Leaders in the Making: Inside the Left Hand Outdoor Challenge Transcript

On a winter Saturday in February, high above Nederland, you'll find a group of teenagers working together to improve their winter survival skills, from first aid to winter camping and traveling on snowpack surfaces. Or, in the fall or the spring, you may find them working on some of our county's most beloved trails, working to make them more accessible and usable. In fact, you will find these teenagers on Boulder County properties nine Saturdays a year as a part of a free program the county offers called the Left Hand Outdoor Challenge. I'm your host, Bethany, and today we will explore this program.

It's a true honor to have Sully Tun-Ake, Program Coordinator, in the studio with us today. Sully joins us to reflect on the meaningful opportunities this program offers teens throughout Boulder County. Welcome, Sully. To get us going, how would you begin to describe the Left Hand Outdoor Challenge program for our listeners who may be hearing about it for the first time?

Thank you, Bethany. I really appreciate you kicking it off with that thoughtful memory of us being back at Caribou Ranch. I couldn't see myself in those snowshoes trekking through that freshly snow that we were all hoping we'd get. So I really appreciate you taking me back to that day. For our listeners who don't know much about the Left and Outdoor Challenge program, I just want to start off by saying that the Left and Outdoor Challenge team often refers to it as LHOC, And so this program has a lot of different ways that we refer to, but it means a lot to us. And I'm really excited to share more about it with you today. For our listeners, the Left Behind Outdoors Challenge is outdoor leadership and community engagement program that is run by Boulder County Parks and Open Space Research. Since 2012, we designed this program specifically for high school students who have an interest and are curious about the outdoors. So every single month, like you mentioned, they're going to participate in hands-on experiences through service learning, whether that's like doing a volunteer or stewardship project. We're also going to offer opportunities through outdoor education so they can see why this work really matters. And on top of that, we also give them opportunities to explore the different ways you can get into the outdoor industry. Lastly, it's in our name, right? The Left Behind Outdoor Challenge. We are going to offer them challenging outdoor activities. And the biggest thing that I like to tell all of the folks who are learning about this program for the very first time is that it's more than just a program. It's really a journey for our students to come together, build community, learn about themselves. And they're working alongside park rangers and volunteer program leaders that we refer to as mentors. And so this is much more than a program because they get mentorship. They really enjoy their time exploring all that Boulder County has to offer. That's just a little bit about how our program really is structured for our high school participants.

Amazing. I absolutely second that it's more than just a program. Now, it's made up of Wednesday base camps and Saturday challenges. Can you take a moment and just walk us through what a typical Saturday challenge might look like for a participant?

