Faith Building and fun at Mentor Youth Rally 2015

Faith Building and fun at Mentor Youth Rally 2014

Leadership Training with Chicago State University's Upward Bound Program

We were invited to play Eureka Games at the Chicago State University Upward Bound Program Annual Leadership Conference 2014, and it was a blast!

Team Building Event with Columbus Downtown High School Students

Faith Building Event with Mentor Church - 2013 Youth Rally

Each year the Mentor Church of Christ hosts a Youth Rally to encourage and challenge middle and high school students to live out their beliefs as the new school year moves into high gear.

High School students

Team Building Event at the Dublin Teen Institute 2013 Retreat

The 2013 Dublin Teen Institute Retreat was this past week and I led a Eureka Game with two groups.

The topic, Dream Big. A big shout out of thanks goes to the awesome people that attended my workshop. We spent some time talking about what kinds of things can prevent you from reaching your dream. It was a pretty hefty list. Then...

Team Building Event with Columbus Downtown High School Students

I was blessed by the power of weak ties once again.

This past November I participated in the Governor's Road to Readiness program, which paired up high school students and IT professionals for a few hours of shadowing.

Several bright students from Columbus Downtown High School visited Nationwide Insurance, which is my day job. During the group luncheon the students swapped stories and I met the student advisor.

A few weeks later...

Team Building Event with STAND UP: Leadership Team • Delaware County

Through a connection with a close friend, I met the event planners for Stand Up.



Stand Up is a annual event hosted through a combined effort of several organizations and by the effort of countless volunteers. Eureka Games was asked to energize the students after lunch with a team building activity for thirty people.

The students made the games their own and had a lot of fun. We ended the session with a group debrief. The student advisor was so amazed how during the debrief discussion, the students offered up so many comments and insights that it was easy to label this session a success.

(see photos after the jump)

Faith Building Event with Mountview Church - Youth Lock-in

The middle and high school students group had an all night lock in. I saw an opportunity to practice and so I volunteered for ice breakers and other games at the wee hours in the morning.

Wrist ropes is a interesting activity, but does not work well as an energizer. As for a Group Sit, it is somewhat invigorating, but the high-touch requirement does not bode well with the middle and high school students desired image of coolness. Chalk it up to experience.

Most of the Eureka Games require some level of thinking and strategy. When it was time to break out the gear, most of the students had already spent their reserves energy on broom hockey and dodge ball. 

I wrangled a some friends into a round of a Group Juggle and Rope Polygon, but it fizzled out when I blindfolded someone for letting go of the rope. This was a experiential learning event for me, chalk it up to experience, again.

One thing I learned is that you have to match the energy and mind set of your group. I was not ready. I'm glad my audience was (and still is) small.

Rope Polygon is tough enough, but try it at 4:30am and it adds a whole new degree of "Argggh."

Shout out to all the folks who played Eureka Games with me. 

Faith Building Event with Mentor Church - 2012 Youth Rally

Each year the Mentor Church of Christ hosts a Youth Rally to encourage and challenge middle and high school students to live out their beliefs as the new school year moves into high gear.

This year over forty teenagers showed up for the weekend event. I have been part of the activities for a long time, and with my new found passion, I was super excited to break out the Eureka Games.