By Michael Motes

Three weeks in the wilderness taught one young person from the Archdiocese of Atlanta to better understand self, family and friends; broadened interest in the Scripture; aroused appreciation of nature and all surroundings, and, in general “to get things straight in my head.”

Where do we send our youth to achieve such impressive accomplishments?

The three Atlanta teen-agers were sent to Colorado to participate in the Christian Outdoor Leadership School (COLS) sponsored by the Metro Area Youth Service of the Archdiocese of Denver.

The idea for participation from Atlanta came about last February when Dr. Walt Kahnle, Youth Consultant for the Archdiocesan Department of Religious Education, attended a meeting of religious education coordinators held here.

Dr. Kahnle was asked to find three local youth to participate in the COLS program. Contacting local religious education directors for their recommendations, Ann Hudson of Ss. Peter and Paul parish, John Graybill of Holy Cross, and Susan Cramer of Holy Family were selected for the three-week adventure.

Ann is active in “The BASIC Thing” at her parish, an acronym for Brothers and Sisters in Christ. John’s youth group at Holy Cross is CLYDE – Christian Living Youth Doing Everything. Susan’s program at Holy Family is FRIENDS, which stands for Finding Religion In Every New Day’s Situation.

The intensive three-week program is designed to challenge high school youth who are currently finishing 10^th and 11^th grades to experience “the internationalization of Catholic Christian values.” The program covers such areas as leadership spirituality, leadership dynamics and mountaineering.

Participants were on a rotation system, spending one week in three different camps. The first week was at Camp St. Joseph, located in the Mosquito Range. Here they lived in three cabins above timberline, at 12,600 feet, overlooking Kite Lake. The second week was at Camp Elsie, located on a mining claim near Texas Creek, Colorado. The elevation her is 7,000 feet. The final week was spent in a mobile camp located high in the Sangre de Cristo Range near Westcliff.

COLS has been called the “most unusual religious education school in the United States: and described as a cross between a “boot camp, a spiritual retreat and a backpacking expedition.”

The list of specific areas of concentration is most impressive. To name but a few areas, the youth explored “The Person of Christ,” The Church, Spiritual Growth, The Mass, Reconciliation, Discipleship, Community Profile, the Nature of Leadership, Youth Ministry, Community Building Skills, “One to One Counseling,” Motivational Techniques, Problem Analysis and Solving and Interpersonal Communications during the first two weeks of the program.

The final week was spent on such areas as mountaineering skills, technical rock climbing, backpacking, cooking, ecology, wilderness engineering and physical conditioning.

Concerning the last category, those in the program had been given a good outline of physical conditioning before leaving for Colorado. All participants were asked to prepare for the experience by running one mile each day, doing 25 push-ups on their fingertips, 10 chin-ups, 25 sit-ups, take plenty of cold showers and walk everywhere possible. Even with such strenuous advance preparation, the three local youth lost a combined total of 50 pounds during the three weeks!

Sister Kate Regan of the Office of Religious Education drove Ann, John and Susan to Colorado and after their three days on the road, they began the COLS program with great enthusiasm.

Susan’s comments are typical of the three.

“It was really great,” she said. “We got to know ourselves by living and working as a community. I acquired a whole new outlook on life and how to look at my parents and friends differently.

“I learned to appreciate nature and all that is around us – all the things that you take for granted everyday. While we were there, we had a quiet hour each day. This was a chance to read the Bible and to get everything straight in your head. We were given the chance to get away from things and be by ourselves. I like that a lot.”

Since returning to her home in Roswell, Susan has continued to observe a private “quiet hour” by either reading scripture or thinking about the events of the day.

“I like to go into the woods behind our house and think about what has happened during the day, what went wrong and so forth. It really helps me to know myself a lot better.”

One of the adventures Susan discussed was the night of the flood.

“It was raining, so we were sleeping in our huts instead of outdoors. About 12:30, a counselor came in and told us to roll up our sleeping bags because the creek was rising. We then climbed up the side of a mountain because of the danger of a flood. Everybody was really scared! We held on to each other and stayed above the flood waters for two hours. Finally we were able to climb down and return to our hut. We then had hot chocolate and everybody felt a lot better!”

The staff director of COLS was Father Kenneth Leone, director of Catholic Youth Services for the Archdiocese of Denver. Susan commented that he used a variety of Liturgies during the Celebration of the Eucharist each evening. Once the participants read poems about animals and selected the animal with which they could best associate. Susan was impressed by “The Prayer of the Bee” and identified with a bee.

“The bee seems to thank God for everything around him and seems to really appreciate and love God. That is why I chose him.”

The program concluded with a three-day “solo” experience. Each student was assigned an acre of land along a creek and spent the time with only a Bible, sleeping bag and poncho.

After completing the three weeks, the participants were awarded a diploma from COLS signed by Archbishop James V. Casey of Denver.

With the excitement of the weeks in the mountains behind them, the three travellers had a further adventure when they returned to Atlanta. A welcoming committee from Holy Cross, members of their families and numerous friends gave the three a “rousing reception” as they deplaned at Hartsfield International Airport.

Additional comments on the COLS program may be heard on “Reflections” on WFOM (8:30 a.m.) and Rock 96 (9 a.m.) radio stations beginning Sunday, September 12. Dr Kahnle is host of the program, which is sponsored by Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasting and will have Ann, John and Susan as his guests.