Absolutely. So our Saturday challenges, like you just mentioned, those are every single month. There are longer days and they start pretty early. We provide transportation to our students because we recognize very early on in the program that transportation is a barrier. So we offer three locations where we pick them up and then head over to our activities. activity or work site and that can be anywhere in Boulder County like you mentioned it can be one month in Netherlands another up in Longmont at Rabbit Mountain so we head over to those locations and immediately circle up our students begin by just welcoming them to that space give them an overview of what to And then if we do have a partner that is working with us that Saturday, they come in to introduce themselves and we really go over safety and what to expect once again when it comes to that specific volunteer project. And then by 10 a.m. around that time, we immediately start working in the field alongside those partners. And then at 12, we break for lunch and end up adding a learning opportunity to really emphasize, like I said before, why we're out there working on that project for that Saturday project. After that, once we get that educational opportunity, we then go back to finish up that work that we started. Once we kind of get to the point where we're getting close to three o'clock, we bring it back to do a closing activity that is led by either our partners and our mentors and staff jump into support to really allow our team participants to reflect on the day and experience. to take some time to also recognize those other team members that really did something above and beyond for that day. And then by that time, we all load up into our vans and take them back to our van pulling locations. And the following month, we do it all over again. With those Wednesday base camps being super instrumental to those Saturday challenges, because those are the meetings where we get them prepped for those Saturday challenge days. Those Saturday challenges always feel like a whirlwind, but they are so worth it. And I know the teens love it. Elhawk is heading into its 14th season this year. I imagine the landscape of outdoor programs and opportunities for teenagers has changed a lot since then. Can you explain what makes this program so vital to Boulder County and its community? Since 2012, there are many really great reasons why this program is so vital to the Boulder County community. I have to pick one that is really standing out to me right now. And that's what our current community is experiencing is the lack of autonomy and agency when it comes to what's impacting our parks and open spaces and the people that are working in those spaces. And the program really empowers our team participants to make a choice. and work alongside those outdoor professionals and see what those choices with them you know starting the program and then putting it into practice those actionable like steps really mean that's what is super important about the program and the creators of that program back in 2012 we're really wanting to to emphasize with this program is that we are creating something that is really meaningful and powerful for our teen participants to foster and inspire them to want to be in our profession and so I feel like that is just very important in in our current communities and especially like I said where we just need to continue being that bridge for our participants to see the value in our parks and open spaces and also not just see what we're doing or hearing about the type of work that these outdoor professionals are doing but also being a part of it being out in the field with us so for me that's that vital component of like we're We're having them choose. They're making their own choices and then they're seeing those impacts and we're investing in Boulder County's future in hopes of protecting these beautiful spaces for many generations to come.

You've mentioned a couple of times that this program really aims to help facilitate opportunities for teens so they can see themselves As outdoor professionals, can you speak a little bit more about how you facilitate those relationships?

We make outdoor careers visible, tangible, and interactive. We always try to find opportunities at our Wednesday base camps and Saturday challenges to really expose these opportunities to our teen participants by inviting outdoor professionals to come and share their experiences. So they get a chance to meet park rangers. Besides me, that's coordinating it, but actual park rangers who have a plethora of duties or they're resident rangers. strangers or if they are working with canines. We also have park deputies that will come in and share their experiences along with other outdoor professionals like trail technicians search and rescue professionals so they get a chance to really meet them and hear about how they got into those roles and can see themselves in those roles and then on those Saturday challenges like i said before they're working alongside them so they can see like okay like i can do this then they start you know networking and trying to figure out like if I'm interested in this specific career how can I get into it starting right now? And so we end up, you know, having our partners and even our rangers kind of offer them opportunities for them to learn more about how they can really start exploring this career. So some of our rangers have offered ride-alongs and other professionals job shadows. And so our teens can really start making that real connection. One really successful way that we've been seeing our teens really understand how the careers can really look like for them. And if they don't feel like, hey, that's not what I want to pursue, that's okay. They also end up learning that many of these agile professionals that we're working with, they prefer to give back in a way that they're participating in currently, which is through volunteerism. So that's another way that we'd like to emphasize like a career doesn't mean that you are one of those people out there that are, you know, having it as like your everyday job and getting paid for it, but you can also give it back in a meaningful and impactful way through volunteering.

I imagine that sometimes building those connections between the adults and the youths is easier than between the youths. I know this program appeals to teenagers from all over the county and from ages 14 to 18, which is a pretty big range. What do you do to foster legitimate, authentic connections between such different teens coming from so many different places?

