“Tamagawa Adventure Program (TAP)” is a program to build self-confidence and build teamwork skills in an ‘adventure’ setting.
Approximately 150 students from the 10th and 12th grades participated in this TAP session. It was the second of the year. The students themselves started to look for how they want to hold their classes in March.
Blessed with excellent weather, the students gathered in the atrium and waited for the start of class with an excited look.
Each class moved to the facility inside the school and did a warm up of stretching and pushing each other sumo style. Then, they made teams of 10 people and began the activities.
They started with a simple game at first. While holding hands in a circle, they tried pass a hula hoop around the circle. They had to be creative to do the task and they started to feel the value of teamwork.
Next, they shared what thought about their class and wrote down their thoughts.
“the girls are strong, aren’t they!?” “I am nervous when I talk to people.” In an open-minded atmosphere, students talked about the situation of the class, what they can do better by March, what individuals can do to help, what they had been thinking in their everyday life, and what they want to do from now.
When they moved the place to the element (facility) assigned to each team, the main challenge began. After the instructions and explanation of the rules by the facilitators who are watching the activities of the day, students began the activity. However, it was more difficult than they thought. Everyone’s enthusiasm and encouragement helped but were in vain as they could not quite succeed at the task.
Students were urged to “review” their activities by the facilitator and they discussed the events with each other. They shared what was difficult when they did the activity and what strategy they used to overcome the difficulties.
Everyone faced the challenge seriously and the rate of success rose as each new challenge presented itself. The sense of solidarity in the team also increased, and individuals found natural roles helped each other,
When they succeeded at their challenge, they shared a great sense of accomplishment celebrating after it was over.
“This class has this kind of power!” “By using this motivation between now and March, we can make our class better.” The facial expressions of the students were all confident after answering the facilitator “I absolutely feel I can do it!’, they cheered.
After looking back on the experiences of this day, the class decided to pose for a picture and that concluded the day.
“I want to take this class for all three years”, some students shouted. They celebrated a classmate’s birthday, and everyone had a smile on their face.
“I am glad that this time the boys helped the girls and had an exchange with each other, since there was not much involvement last time.”
The students realized that “strengthening the bond of the classes” through communication and the process of solving problems together was possible. They learned about various things such as cooperation, trust, leadership, and support from the program.