Two Days in the Redwoods: Building Trust and a Sense Belonging

Sometimes, the best way to build a stronger team is to step away from the everyday.

Earlier this month, nearly 30 City Year Bay Area AmeriCorps Members headed to Happy Valley Conference Center in the Santa Cruz Mountains for two days of adventure, reflection, and connection. Surrounded by redwoods, our Corps had the opportunity to get to know one another beyond their school sites and build trust through shared challenges. Through these challenges, we watched the teams come together and strengthen their shared sense of belonging that will carry them through the year ahead.

Facing Fears—and Reaching New Heights

Day one kicked off with activities led by APEX Adventures, including a series of individual and partnered climbing challenges. For many Corps Members, the experience meant stepping outside of their comfort zones and confronting fears head-on.

But no one had to do it alone.

As Corps Members climbed, their peers worked together from the ground to secure their ropes and keep them safe. The challenges required participants to trust themselves, communicate clearly, and place their confidence in one another.

There were moments of hesitation, encouragement, and celebration—but perhaps the biggest lesson was that sometimes we are capable of more than we think, especially when we have a community behind us.

After a full day of adventure, everyone gathered around the campfire for s’mores, stories, and a little City Year history. Corps Members reenacted historical stories from City Year’s past, bringing our organization’s legacy to life while creating a few new memories of their own.

Sharing a “Piece of Me”

Day two began with a special moment of reflection led by City Year Bay Area Executive Director Luke Hostetter.

Luke shared his own “Piece of Me”—a City Year ritual that invites someone to bring in an object that holds a personal story and share that story with the group.

It’s a simple practice, but a meaningful one. By sharing something personal, we have the opportunity to see one another more fully and recognize that each person brings a rich, complex life to the work we do together.

Setting Each Other Up for Success

The day continued with a few lighter moments—including handshake memorization exercises that got everyone moving, laughing, and warming up for the challenges ahead.

Then came two group exercises built around an important lesson: What happens when we use what we’ve learned to help the people coming after us succeed?

The first group took on their own challenge without knowing what to expect. Exercise one: moving ping pong balls from one location to another using a specific holder and set of rules. Exercise two: standing outside a roped off circle as a group and stepping into the circle, one at a time, to tap on numbered stones, in order, without overlapping your team mates. Then, each group had the opportunity to share what they had learned with the next group. Core to this exercise was revealing strategies and mistakes that your own group had made in the effort to ensure the other team did even better than you did.

The result? In both exercises, the second group outperformed the first.

We were so proud to watch the way both teams communicated internally and with their opposing group. We saw leadership skills emerge (both loud ones and quiet ones) that helped the groups succeed along the way. Another thing we noticed about this unique group of Corps members, is just how fun, funny and creative they all are. Every single one of them brings their unique perspective to the table, and it was really amazing to watch them shine!

Ready for the Year Ahead

After two days in the redwoods, we hope our AmeriCorps members returned home feeling a deeper sense of trust and connection with each other as they get ready to step into the school year.

A huge thank you to APEX Adventures for guiding our Corps through an incredible series of challenges and experiences, and to the team at Happy Valley Conference Center for keeping us well fed and cared for throughout our stay.