It starts from the very beginning, from when our students end up applying for the program. We really emphasize relationship building and meeting face to face so you can really start developing that relationship and make it really authentic. So when students apply, we set up a virtual orientation so they can see who the person is that is going to be guiding them for the next nine months. And then afterwards, we set up other opportunities where we slowly go into meeting in person where they could just see themselves during a virtual orientation. And we start off by having a basic introduction of who they are, what high school they're currently in and why they want to be a part of the program. So once again, kind of creating that culture that brings us all together, that we all have an interest in the outdoors, are curious about learning. And then the biggest thing is this. As soon as we launched the program, our program leaders, so our rangers and other parks and open space staff, along with our volunteer mentors, we all try to normalize that it's okay to feel uncomfortable. It's a part of the process. And in no way do we want to push you to the point where you're like, I'm uncomfortable, I'm shutting down. So we definitely like to emphasize that within our LHOC community. culture that we want those relationship building activities and want to form these lasting connections. It's definitely part of the process. And I also want to add that something very unique about our program is our squad structure, which is taking our big group that right now we normally end up accepting about 25 to 30 students, bringing them into what we call squads, which are much smaller group setting that really allows them to share personal stories and anything that's really bothering them that can help navigate. Along with that, we have volunteer mentors that end up guiding them and making them feel more comfortable. And so they feel like, OK, I'm kind of stuck. But then I have these mentors that are kind of able to to help me figure out how to get back on whatever path I want to take. That's super powerful and important part of our program to really emphasize that community relationship building and end up helping our students kind of navigate through these stressful situations.

As a program mentor myself, I love the squad structure. One of my favorite base camps that we do every single year is the making of the flags. Can you talk a little bit more about some of those structures like the flags and the logo and the motto and all of that? Can you talk a little bit about those?

My predecessors, they really put this flag concept into our squad structures to once again allow our students to get creative where they get to come together and share like, hey, this is my interest and here are things that I feel like are going to be meaningful and give them intention for the next nine months. So they come up with some fun names. Then they end up coming up with a symbol that represents all of them and their interests and then a fun motto that really guides them where they can cope back when they're doing tasks and different challenges that really unites them and keeps them moving forward and supports them along the way.

I love the flags. Last year, my team wanted to be the muscle mamas, which I hated at first. At the beginning of that challenge, I was like, no way is everyone ever going to agree on this. This is so unfair. weird but the more we talked even the quietest people on my squad who I thought for sure were not going to go with it ended up getting really into it I just have this image in my head of all of them coloring this big muscly bicep together and laughing laughing about you know where to put extra muscles should there be a bicep on top of the bicep and things like that and I think that that early experience in the squad really made us a more effective team for the rest of the season so thinking kind of about that and now I want you to share maybe a favorite memory do you have a time that you can recall where you really thought to yourself this is it we have done it. This is why we're here.

Yeah, there's been a couple of instances just recently. One that comes to mind that still makes me smile as soon as you said that is when I first started with Boulder County, I remember I was meeting with Left Hand Outdoor Challenge Ranger team. So my predecessors were giving me like just an overview of what to expect and telling me about, you know, students that they're expecting are going to return to the program. And there was one specific student that they were talking about who is It's often very distracting. And I immediately was like, okay, this is probably going to be one of our troubled youth and teens. So I was expecting this individual to come into the program and was going to need a lot of guidance and support. Immediately, I saw something in this person. He was excited to be there, super committed, didn't miss anything. any of the challenges, and slowly but surely, I could see their confidence grow. This person essentially was with us throughout his whole high school career. He discovered that, hey, I want to be a part of the outdoors in more than just a volunteer role. One of the goals, like I was saying, of the program is to inspire our youth to see themselves in our roles. And so this student immediately got inspired by one of our park rangers and seeing them work alongside them during our monthly challenges. Reached out and was like, hey, I want to do a ride along with Ranger John, who is a our resident ranger at Hall Ranch and immediately was super enthusiastic and took initiative to to set up that ride along. From what I remember John sharing, he was super enthusiastic to be with John and was learning about his property and everything that it entails to be a resident ranger. And what really ended up making that moment super memorable is when his mom reached out and thanked not just me, but the whole ranger team for supporting him throughout his high school career. to the point where he wasn't thinking about going to college. Now he was. And he was really looking at how to get into natural resources degree to hopefully one day be a park ranger himself. I mean, that isn't like the main goal of our program, but it is exactly what we want to hear. It's what we hope that our students can get inspired and can see themselves in roles when they're working alongside us.

