I went to OELC Secondary Athletics Leadership Course during the first week.

I want to thank you, thank everyone at OELC, it was the time of my life.

I go to a small school, and never realized how big the world is ; the people who were at OELC changed my perspective on the world and it really showed me how big of a world we live in.

I learned so much, and I want to say that OELC is a life changing experience. Every person who I've stayed in touch with has said the same thing. We all miss it, we've all loved it, we've become close friends. That, to me, is the most satisfying feeling in the world. It's comforting to know, that OELC is a place that feels like home.

I clearly have become a different person. Inside jokes, the games, the memories and the laughs with the people at OELC are times I will never forget.

I want to send out a thanks to Chuck, a counsellor who was at OELC during my week. He taught me so much, and really made me believe that I can do anything. He was honestly, a person who has impacted the person I've chosen to be.

I had the best experience of my life at OELC. I want to thank everyone at the camp.

Hi OELC!

I miss you!! You may remember me from Secondary Music this year. I just got my package in the mail yesterday! I meant to email a while ago, but I would never have enough time to get past a few sentences...and OELC definitely deserves more. I remember all the TFs and staff telling us to keep in touch...so I shall! I wanted to tell all you guys (Uch, the Bobs, Rebecca, and all the TFs and people who make OELC the best) that I am still putting my skills from camp into practice.

I was never an antisocial person, but sometime I found it hard to really gel with others who didn't share the same interests as I did. As it so happens, though, OELC was perfect timing. I was craving time with like-minded people, who didn't judge and who I didn't feel forced to talk to. To be honest, I was getting sick of the people at school where too concerned with popularity and trivial things. Then...I came to this place, not really knowing what it would be like. I'm an adventurous person and I love being outside and camping, yet I'd never actually been to a camp. So, when I stepped out into the parking lot, I was totally new to everything that would being going on for the next week. I met Tall Bob and Short Bob and immediately felt comfortable with their humour. I found my cabin, and immediately started talking to the girls there, who all seemed exceptionally nice and eager to meet me.

I'd never been to such a place. No one had an agenda to think about, except for two things; meet people, and have fun. And so we did. The people were amazing. The environment you have created at OELC is indescribable. There really is a non-conflict, accepting environment. NO KILLER STATEMENTS!! I love that rule with my life now. :) In fact, from the first day, I made a vow to sit at a different table every day. So I did. And I feel better for it. I met so many people and learned so many things from them. Through LDs and activities, I learned more about myself and how to deal with others. I learned that I have a few issues with listening, and that I needed to stop finishing people's sentences or interjecting my own ideas -- I honestly had no idea I was doing that! So, I practiced at meals at OELC...and guess what? One day, towards the end, someone turned to me and said, "Hey, you're a really good listener!"

The things I did and the skills I learned while at camp will always stay with me. I really took into deep consideration everything we did. I revelled in the conversations and discussions out section had after LDs. We were really good at openly discussing how we felt at all point of the activity, even if they were negative. And if they were negative, then we discussed why and what could make it better. Ohh, how I miss it. Even today, I still think of communication keys in the back of my mind as I talk to a teacher or friend. I have even found that the number of arguments with my parents has been drastically lower!!! Thanks for that, by the way! I had an interview with the City of Oshawa for life guarding and teaching swimming lessons and I mentioned OELC and I was using my communication skills (Go VODSS and SOLERSAC!). They seemed really impressed. In fact, I was really nervous about teaching lessons, but OELC gave me the confidence to lead classes and work with others. Thanks a billion.

Oh, and I keep seeing OELC people around and being like, "BUNNY BUNNY GAIMOO!!" Hahaha.

Anyway, just wanted you all to know that I got so much out of OELC. I sincerely hope that everyone else you meet does, too. It is seriously an amazing place you have created. People leave, seeing things in a totally different light. Good memories abundant, creative minds bursting with ideas. You are all so caring and supportive. Thank you for all you do!

Hope your summer was as enjoyable as mine!

I attend James Cardinal McGuigan and I have hopes and aspirations to attend University in the future once I graduate. My school guidance counselor saw me as a leader around the school and believed that this would be a great opportunity for someone like me to experience something different unlike I’ve ever done before, thus the reason why the administration agreed that I was best suited for the position. At first when I was chosen I was kind of skeptical because I didn’t know what to expect and I really didn’t have all the answers when chosen. So, that left me to just go into the camp with an open mind as I knew that this is not an opportunity that presents itself everyday.

