He was showcasing leadership skills from his first summer, and we figured the program would help him learn how to focus all that energy into being an amazing, engaging leader.”

Rivera first came to camp at age 13 as a kid that felt like an outsider. His experiences there made a huge difference in his confidence at that point in his life. He felt included by his counselors and his love of comic books and action heroes was accepted and encouraged. It was also a place where he felt led to God. Rivera explained, “I wasn’t really as big with God, but when I came to camp, I grew into it like it was part of my life. It’s changed me. Because I used to be a troubled person and coming here switched me over.”

Programs like Teen Leadership, to which Rivera has now progressed, are critical in Kentucky where 47 percent of children are living in low income families and nearly 10,000 are living in foster care, according toKentuck Youth Advocates.With a region that faces so much instability, CAP has remained a consistent source of support for over 50 years. -

Speigle realizes the importance of this program in the lives of youth who have chosen to participate. Teen Leadership creates a space where teens can stay connected to the ethos of camp, a place where they feel safe and encouraged. Here, they have a chance to make mistakes and learn from them. During the school year, the participants take part in leadership retreats, volunteer opportunities, and social activities geared toward building leadership skills and confidence. “We give them the opportunity to practice scary things like job interview skills in a safe environment with people they trust and who care deeply about them and their success,” Speigle explained.

Rivera is taking the lessons that he’s learned to heart. Last yeat, he gave up his spring break to repair homes with CAP for people in his community. It was the first year that teens from CAP programming took part in YouthFest, CAP’s alternative spring break trip that brings youth from around the nation to help people in need in Appalachia.

He also took on the added responsibility of being the safety officer for the worksite. Speigle took notice of the way he took charge when she injured herself. She had planned to continue her work, but Rivera asked her to stop and then he performed first aid. Speigle recounted that it was a proud moment to see him take his job as safety officer so seriously. “We always talk about finding a balance between firm and fun, and the jokes he was cracking as he was bandaging me up just seemed to be a perfect example of a teen discovering that balance and being aware of the fact that they had found it,” she said.

YouthFest isn’t the only opportunity Rivera has taken to demonstrate leadership. He returned last summer as a junior counselor at Camp Shawnee. The transition from junior camper to someone in charge requires discernment, and he relied upon his Teen Leadership training to help him. He remembers two particular instances in which he used a rubric he was given to aid in decisions.

Rivera was taught to ask himself: Is it safe? Is it good stewardship? Does it build self-esteem? Are you being a servant? He said that asking the first question is often the only thing he needs to do. When campers asked to flip a canoe, he helped them reason through their decision by using safety as a guide. “If I was a camper, I would have asked to flip the canoe. I was in those shoes. I was a troublemaker and I understand what they are going through. That’s how I helped them turn it around,” he recalled. In another instance, he came to a different conclusion. When campers asked to rearrange their bunk beds he consulted those guidelines and decided that it would be safe as long as he supervised.

Although YouthFest and summer camp were both formative experiences, it is the Teen Leadership Program itself that has been most impactful to Rivera. He said the program has helped him see his life through God’s eyes and given him techniques to help him through hard times. It has also taught him the importance of being open to other people.

“People my age don’t express their feelings, they just shut ‘em in,” he shared. “They leave them inside of a bag and expect no one to know about them. It makes me proud that I can talk to anyone.” He continued, “The best thing ever is vulnerability because, once you are weak, you can grow into something stronger. If you can show your vulnerability, you can express it more often. It’s hard. It’s so hard, but it gets easier after a while.”

Rivera will continue to take part in the Teen Leadership Program and he hopes to join the military before continuing on to college or the police academy. But he’s not the only one with big plans for the future. One recent graduate has threatened to steal Speigle’s job in the next few years. Although she has no plans to leave, Speigle concluded, “I can’t think of a better legacy for the program than to eventually be led by someone who was part of it in their teen years.”

Caitlin Speigle, Camp Shawnee coordinator, works with Dominick Rivera on a home during YouthFest.

Teens from both Camp AJ and Camp Shawnee take part in their annual joint retreat as part of their training in the Teen Leadership Program.

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