I am sure there are so many reasons to return year after year like that story. But I wonder if you might tell me another story or two that just talks about why you come back, why you're excited every year when the program picks up again in September?

For me, it's the youth. Every single year we get youth that bring a different energy, but still make it for me to want to come back and see them grow their confidence in the outdoors and build their community and really end up experiencing what the outdoors can look like for them. And so that's the part that really allows me to continue to love what I do is seeing them enact action, learning, not just these outdoor skills, but just skills that they will carry on in everyday life. So it's really about them and how I learn from them just as much as they learn from us. 

So we've talked a lot about the outdoor element, but I know one of the things that you're really passionate about is bringing students in who may not see themselves as particularly outdoorsy. So I wonder if for our listeners who might be on the fence or who might think to themselves that they have not the right set of skills to do this, what would you say to them about their place in LHOC?

I'll be honest with you. I was you. To the families and to those teens who don't really see themselves in the outdoors, I understand you completely. I grew up in Aurora, Colorado, and it's very much in the city, in the Denver metro area. And I often didn't see myself as part of the outdoor community. And all it took is just some curiosity and me wanting to experience it a little bit more. Having someone kind of just show up and tell me like, hey, here's all these potential opportunities to get into and just taking a chance on that. And so I would say to those students, just take a chance on the webinar Ardor Challenge program. Really try it and see that it's for you. You can find a place in our program where you can grow, where you can choose where your interest lies and all the various activities that we have to offer. We want to welcome you to even start a conversation and ask us more if you're on the fence. We'd love to give you more context so that way you can understand what it's going to look.

Sully, your passion for these teenagers is absolutely overflowing. And now I want to know, what does this do for you? How does the Left Hand Outdoor Challenge fill your cup?

For me, it's more than just a paycheck. It's really about the opportunities to be able to mentor the next generation, be able to offer opportunities that I wish I had. And so when I'm working alongside our teens and being able to answer questions or connect them to resources, that really brings so much joy to me. Like that's what I wish I could have had more of when I was, you know, growing up in an urban setting. And it makes it for me to be able to have students who once couldn't see themselves in the outdoors now do. And so that's why I keep wanting to do what the work that I want to do.

You know, as somebody who was born and raised in Colorado myself, I'm constantly in awe of Boulder County. And I wonder, you've had so many opportunities to share this space with people. Where is your favorite place? What space in Boulder County really fills you up?

I was raised in Colorado, but I was born in Mexico, in Yucatan. And so I am always drawn to spaces that have water and where I can see change in the seasons. And one of my favorite spaces is Caribou Ranch. I mean, I love being up there in the spring when the flowers are blooming, but also in the fall when the leaves are changing. And what's really special about Caribou is that there's water. And so I always take the opportunity when I'm on my patrols to go down and spend some time next to the water where I can just decompress and reflect. There's something about water that really like makes me feel grounded. Even on my days off, we'll go with my family and we'll hike around Caribou. So it's definitely a really great place that's accessible. It gives me a lot of joy to talk about Caribou Ranch and how it offers so much.

That makes so much sense. Is that why LHOC goes there most years?

Yes and no. I would say that Caribou Ranch has been consistently for our Winter Skills Challenge the best place logistically to offer our Winter Skills Program because it's not just for our Left Hand Outdoor Challenge students. We also open up that program to other youth community partners that are really wanting to experience our program. And so that space is the place we go because that's where we can have these much larger programs where all of our participants can really see what Boulder County has to offer in terms of like accessibility and different ways that you can still be outdoors throughout the different seasons.

That is a really big challenge. What does it mean to you to have so many youth see that space every year?

It makes me really proud to share that space and seeing students not just learning, but they have so much fun just being in that space and seeing the beauty of it. It fills me with so much happiness.

I'm excited to welcome former participant and current mentor Julietta Rozin. Julietta, you have been involved with the program for so long, and I wonder how you've seen the program evolve over time.