I believe OELC is a sensational summer sports leadership program that has been put together by a great bunch of people that have taken the time out of their family life to spend a week with students all across Ontario from different schools to teach them the skills and qualities of a great leader, thus shaping them to be that leader of tomorrow. The camp gives students a great chance to get away for a week and meet other students from different areas in Ontario and hear the stories that they have to share. Also, it builds confidence in one’s self as it allows you to reach outside your comfort zone and be yourself. The Team Facilitators are great people that do everything to make you a better leader such as running team games for others, enhancing leadership skills, providing students with experience, bringing all different types of personalities together in order to work as one, and most importantly gives students an opportunity unlike they have ever experienced before to try something new and savor the moment, as it is indescribable in words you have to be there to believe it.

After attending this camp, I have learned a lot about myself and have acquired many great attributes that I can take back to my school and use in my daily life to make everyone around me a better person, as do I believe the other students have as well. Thank you for the chance to be around such a wholesome atmosphere where everyone can feel welcomed even among strangers. Where at the end of the week those strangers from distant places all can come together and form one BIG FAMILY.

Dear OELC Staff,

After experiencing OELC I need to thank you from the bottom of my heart for you have truly impacted my life for the better! You all made my experience at OELC such a memorable one. You guys are amazing people that are all incredible at your jobs.

I can’t wait to go back to school and literally change the face of my school. And not only my school for I believe that you have given me the skills needed to change the future! One day it will be our generation changing the world thanks to you guys. You are all truly inspiring people that I admire very much.

Secondary Athletics Student Leader

I am Ryan's father and I can't thank you enough for the opportunity and experience Ryan had. He is a different kid today, not that we didn't love the old Ryan but his drive to succeed seems more intense. He seems more focused and less aware of what others around him think. I tell you I was a blubbering mess when the kids sang the first song on that Saturday morning. I have never in my life seen so much cohesiveness amongst such a large group. I know Ryan misses it because he tells me often, but he also knows what lies ahead if he chooses go down the right path. In fact, Ryan has already been in contact with a couple of his new friends one of which lives right here. They are planning to get together this summer for a Jam session. I told him he can choose what kind of people he wants to be surrounded by and the influence he can have on those who have not had this experience, I know he already knows that. What else can I say but thank you. My nine year old boy's first word out of his mouth after watching his brother was how can I do that. I told him keep working hard.

I would like to express my deepest thanks to all the staff at OELC for what they accomplished with our kids last week.

My daughter had an exceptional and truly eye opening experience at so many levels thanks to your program.   When all peer pressures of pre-existing relationships and outside baggage are removed,  my daughter felt that all the kids (including  herself, of course) were able to dig deep and find their true selves.  My daughter told us on the drive home that she learned that there was nothing wrong with her!  You can imagine how caught off we were by this revelation.  As if that was not enough, these kids were inspired to openly share their vulnerabilities and journey with strangers who, within a short week, morphed into wonderful friendships.

My daughter has always been an emotionally intelligent kid, but you have added to her toolbox and enabled her to more effectively use her gifts of empathy and compassion  to help others.  She is determined to be there for the girls in her cabin (beyond her closest new friends) who are being bullied and to act as a source of support and positive reinforcement.  My daughter has climbed this mountain a few times already and has found that you can eventually, with a good support system, come out on the other side a stronger person.

Your staff were not just facilitators but, in a matter of a few short days, became mentors to these kids.  I wish all educators had this much passion for what they do.  I cannot adequately express the tremendous admiration, respect, and gratitude that I feel for what your team selflessly does for children.  I wish all kids could experience such a safe haven for learning, self-expression, personal growth, and empowerment.   In fact, I would go so far as to call the experience an awakening.

THANK YOU!

I would like to express my thanks to all the staff for providing a great program to all the grade 6 leadership students this past week. My daughter was in cabin 1. She has had opportunities in the past to attend different camps and expressed that this was by far her favourite camp. She felt the staff was sincerely committed to the children and to the program. She learned a tremendous amount while having a great time. Our daughter in fact felt that this was a turning point for her knowing now that she can go forth and make a difference in this world. Thank you again. We look forward to enrolling in another program in the future.

