Goldberg, Doran

Professor Encinias
CAS 115
October 21, 2023

Police Program on the Ropes

Today at the ropes course we were working with at-risk youth and the Simi Valley Police.
The point of the whole day was to show highschool students that in dangerous situations, they
can run to the police and not run away from them. It was very wholesome to see how they all
interacted with each other. The two activities I was running were the rock wall and the team
building wall.
The rock wall is a fifty foot standard top rope outdoor setup. To put a twist on it that
would increase the concepts of camaraderie and teamwork, we also had a tether between a police
officer and a kid so that they would have to climb together at the same pace and help each other
along the way. It ran very smoothly from a logistics point of view and everyone seemed to have a
good time, kids and officers alike.
The team building wall is a much shorter wall, but it's completely flat. The way it works
is that a few staff members stand atop the wall and the rest of the group stands below. Everyone
has to get over the wall and work as a team to do so. You basically have to lift someone up or let
them stand on your shoulders and then the people on top help pull them up. It’s probably one of
the greatest team bonding exercises I have ever seen and it is always interesting to see the
different dynamics of different groups who come through and do the different ropes course
activities.