The Youth Leadership Camp has been a staple in developing the Deaf youth of America since 1973. It is a month long session in which campers discover their identity as well as their strengths and weaknesses as individuals. The camp has been in several locations, including Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Oregon, South Dakota, and finally, in Florida. The longest tenure at one campground was in Stayton, Oregon; a campground where both Branic and I attended YLC ourselves as campers in ‘96 and ‘01. Jed’s own brother Joel had gone to YLC himself, and almost anyone in the Deaf community could name someone who has gone to the camp.

It was a good feeling for Branic and I to return to the camp that gave us a lot during our high school years. We were invited to stay as guests for two nights at the camp and to give a workshop in the morning and a fireside chat in the night. Branic and I stayed in the cabins while Jed still preferred his queen size bed in the back of The Mary Augusta which was parked on YLC grounds. Of course, we all had plenty to talk about to the 54 campers after 85 days on the road. So, first thing in the morning at 8:45, I gave a workshop that discussed the different concerns that we have seen expressed by different Deaf people that we have met this summer. Among these include declining involvement in Deaf clubs, Deaf school closures, technology, interpreting services, lack of money, and others. After sharing with them several anecdotes from our trip, I split them up into their four groups and asked them to compete for a government grant. They had to pick one problem they felt needed the most attention and focus on how they could solve that problem with the grant money. They would then have a debate and two YLC staff members would pick the winning grant.

I wasn’t entirely sure what I expected of the debates, and hoped that the campers would find my workshop interesting and build on that. What I saw however, were spirited debates within each group as everybody had something to say or an experience to share. After much discussion, each group finally picked their primary concerns; interpreting, Deaf education, technology, and awareness. They then developed arguments to support their choice and we ended up having a very spirited debate filled with questions and rebuttals that could have continued all day. There is without a doubt a sense of urgency among the teenage campers who have seen and heard enough throughout their lives. They have plenty of ideas and want to share them.

After a very fun two hours, the workshop was over before we knew it and the campers went off on their way to Camp Bowl, a daily competition between the four groups in answering different questions about anything from Deaf history to geography to math. Everything at the camp was run the exact same way as when Branic and I went to camp, and make no mistake I could swear I was back in Stayton in 2001 even though we were surrounded in a lush orange grove instead of a dense forest. We watched the campers go through the same daily workshops and classes which includes ASL/Deaf Studies, Outdoor Living Skills, and Discovery. A fourth group spends the afternoon making the daily newsletter, The Daily Drum, or working on the YLC Yearbook. It’s a great way for them to learn about the print media and reporting, and it was the exact same publication that Branic and I both wrote for when we were campers ourselves.

At night, when it was finally dark, we parked our RV at their fireplace and using our awning as a large projector screen, we showed a slideshow of pictures of our tour and video of our experience skydiving. Everyone loved the video and we were basically acting as ambassadors for the Skydiving Institute answering everyone’s questions about the sport. We also ended up answering questions one by one from a long line that formed with more than 10 campers about many different experiences we have encountered on the trip. The campers were truly interested in what we were doing and they were 100% behind us and willing to carry the message we wanted heard.

The future is in good hands.