On a beautiful and sunny June 28, 2014, a record size group of 51 students, recent high school grads, teachers, ICO volunteers and the Community TeamWorks volunteers from Goldman Sachs joined together for a great day of rafting, swimming and epic water fights on the Delaware Water Gap! It was a great way to cap the school year, as a few days earlier a number of the students celebrated their high school graduation! We were happy to help them celebrate.

Students and graduates were present from ELLIS High School as well as members of CatRock from West Bronx Academy for the Future, Kappa International High School and Bronx High School for Law and Community Service. In addition, 8 volunteers from Goldman Sach’s Community TeamWorks program enthusiastically joined for the day! On the bus, ICO assistant leaders Pedro Jerez and Justin Zucker helped everyone on the bus get to know someone new through an ice breaking game so we started the day with new friends.

Once we arrived at Smithfield Beach, PA, just north of Delaware Water Gap, we met with Edge of the Woods Outfitters who geared us up with rafts, paddles and PFDs (“life jackets!” for the kids). To make the groups more manageable in size, we did break into two groups: ELLIS High led by intrepid leader Ray Greenwell, and CatRock going with the Goldman Sachs volunteers and led by Craig Meisner.  While the CatRock group practiced teamwork by transporting their rafts, ELLIS High warmed up with some giggles while playing some ice breaking games in the grass by the river.

Then it was time for the river! With the sun high in the sky and the weather just perfectly hot enough to make the cool river very tempting, we loaded up in our boats and set adrift.  Time to lather with sunscreen!  For many of the kids, this was their first time on a water craft; for others, it helped them feel right at home!  We kept the boats close to each other long enough to enjoy our lunch, then packed everything away safely in waterproof bags for the real fun to begin! Ray provided each raft with a large bucket, and the kids lost no time in starting an epic water battle between boats, ending with almost all the participants jumping in the river to cool off and paddle about. It was especially fun seeing students who had never before stepped foot in a river submerge themselves for the first time!

According to one of our CatRock Youth Leaders, Vimary Toribio from Kappa International High School, " We also had an incredible rafting trip. It was really a challenge to carry the raft to the river, but we figured out that we could switch sides if one of us got tired. Again ,the keyword was teamwork. Also we got to actually interact with new people and learn about them and their lives while sharing joked and laughing together, on a really beautiful river. We even saw a bald eagle! It was really fun to get closer to people I already knew and meet amazing new people."

Thanks to some recent rains, the river was incredibly high, and the water moved at a pretty good pace, so the paddling was not incredibly strenuous, but different bends and forks in the river did give the students the opportunity to practice their steering, teamwork and communication. Many boats practiced paddling in sync to the count of six different languages, the native tongues of the students on board! After 7 miles of paddling, drifting, water fights, swimming, necklaces made from drifting weeds, the occasional paddle robbery, and many songs about rivers, we reached our destination at the Kittatinny Point Visitor’s Center in New Jersey. Everyone worked together to dump the water from the boats, pick up all the trash from the rafts and sort between trash and recycling, then carry the rafts up the hill to the waiting truck.

Standing by the bus, NYC ICO experienced one of its largest closing circles ever, as every one of the 51 participants spoke of their experiences of the day. Everyone had big smiles on their faces recounting witnessing great teamwork, spotting Eagles, enjoying the beautiful weather, and making new friends. And a special thanks to the Goldman Sachs Community TeamWorks crew who were such an enthusiastic, engaged and valuable addition to the day! We’re happy to see any one of you on a future NYC ICO trip!