Highlights:
Number of Communities Served: 18
Number of Tribal affiliations represented amongst participants: 30
Tribes represented: Acoma Pueblo, Jemez Pueblo, Laguna Pueblo, Zuni Pueblo, Zia Pueblo, Santo Domingo Pueblo, San Felipe Pueblo, Santa Ana Pueblo, Isleta Pueblo, Cochiti Pueblo, Tesuque Pueblo, Taos Pueblo, Tewa, Hopi, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Oglala Lakota, Choctaw Nation of OK, Haudenosaunee, Dakota, Crow, Northern Cheyenne, San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, San Carlos Apache, White Mountain Apache, Ponca Tribe, Tohono O’odham, Caddo Tribe, Hidatsa Arikira, Yurok, Diné
Total number of youth served: 741
Average attendance at each camp: 40 participants
Number of Miles Driven by Wings Summer Staff: 19,354 (In 8 weeks!)
Participant/Parent Feedback:
Wings sent a post-summer survey to parents of Running & Fitness Camp participants to have their child(ren) fill out. Although it is clear that some people that took the survey were indeed parents, here are some of our takeaways from the 22 (anonymous) respondents:
-100% of respondents felt the camp helped them (or their child(ren)) improve their physical health and fitness levels. One parent added: “Yes, it made her step out of her comfort zone and try cross country“
-100% of respondents felt Wings camp helped them (or their child(ren)) improve their emotional and mental health. At least one participating parent felt the positivity, as well, stating: “Yes, Wings is always motivating to me and I love being out there with the kids showing them I’m not too old ha!“
-100% of respondents felt the camp helped them (or their child(ren)) feel more empowered in their lives. One parent added: “I feel my child is able to socialize more.”
-On a scale of 1 to 5 from “very bad” to “very good”, all but one respondent rated the quality of their camp facilitation as “5, very good”. The single outlier gave a score of “4”.
-When asked if they would attend another Wings camp in the future, on a scale of 1 to 5 from “not likely” to “very likely”, all but one respondent replied “5, very likely”. Again the single outlier gave a score of “4”.
-When given an open-ended question about ways to improve camps, here were a few responses that will keep us working toward improvement:
“Long[er] camp duration.”
“More meal options.”
“[Redacted] was one of the first camps so some of these things probably improved throughout summer. Helping facilitators understand how to differentiate runs for age groups/physical abilities. The first day we all went on the same run and took some of the younger kids a lot longer to finish. Second day they had the younger kids run about half of what we did the first day. Working on public speaking skills. Some facilitators were really quiet and hard to hear. A few facilitators did not know the rules of the games they were presenting. Returning facilitators had to step in almost every time and take over.”
Leadership Academy
At the beginning of this summer, Wings coordinated a four-day training to prepare 28 high school and college-aged Native runners to lead “Running & Fitness Camps” through June and July. Of this formidable crew, 17 were “first-timers”. Fortunately, 11 “veterans” (in cooperation with Wings’ full-time staff) were fully present to help teach them the ropes while refreshing their own knowledge of best-practices.
Hosted in the beautiful Jemez Mountains northwest of Albuquerque, the training also provided an opportunity for facilitators-in-training to unplug and hear from Native running legend Steven Gachupin. Steve is a six-time winner of the Pike’s Peak Marathon and the undisputed “King of the Mountain”. He also competed in the 1968 Olympic Marathon trials alongside Billy Mills (Oglala Lakota). He went on to coach cross country and track at his local Jemez Valley High School for more than 30 years! His reflections on a life of running and service to youth provided great motivation for our staff to embrace the miles ahead.
Summer facilitators also received training from Navajo Nation Department of Health (NNDOH) staff on mental health/resiliency and commercial tobacco cessation. We are very thankful to NNDOH’s Community Health Representative (CHR) program, as well as their Division of Behavior and Mental Health Services (DBHS) for teaming up to help fund two-day camps in 8 Navajo communities! Additionally, CHR and DBHS staff travelled to camps to deliver presentations on similar topics to camp participants. Without this partnership, Wings would have had little presence on the Navajo Nation this summer and we are grateful for their support!
Let the Games Begin!
