On a weekend in early August, 19 youth from Reno high schools and the University of Nevada challenged the rapids of the South Fork of the American River, camping out by the river. This was the second raft trip for the Dean’s Future Scholars (DFS). The trip was led by ICO Trip Leader Alberto Garcia Rodriguez, with support from two other DFS administrators. All of the youth participated in preparing the gear, making food, and cleaning up after meals. They were guided down the river by the ICO Rafting crew, which included 6 certified ICO whitewater guides, led by Shane Doong. 

In a post-trip survey, students were asked what they liked most about the trip, and the responses included: "Whitewater rafting", "The jumping rock", "Rafting through the gorge", "sharing experiences and doing icebreakers with ICO staff and DFS", "The big rapids", "The rafting and going through the rapids", and "All of them."

The outcomes were excellent!  Alberto, the ICO trip leader summarized the trip this way:

"The whitewater rafting trip was a success, thanks to the dedicated support of our staff and the strong leadership from ICO. Their guidance and encouragement created a safe, positive space for students to challenge themselves in new ways. Despite the hot sun students showed impressive perseverance and teamwork, pushing through physical and mental barriers with determination. Many had never rafted before, yet they leaned on one another and grew more confident."

In describing the students who returned for this trip after rafting last year, Alberto said,

"Areas of growth I noticed in returning students included increased confidence, a stronger focus on completing tasks they were previously too afraid to try, greater openness to taking on leadership roles, and a willingness to support new students."

All in all, including the ICO raft guides, participants, mentors, administrators, family members and friends, there were 31 people on the trip… and a great time was had by all. Check out these pictures:

This trip was an important milestone for Reno ICO:

• The majority of students were Hispanic and Native American.
• This was the first Reno ICO trip that was filled to capacity.  DFS had a raft trip las summer and enjoyed it so much that they went again. Word got around about how great the trip was. Many of the students on this trip had been last year. Reno ICO is primarily a leadership development organization, so it was great to have students return and share their skills with others.
• Trip leader Alberto Garcia Rodriguez recruited DFS leadership to join the trip, and it is really clear that DFS will be partnering with Reno ICO for years to come. 

Manny Ortiz, Assistant DFS Director, brought his wife and two small children on the trip – These guests added much to the camp scene. At the end of the second day, Manny’s family joined us on the rafts for the very calm Coloma to Lotus section of the river. Everyone had fun.

Reno ICO and DFS are grateful to the ICO Rafting Chapter and  guides who took us down the river, along with ICO and DFS donors who enabled everyone to join the trip at no cost, and to Camp Lotus, which greatly discounted our camping and river access fees.