Just a brief note to all the staff of the Summer Elementary Fine Arts camp to thank you for giving our son an amazing week at camp. He attended the camp last year in June and was able to come back this year and will no doubt be attending again next summer. We can’t thank you enough for your leadership and guidance. What makes the experience so wonderful is that he can spend time with you and kids from all over the province who understand each other and can relate as one artist to another. It’s very emotional . You were able to boost his confidence in himself , his abilities and talents which will serve him well as he enters high school this Fall. You just `get’ him and we can’t thank you enough for that.

Have a wonderful year and see you next summer!

Just wanted to send a quick note of thanks to you and all of your remarkable staff, teachers and leaders.

We have arrived home with a very tired, very happy and inspired young man. Our son thoroughly enjoyed his second experience at OELC. I am sure it not only solidified and reinforced what he learned last year but also added much to his development. He is looking forward to entering his Arts Specialty program as he begins high school in a few weeks and will carry this experience with him. We are very grateful.

Thanks to you all for your continued belief in the kids and their development within the arts.

I truly hope you continue the Grade 6 Leadership program for gifted students. Grade 6 is a tender age where students are trying to figure out who they are and where they fit in. Our son returned home with increased confidence and told us we have to set new goals for our family's energy consumption. I think you gave a lot of timely and valuable teaching. The students also benefited from meeting other students like themselves.

I want to thank you and everyone at OELC for your generous help to allow my daughter to attend your fine arts camp last week. She came home inspired. Almost every conversation we have had this week has included some mention of an activity which took place at the camp, or what a person said or did. I think that this opportunity has changed the way that our daughter thinks about being a leader and will help her in her future career. Without your assistance she would not have been able to experience the fun, friendship and learning that she received at OELC.

Thank you so very much.

My daughter just returned from camp and I wanted to share with you what a positive experience it was for her! She loved the activities, her councillors and the other kids at the camp. We had only heard wonderful things about this camp and thus had quite high expectations going in. It surpassed anything we could have hoped for.

A heartfelt thank you both from my daughter and from our whole family.

I would just like to express another heart felt thank you to all the  staff at OELC this past summer for providing such a memorable  experience for my daughter. She had heard many amazing things about the camp from her older sister who attended last summer.  To quote her sister "you'll have the  time of your life".

When I came to pick her up I thought from a distance she looked maybe  a bit sunburned - not the case :)  She was bawling saying how much fun  she had and how she will miss everyone. She has made some incredible connections in such a short period of  time and has grown as a person!

Thank you again OELC!

A Final Night Banquet Speech from one of the Teacher Facilitators

It is an honour and a pleasure to be asked to speak on behalf of the Teacher Facilitators. I am so fortunate to have been a part of the Secondary Arts OELC experience. I am taking all of the positive energy of the last five days, and saving it for any tough days and challenges that may lie ahead.

I would like to first thank my fellow TF’s for their support, assistance, guidance, sense-of-humour, thoughtfulness and care. Each of you brings to OELC, your inspiring abilities as artists, your wealth of knowledge as teachers, and your own cumulative experiences as leaders, yourselves.

I would also like to say thank you to the 14 brilliant young women in my cabin. You were patient, helpful, kind, calm, wise, supportive, and always, like open, like, to new, like challenges. On our first night at camp, you told me about the people that you admire, and I want you to know, how much I admire all of you.

To the dancers who got-funky-at-their-house-parties, busted their ankles, celebrated summer days (no matter how tired), strained their knees, cartwheeled-and-spidered, pas-di-bah’s and piqued, and who cried when the story they were creating through dance, resonated in their hearts, thank you, you inspire me and those around you. Your openness and willingness are as valuable as your vast talents.

To the beautiful voices of Cedar, thank you for filling our sunny, cloudless skies and soft summer breezes with your warm melodies and brilliant harmonies. You moved us all. We all appreciate and admire the tremendous confidence it takes to sing your song, out loud, for others.

To the visual artists whose collages, watercolours, and pastels filled Alumni until it was bursting with colour, ideas, stories, shapes, emotion, creativity, and joy We marvel at your abilities, your vision, and your self-expression. It is, indeed, a wonder to behold. Thank you for sharing it with us.

