By Anastassia Roberts, Communication Intern 

They don’t call Disneyland the happiest place on Earth for nothing, and after completing a Disney Imagination Campus training workshop, the American Red Cross youth team can see why! Red Cross youth volunteers recently visited Disneyland to participate in a three-hour long Cars-themed training workshop centered around teamwork. Together, the Red Cross youth team engaged in multiple activities that strengthened their collaboration skills and learned what it means to be a part of a high-functioning team. “It was very motivating,” youth volunteer Ananya shared, “and we definitely learned a lot.”

To begin the workshop, Cast Member Emily assigned the youth volunteers to stand in a line and link arms with the people standing beside them. From there, they had to walk from one part of the park to another, making sure to keep a steady pace and prevent themselves and their teammates from accidentally falling. According to some Red Cross youth volunteers, this first activity was a challenge because each person was required to maintain a consistent walking pace that would benefit everyone in the line, not just those close to themselves. The only way to get through this challenge was through talking and listening to each other. From this first activity, the Red Cross youth team learned that to succeed in a mission as a team, effective communication is essential.

Next, the Red Cross youth team learned the importance of occasional compromise. Being that the workshop was Cars-themed, it was only fitting that an activity built on the team’s knowledge of the classic movie. To begin this exercise, Emily taught the team three catchphrases from Cars: “KACHOW,” “dadgum,” and “pit stop.” Once each youth volunteer knew the three catchphrases and their corresponding dance moves, they were asked to silently decide which one was their favorite. Emily explained that everyone would perform their favorite catchphrase on the count of three, and the goal was for the entire team to end up performing the same catchphrase without anyone changing their own. They would continue the exercise until they all were performing the same catchphrase. Once the challenge began, some youth volunteers began to realize that it was impossible for the team to perform the same catchphrase without some people changing their own. Despite Emily’s instructions, youth volunteers began changing their catchphrases and eventually the entire group performed one final “pit stop” all together. Here, the Red Cross youth team learned that sometimes compromise is necessary to achieve a common goal. “We were able to work as a cohesive group and be adaptable in situations we were placed in,” youth volunteer Kaitlyn shared about the experience.

What many people take for granted is that each member brings something valuable to a team. To demonstrate this idea, Emily positioned everybody to form a circle and presented the group with a ball of yarn. The  yarn continued to unravel as youth volunteers would take hold of a piece before handing it to someone else. Each time the yarn was passed to someone new, the youth volunteers would share what quality they thought that person brought to the team, such as generosity, flexibility, compassion and others. By the end, the circle was brought together by a complex web of yarn. If one person let go of their piece of yarn, the web grew weaker. Without each team member’s valuable contribution, a team is not complete.

After completing a scavenger hunt and speaking with Disneyland Cast Members about their roles within a team, the Red Cross youth team were presented with a final challenge. The youth volunteers were broken into small groups to pitch their very own Extravaganza, or idea, for a special event at Disneyland. As teams, they needed to choose what aspects of their event to prioritize and make a compelling case for their event based on what they learned during the scavenger hunt. Each team presented unique Extravaganzas and had such a fun time learning to collaborate creatively. Pitching the Extravaganzas was a favorite part of the day among many members of the Red Cross youth team.

From this interactive experience at Disney Imagination Campus, the Red Cross youth team learned more about themselves, the other youth volunteers, and what it truly means to be on a team. “It was much better than a lecture format would have been. I feel like there was more of a chance to put [teamwork] to practice,” youth volunteer Chantal shared.

Considering this workshop brought together youth members from multiple avenues of the Red Cross, it was an opportunity for everyone to branch out and meet more Red Crossers! “I liked the workshop because I got to meet and work with everyone else. With the youth council, I didn’t know any of them beforehand, so it was nice getting to know everybody in this way,” youth volunteer Jordyn shared.

By the end, the Red Cross youth volunteers learned the value of communication, compromise, diversity, collaboration and creativity in a team setting and would recommend this workshop for other youth groups.

To learn more about the Red Cross youth team, visit redcross.org/youth.