Recently a group of elementary school students from Richmond headed to Berkeley Ironworks as part of a summer school program that supports at-risk and under-served youth. The kids had a great time climbing at the gym. Katherine Bruce, the program coordinator spoke to the Touchstone Blog about the trip.
We were given an opportunity to bring a group of our students to Ironworks Berkeley and spend a few hours climbing. The students were greeted positively and warmly, helped with harnesses and we had an excellent staff member with calm energy helping us belay and orienting us to the gym. The staff member, Kat, was very warm and supportive of the students trying as well as reassuring them that they would be taken care of when they climbed.
The students were given freedom to explore and boulder as well as try climbing on rope. It was not only the first time for all of the kids to climb, it was some students’ first time outside of Richmond. The environment, patrons of the gym as well as all the staff were highly accommodating and supported us feeling safe and capable of trying new things, taking on personal challenges and allowed the students to have an incredible experience outside of their typical daily lives.
Many of our students felt inspired by what they were able to accomplish and mentioned wanting to come back again. We thank Ironworks and the staff for the wonderful opportunity to give us a place to explore and reach new heights! Many of our students made it all the way to the top! Thank you again!
