Middle School Campus Life program offers fun, fellowship for area students

A North Iowa Youth For Christ program kicked off its new year in a colorful way last week.

Last Wednesday, YFC’s Middle School Campus Life program celebrated its annual kick off event with an array of activities, including a dance party, trivia and a protect the leader game, culminating in a color paint “war” to wrap up the festivities. Martina Smith, Campus Life Director said 105 area middle schoolers, along with adult chaperones and program partners, partici-pated in the messy marvel.

“We just all went crazy with the paint we had left,” Smith said.

Smith said that while Campus Life has had a pres-ence since 2014, this was the first year the program cele-brated with a large kickoff event.

“The point of the kickoff is to have new kids who ha-ven’t come to our Campus Life program before to get in on the fun and just to make it more memorable for all the students,” she said. “It’s also really cool to get the whole community involved.”

Smith, in her third year with the program, said that she describes Campus Life in two ways. The first, she said, is “a positive place for stu-dents to go and have fun with friends and talk about relevant issues.” The second follows the ministry model, which combines relationships and programs to help young peo-ple make good choices, estab-lish a solid foundation for life and positively impact their schools.

What those definitions boil down to, Smith said, is a program that allows students a safe, supportive environ-ment to visit Wednesdays after school from 2 to 4 p.m. At Campus Life club, middle school students have access to adult mentorship while partic-ipating in activities centered around a topic - typically a social issue - and hear a mes-sage relating to a scripture. Outside of the weekly club, Campus Life also offers small groups for students to dive into religion and their rela-tionships with God, a build-ing time session where stu-dents can learn a life skill and trips to help students connect with one another. Smith said the array of activities and conversations is important because it provides middle school students with guidance and support during a challeng-ing time in their lives while encouraging new friendships and bolstering existing ones.

“Middle school years are so crucial,” she said. “They’re changing, their friends are changing, their family situa-tions are changing and they may be confused, so we pro-vide adults to help mentor them and be a person that can help and guide them as well.”

Smith said over the years, the program in Hampton has gone from a new idea in 2014 to a cornerstone of youth pro-gramming in the community, attracting nearly 100 students at the weekly club each week so far this year. Smith said the program does have stu-dents that routinely attend the club, but new students find their way to the group each week.

She added that the success and continual growth of Campus Life is a reflection of caring and supportive envi-ronment instilled in the club.

“I think a lot of it has to do with leaders connecting with the students and having them feel like they have a place where they belong and are loved and cared for,” she said. “In this world, it’s sometimes hard to find all that.”

Students interested in at-tending Middle School Cam-pus Life can come at any week, even if they haven’t been before. All new students to the club have to do to par-ticipate is sign a form upon arrival and then participate in the activity. Students are not required to attend each week.

With the growth of the program, Smith said, comes a need for additional adult vol-unteers. Whether volunteering to chaperon on a trip, a bus driver to provide transporta-tion after the club or anything in between, Smith said any-one who wants to volunteer has a spot at Campus Life.

“Anyone who wants to be a part of the program, I find a way,” she said. “I always try to make sure that anyone who wants to be a part of it can be.”