This summer, over 60 children filled Tierra Vida’s youth summer program to capacity. They ranged from little ones at the kindergarten level, stepping into a classroom for the very first time, all the way up to sixth graders. This year, the Tierra Vida team wanted the kids to come away having learned something real. So the summer was organized around a simple, open-ended theme: How Things Work.
Children explored natural curiosities of creation: how their own bodies work and how plants grow. They also looked backward, asking how things worked in the past. That question took them out of the classroom and into local history, with visits to the Fort Walla Walla Museum and Franklin County Historical Society here in our region.
The field trips turned out to be some of the richest moments of the summer. Children stood in front of old photographs and exhibits and began to recognize their own community in them. They noticed landmarks that have lasted decades, and how much of our community had changed. They were comparing past and present, doing the work of historians, often without realizing they were learning at all. Opening those doors helped children see that the place they live has a story, and that they are part of it.
It Takes a Community
None of this happened alone. Several local partners brought their gifts into the classroom this summer.
The Read for 20 Minutes Program visited to read aloud with the children every morning and sent each child home with books of their own. They included extra books for brothers and sisters, so curiosity for reading could be shared through whole households. The Mid-Columbia Libraries Pasco branch was an incredible partner dedicating time every other week to reading to the kids and leading activities connected to the summer's theme. The local Girl Scouts troop also joined in with hands-on activities of their own.
Each partner helped children see how much their own community has to offer, and how many people in it are glad to invest in them.
Teenagers Stepping into Leadership
Alongside the children, a group of high school volunteers (9th – 12th grade) served as Summer Program Facilitators. These young leaders trained and worked through Servant Leadership 101 and this summer gave them a place to practice what they had learned.
Their help made the whole program run from helping the younger kids stay focused, to setting up outdoor play, and got kids moving so they could burn off energy and be ready to focus afterward. When a teammate needed help or a day off, they stepped in for one another. Over the summer, they became a real team, learning to trust each other and the teachers and staff they served alongside.
The deeper change was in how they saw themselves. The teens began to realize how closely the younger children were watching them, and that the little ones looked up to them as leaders. Young people who might naturally think first about their own needs started noticing the needs of the children in front of them and listening to what they needed.
That growth showed up in small moments. Early on, when a child was upset or not keeping their hands to themselves, a natural first instinct may be to simply stop it: don't do that. Their approach was different. They began asking questions instead: Is that what we're supposed to be doing? Rather than just correcting behavior, they were helping children think for themselves. It is harder than stepping in, and it takes patience. It is also the heart of servant leadership, where the measure of a leader is whether the people they serve grow (and become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, and more likely to become servants themselves).
The Fruit of This Work
Children had a safe place to be every day. Parents described their kids were reading better and growing in math. That matters even more in summer, when many children lose ground they gained during the school year. Instead of starting the fall behind, these kids are returning to school with momentum.
Children also discovered the history of the place they call home and met neighbors and organizations who care about them. Teenagers discovered that they are leaders, and that leading means paying attention and listening.
The Broetje Family Trust’s legacy has always been rooted in a call to "go and bear fruit, fruit that will last" (John 15:16). Tierra Vida’s summer program reflects that call through a commitment to the learning and leadership of our community’s youth.
Our Tierra Vida team is already dreaming about next summer. They hope to involve even more local partners and community members while keeping the program as joyful as ever for the kids. If your organization would like to be part of that story, we would love to hear from you!
