By JENNA RHUDE
Moapa Valley Progress
What do you get when you fill a Clark County Parks and Rec van full of local teenagers and take them to Las Vegas? An adventure!
On Tuesday, July 3, local Parks and Rec staffer Elmer Lopez did just that. He, along with one other employee took a vanload of Moapa Valley teens to the Whitney Recreation Center in Las Vegas. There they found a 30 foot climbing wall. Out of the 7 teens, 5 of them were able to ring the bell at the top of the wall.
Two of the boys, Aaron Anderson and Justin Proffit, accepted a special challenge. They “raced” to the top of the wall to see who had the better time. Aaron was reportedly the winner.
Elmer said that members of the local Leader of the Future (LTF) program had made up the majority of the group. When asked what an LTF was, it was explained that they are youth leaders. These youth are asked to help during community events. Lopez said they played a huge part on July 4th with the community events. LTF’s are required to fill out an application and go through an interview process, just like obtaining a job. Lopez added that the LTF’s do a lot of volunteering at different events.
But they also get to have a lot of fun. They are taken on several trips within Clark County, such as, swimming, overnight camps and the event at the Whitney Recreation Center, Lopez said.
Young Ellie Robison, an LTF went on the rock climbing trip. When asked if she had fun and would ever go again, she responded, “Oh ya, it was really fun.” She said that Lopez had “challenged” her to continue her climb to the top of the wall after she wanted down half way up. She was able to dig deep and make it to the top to ring the bell.
Lopez said that his programs are run as a “challenge by choice.” This means that the youth are given a challenge and also given a choice. No one is forced to do anything that they feel is outside their “comfort zone”.
During the activity the participants were taught about the equipment and method used to keep safe when climbing.
The teens were also given several choices for lunch. In N Out Burger was the unanimous winner. The kids all enjoyed this free event sponsored by Parks and Rec. The only thing required was a signed waiver and money for lunch.
Lopez has several more free field trips in the works for the group. One of those places is the Pinball Hall of Fame. He hopes to fill the need for teens to have wholesome activities during school breaks, such as Thanksgiving week and Spring Break as well.
