On Nov. 10, 2004 the Students Against Destructive Decisions group at Lisbon High School, left for a three-day conference at Camp Kieve. The purpose of the trip was for our SADD team to make some goals for the future and come closer together as a group. As soon as we arrived at Kieve our camp leaders, Jess and Elliot met us and got everyone together to tell us a little about what was in store for us in the next few days. Jess explained that in order for our SADD team to continue to move forward we would need to make a few common goals. Under her guidance we set to work making a plan to create a relaxing environment that would attract our community, and help us to expand our group throughout our town. After our discussion we went outside to the ropes course and did some climbing. Besides having fun, the ropes course showed us that we have to be willing to work together and trust each other in order to accomplish what we wanted.

The next day was filled with a mixture of brainstorming, group discussions and teamwork activities- One of the great things about our group, is that although ifs small it has lots of different kinds of people in it. Our mix of students, administrators, and community members helped us to come up with some practical and achievable goals for the next year. We decided that along with our usual drug awareness events, we would set up part of a day to show our community how much it could be improved. We had all kinds of ideas such as, mock car crashes, keynote speakers, and community service projects. At the end of the day Jess helped us put our ideas down on one paper and we came up with our main idea. Which is to create a relaxing environment, continue to promote healthy ideas and lifestyles, and to continue to build relationships within our community. We ended the night with a boys vs. girls game of basketball, after which we retired to our cabins for a much needed night of sleep.

On our final day, the group came together to eat breakfast, and tie up loose ends in our plan for a better community. This was followed by my favorite part of the trip, which took place down on the ropes course. The Kieve staff had rigged up this gigantic swing where you were hoisted up about 40 feet and then let go to swing far above the heads of the rest of the group. It was a blast! After the swing, we packed our bags, said goodbye to Jess and Elliot and boarded the bus for our way home.

The trip was definitely a positive experience, and we were able to come up with some good goals. The Lisbon SADD group is looking forward to putting our plans into action, and promoting healthy lifestyles within our community.

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