Definitely. I think some of them are more embedded in our overarching messaging. We really believe in creating a culture of respect and building a safe environment. We often talk about CHV as a family, and the golden rule of “Do unto others as you want them to do to you.” So we really focus on that building of community as one of our core values. And we have a phrase that we use, “One mic.” So if someone’s speaking and other people are having a side conversation, anyone, whether it’s and adult or an LIT or a camper, can call out “One mic!” and everyone will regroup back together to make sure everyone’s listening to that particular person. Another thing that we do, specifically with the LITs, is we really promote individualism. So in group conversation, really highlighting just as much as we can the fact that we don’t hire one type of LIT. We are bringing together a diverse group of young people who all have varied strengths and skills, and there’s value in that peer learning. So if a peer is bringing something to the group, it’s important, and maybe it’s not a thought that you would have had or an experience that you had. Learning from each other is something that’s really critical, so we always try to highlight that. And we really just focus on mutual respect. Our staff really engage on a personal level with our kids, and it never feels like we’re in charge and we’re bossing them around. Teen voice is important. We expect them to listen and respect what we’re saying, but in the same way that we give that to them, and I think that really helps.

Yes, and I would be more inclined to think about our leadership activities for this. They have a lot of activities where you can increase the challenge of a task, like can you do it in this amount of time, or can you do it without talking. One particular activity, which maybe you wouldn’t think about as nonverbal, is, they set up a ring of cones and they set up various items in the circle, and one person is blindfolded and the other person has to lead them around. The challenge is what to do when they can only hear their partner’s voice, and what if they get it confused with someone else’s voice. So if that’s debriefed correctly, we can ask the question, “Well how else do we know what people are saying?” It’s by what their body is doing, if their arms are folded, if their arms aren’t folded, you can move your hands to say jump over, etcetera.

It’s something where with the LITs and with staff too, we’re way more direct about it. So if we’re having a group discussion, and I notice someone roll their eyes, or do something like that, I would pull them out after and say, “Did you notice that you did this when so-and-so was talking?” Sometimes they didn’t notice, and I say, “Well you did, and what do you think that’s saying to so-and-so? And is that what you meant to say, because that’s how it was probably interpreted.” They’re old enough that you can just say it to them once they get to be LITs. I definitely feel like we have ways of dealing with that. We also have smaller ways, like quiet coyote, or hands up to quiet a room down or bring everyone back together.