I obviously, I started as a participant. I was there for four years, and now I've been a mentor for four years. Obviously, the program has gone through its change in directors, mentors, but one thing that's never changed about the program is wanting to bring these very cool and unique opportunities to the high schoolers and create an amazing community through it. That is one thing that's never changed. I'd say throughout the years, I've seen more partnerships with organizations like EOC, WRV, basically organizations that have similar goals to LHOC, basically bringing high schoolers into the environmental outdoor world. So that's been very cool. I'd say, like you mentioned, the February challenge, the big winter skills challenge, that's been a big, I guess, structural change to the program where we have these big partnerships, big challenge. We have the stations where you have the Quincy Hub building, the fire, we have the search and rescue, first aid, all of that stuff. And I think the biggest part about that challenge that's really cool is that our LHOC teens get to step up and really be leaders so we have like you mentioned before we have the squads and each squad assigns roles to those teens so we have the person ice breaking we have the person debriefing safety measures all of that stuff and they're really stepping up and leading the teens from the other groups through this challenge so i think that's been the biggest challenge that's changed throughout the years and i really like it because it really gives our teens some leadership experience We've also started doing an annual career fair. I know Sully mentioned that earlier, where we give teens the opportunity to really look into something more than just the program, like really give them an avenue to continue with their passions.

Yes, you are so right about all of that. And I think we really do see these teens getting so much leadership opportunity and exposure. So I want to zoom in a little bit and I want to think about your experiences personally. Either as a mentor or maybe as a participant, what's your favorite LHOC memory?

Probably the Quincy Hut building. The snow structure surviving in the winter outdoors. I think that was probably the first time I even thought about, oh my gosh, you have to survive somewhere. when it's cold and snowy. I feel like the first time I did that challenge was one of my first years in LHOC when I was a very shy, very quiet person. And I just remember being out there with my squad and we were taking turns piling snow and then shoveling it out to create the opening where you stay. We worked so well together. And even though I was on the quieter side, we all just bonded really well through that activity. I bring up that challenge because it grew me physically, where I was like, oh, I can do this, I can shovel, I can pile snow I can do all of that stuff and it also grew me socially through really connecting to my fellow teens.

I'm wondering if you could share a little insight what would you say is the most important thing to keep in mind as a participant or somebody who's interested in joining the program?

I'd say, well, I can speak to this because I was a participant myself and someone who was, I guess, a little unsure about the program when I first started it. But it's a program that I have found brings opportunities that I never thought I would be able to experience. You know, I've done things that I never thought I would do. And I honestly don't think I would get the opportunity to do without the program. Just a few things that come to mind are like ice rescue, wildfire mitigation, trail building, all of that stuff. Participant looking into joining the program should think about all of the really really cool things that they'll learn through it. Again it's always the people for me that's why I've come back year after year is the community that we have in LHOC is amazing and that's gone through the The team building activities that we do, the fun games that we do on the sides and working in our squads, working with the other people through service projects. You get really close to your fellow teens. You get really close to the mentors and everyone there. Every Saturday challenge we have, every Wednesday base camp we chat, we have. It's something that I really look forward to because I'm learning something new. I'm with the people that I really like to be with. Yeah, it's a great atmosphere.

I totally agree. It's all about the learning and especially connecting with people. You just can't ask for a better place to do that. I agree.

I'm delighted to welcome two rangers and two of the people who were originally a part of the LHOC program. I have Sarah Andrews, Caribou Ranch resident ranger, and John Queen, Hall Ranch resident ranger. John, I'm going to start with you. When you think back to those original conversations about LHOC and the goals of the program, what were those and how have those evolved to contribute to the program's longevity and success?