To the dramatic artists, thespians, and amplifiers-of-emotion, who have improv-ed, moved sequentially, created tableaus and soundscapes, played off open-scripts, and developed choral readings You continually discover yourselves, explore different worlds, and hold up a mirror to our realities. Thank you for helping all of us to feel free to PLAY, to pretend, to be silly, and to see things we may have been hesitant to discover about ourselves, our friendships, and our world.

At the end of each of our days here, as we lay in our bunks, hearing breezes, crickets, and the breath of those around us; I hope that we all took a moment to reflect on our days, on the moments. The moments of dew in the morning grass, of laughter at breakfast (?), of sharing personal space, moments of developing as artists, of leading by example, of following when the time is right, moments of problem-solving, of facing challenges together, of FUNN times (in Birch, on the dock/grass/or lake), moments of Tuck sugar fixes, of speaking when it’s your turn, of formulating opinion, of becoming more adaptable, moments of coming-out-of-your-shell, of singing together with joy, of square dancing with wild abandon, of being supportive and enthusiastic, moments we will never forget.

On Friday morning, you arrived here as Leaders; leaders in your classrooms, your schools, and your extracurriculars. You also arrived here as ever-evolving artists. Each of you is a very, remarkable and special individual. That’s why you’re here. And I mean that, sincerely. And I think that’s why, the other leaders around you, feel as honoured and privileged as I do, to have met you, to have lived with you, to have learned from you, and to feel, maybe for the first time in a long time, like they belong. You are appreciated, recognized, and loved.

I know I speak on behalf of every person in this room, when I say, if this group of incredible young people are our future leaders, then I eagerly await the bright tomorrows ahead of us. You are, indeed, the difference.

The difference between
      a smile and a whole-hearted laugh,
      a hesitant hum and a joyful chorus,
the difference between
      a single step and a celebratory dance,
      a blank piece of paper and a work of art,
      an unspoken emotion and an outpouring of feeling,
the difference between
      a teenager and an inspiring, young adult,
      between an attempt and a success.

Believe in this difference.

Believe and accept that you, one person, can be the difference.

(I only wish I knew people as cool as you when I was in high school!)

So...never hold back, because you have so much to give. I truly believe that you can do anything. Leaders, congratulations on your many successes, here at OELC.

YOU ARE THE DIFFERENCE!

EVERYTHING!!! The teachers, the program, the facility, the students, the administration!! You will never find a program like the one at OELC!!! I was a leader and have been a Teacher Facilitator for the last 5 years and I can honestly say that there may be other leadership program s out there but none that have the impact that OELC does!!!

- Melissa Proctor, Fallingbrook Middle School, Mississauga

OELC is a phenomenal camp. It provides opportunities to learn leadership while participating in subjects that the leaders are interested in. It engages the leaders from the moment they step onto the grounds and keeps them wanting to stay because the experience gives them a feeling of belonging unlike anything they have ever experienced before.

- Lynette Charters, Fossil Hill PS, Woodbridge

OELC is the only place that I have ever been in my life that fosters acceptance of self and others. The unique atmosphere, the incredible staff, and the duration of stay allow each leader to accept who they are, what they have to offer, and teaches them how to use it in the most meaningful way. Whereas other camps focus on improving a specific skill, OELC focuses on improving the person. Just like Ghandi said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world". OELC makes you feel like you can.

- Katherine Clouthier, Bridlewood Elementary School, Kanata

OELC looks at the leader as a whole person with formal and informal challenges and learning environments. The structure of OELC intrinsically promotes the development of the whole leader and they are able to take back what they have learned to take on leadership roles in their schools. This is attributed to the fact that the leaders are immersed in team work, collaboration and networking with other amazing students from across the province.

- Steven Badgley, North Hastings, Bancroft

There isn't a single leader who I have met that has not said that OELC was a life-changing experience.  I came to the same realization myself, although from a Teacher Facilitator perspective.  Going through all the preliminary team-building, watching the growth through the various Leadership Development sessions, and in general noticing the change from the first day to the last made me realize that this was a very special week in a very special place.  As part of our final session, I would tell the leaders in our group to "live leadership".  I wanted them to use the skills they had learned about themselves and others to be better people and to "walk the talk"!  I wanted them to think about leadership in their everyday lives - how they interact with people, solve problems, help others and to be the best they can be as individuals.  I really believe that the skills they learn, the experiences they have, and the people they meet at OELC go far beyond the simple definition of "leadership".  They are really learning a way of life.

- Bob Stalder, Galt Collegiate, Cambridge