The last day of Leadership Academy required newly-minted facilitators to work as a team to coordinate camp for nearly 65 participants at the Walatowa Youth Center. Thereafter, facilitators split into three teams of 7-9 members: “Pueblo Team”, “Shiprock Team” and “Chinle Team”. For the rest of the summer these teams worked together and independently, depending on the anticipated size of the group of students at our host communities. Some camps required two teams of facilitators, while others only required one to meet our goal of 10 campers to every 1 facilitator ratio.
Camp Locations/Partners
Below is a list of all camp locations, dates, participation numbers and partners that made the camp possible. Thank you to our amazing health professionals in Indian Country for advocating for our youth! We are also very lucky to have many former Wings participants now in leadership positions within school districts that we partnered with that were happy to open athletic facilities to our staff free of charge. In total, our facilitators worked together to serve 741 youth with free programming this summer. With camps from Taos Pueblo to Tuba City, Wings vehicles drove nearly 20,000 miles in less than 8 weeks to get the job done.
| Camp Date | Camp Location | # of Participants | Partners |
| 6/10-6/11 | Walatowa Youth Center, Jemez Pueblo, NM | 64 | Walatowa Youth Center Staff & Jemez Div. of Public Health |
| 6/12 | Mountain View Middle School, Rio Rancho, NM | 46 | Rio Rancho Public Schools’ Native American Summer Academy |
| 6/12 | Isleta Pueblo Recreation Center, Isleta Pueblo, NM | 63 | Isleta Pueblo Summer Recreation Program and Isleta Pueblo Division of Behavioral Health Summer Program |
| 6/13-6/14 | Alto Park, Santa Fe, NM | 31 | Santa Fe Public Schools’ Native American Student Services Summer Program. Additional funding provided by the Santa Fe Striders. |
| 6/17-6/18 | Shiprock High School, Shiprock, NM | 41 | Shiprock High School Athletic Dept. with funding provided by NNDOH, Division of Behavioral & Mental Health Services |
| 6/19-6/20 | Necomb High School, Newcomb, NM | 23 | Newcomb High School Athletic Dept. with funding provided by NNDOH, Division of Behavioral & Mental Health Services |
| 6/20-6/21 | Lynnwood Park, Albuquerque, NM | 18 | City of Albuquerque Parks & Rec with funding provided by Native American Community Academy Out of School Time (OST) Program |
| 6/24-6/25 | Ojo Encino Day School, Ojo Encino, NM | 64 | Funding/facilities provided by Department of Indian Education (Ojo Encino Day School) |
| 6/24-6/25 | Rehoboth Christian School, Rehoboth, NM | 46 | Rehoboth High School Athletic Dept. with funding provided by NNDOH, Division of Behavioral & Mental Health Services |
| 6/26-6/27 | Chinle High School, Chinle, AZ | 37 | Chinle High School Athletic Dept. with funding provided by NNDOH, Division of Behavioral & Mental Health Services |
| 7/8-7/9 | Window Rock High School, Ft. Defiance, AZ | 54 | Window Rock High School Athletic Dept. with funding provided by NNDOH, Community Health Representative Program |
| 7/8-7/9 | Taos Wellness Center, Taos Pueblo, NM | 45 | Taos Pueblo Diabetes Program |
| 7/10-7/11 | Pine Hill School, Pine Hill, NM | 18 | Pine Hill School Board |
| 7/15-7/16 | Monument Valley High School, Kayenta, AZ | 35 | Monument Valley High School Athletic Dept. with funding provided by NNDOH, Community Health Representative Program |
| 7/17-7/18 | San Felipe Pueblo, NM | 42 | San Felipe Pueblo Summer Youth Program, San Felipe Fitness Center Staff |
| 7/22-7/23 | Crownpoint Office of Dine Youth, Crownpoint, NM | 32 | Crownpoint Office of Diné Youth with funding provided by NNDOH, Community Health Representative Program |
| 7/22-7/23 | Zuni High School, Zuni Pueblo, NM | 19 | Zuni High School Athletic Department |
| 7/29-7/30 | Tuba City Boarding School, Tuba City, AZ | 63 | Tuba City Regional Health Corporation’s Health Promotions Program with funding provided by NNDOH, Community Health Representative Program |