In 2012, I feel like there was a lot of research on the amount of time kids were spending on screens. Kids were spending eight hours a day playing video games online. And there was this disparity between the amount of minutes that students were spending on screens and comparing that to what their parents spent. kind of grew up in. And I personally believe that there's just so much inherent value in spending time outdoors. I spend my career outdoors. And it's the one thing that I'm certain of is that a big part of my life will be spent in the wild open. As outdoor leaders ourselves, we were looking at students and we were thinking, is there anything that we can do to provide an opportunity for depth in the outdoors that might be needed in Boulder County? I think that was the impetus. I'm happy it's around. It's amazing how long LHOC has been a part of Boulder County. So I hope it keeps going for many years.

Sarah, now I want to turn to you. And you, of course, are the resident ranger at Caribou Ranch, where we do spend time at LHOC. And so I'm curious, what is it like for you now, after having kind of been a part of the program at the start, continue to get to see it and support it? What's that like for you?

I will say it's bittersweet. Sully has done such an incredible job nurturing this program and expanding this program, looking at it in so many unique ways. But it is kind of sad to just be asked to come and help out for a day and not to get to build these relationships and connections that we had in the past. And so for my workload, it's fantastic to just be asked to come and play and hang out with the kids for the day. But looking back at my role in the program, it definitely is a little sad that I don't get to nurture and have these really fun relationships with with the kids that the mentors and the program leaders do.

I super agree. Sarah and I had like some amazing years together in which we honestly, we spent too much time together. It was just like this program takes a lot of work. It felt like we had all this amazing planning period and collection period. We bought supplies for the program. And then we also had this understanding that when it was time to execute, we would be flexible and we would have fun with it. And it wasn't just us. Kevin Grady was a part of our team at that point. And even prior to that, there was a ranger, Jason Vroman, who was impossibly involved in the early stages of this. Like I said, I feel like we felt supported. And then there was this moment in which it was like go time and that Saturday challenge was going to happen. But it's just like you were on as soon as the kids got there until they left and it would buy in a flash. And it was so fun. And that's what I miss. The kids are just, they're so fun to be around. I think one of the best parts of the program for me was working so closely with the other rangers and our partners and just creating those relationships and then getting to develop the relationships with the kids as well. And it was a big ask. I feel like when John and Kevin and I were running the program, it was it felt like a lot of work and we were always pushing to have it be someone's job. And so when Sully was hired, kind of with the hope of her running that program and really putting a lot of time and intention to it, that was so like heartening for us because while we love doing the program and you know love those relationships it needed someone who could just like take it and run with it and turn it into something just incredibly valuable.

Yeah I agree I'm glad Sully got to take it over because the kids deserved more than just an excellent Saturday or an excellent base camp they needed someone that they could reach out to that their parents could have easy access to and we weren't filling that role so I'm just always grateful for her stepping in even if we had some super sweet years.

Julietta, John, and Sarah are some of my favorite people in the world. And so hearing from them was just really special and especially because I've been involved with the program for a few years now, but not quite as long, obviously, as any of them. And so hearing that history a little bit just made me that much more excited for this upcoming season and just so grateful to know everyone who's involved with this community and with this program.

It made me very emotional to reflect on their journey and it really solidified why I'm here. I really want to be able to support our Ranger team, but also support our volunteer mentors. And so just listening to their personal stories really meant a lot to me because like John and Sarah mentioned, it is a lot of work. Our work doesn't stop during the summer where we're not offering our programs. If anything, It continues where we're doing the planning process.

There are a lot of things that come with it, like that bittersweet of, you know, being the person that is coordinating. So taking the lead, but also relying on those individuals that can come in from your team to really support and help you along the way. As much as it was wonderful to hear what they had to say, I also want to take a moment to recognize that the program wouldn't be possible without them, without everyone that really contributes and dedicates themselves to giving these experiences to our teens.

Yes, I totally agree. And I just want to thank you so much, Sully, for taking the time to share all of these stories and your perspective with us today and to really help us dive into this program, which is such a special part of the Boulder County community. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much for listening to this episode. We would like to thank Longmont Public Media for their space. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube and listen to us on your favorite podcast streaming app.