About: On February 13th, Mosaic Climbing will be hosting multiple youth workshops centered around active citizenship. The programs are designed to help students learn how they can honor their interests by devoting time and energy toward building community. Students will be tasked with age-appropriate projects that encourage compassionate reflection, empathetic problem-solving, and connection and collaboration with their peers, all while engaging in physically and mentally stimulating climbing activity.

High School Development Day: Ages 14 - 18

• Explore a Career in Climbing by Designing a Community Climbing Program

  • Students will be tasked with designing a high school community climbing club curriculum that includes aspects of leadership, community advocacy, team-building, and business management. 

  • Students will meet and engage with the heads of each department within the facility to gather information, iterate on ideas, and receive feedback.

  • Deliverable: At the conclusion of the class, the students will present their concept to the Facility Manager. Parents are highly encouraged to attend in support!

    • All students in attendance will be eligible to receive 20% off of the program if deemed implementable. 

  • The session will start off with a behind-the-scenes tour of gym operations, route setting, program development, and safety systems.

  • The design sprint will be interspersed with fun climbing activities and breakouts with department heads to facilitate idea generation, teamwork, and physical stimulation.

Middle School Development Day: Ages 10 - 13

• Cultivate Compassion for the Environment by Learning About Climbing and Conservation

  • Students will be introduced to environmental responsibility through the principles of Leave No Trace. Mosaic staff will present current issues facing local climbing areas, such as the Red River Gorge. Students will develop an understanding of outdoor recreation ethics and learn about what it means to have a community service mindset. Students will explore the connection between indoor recreation and outdoor conservation. 

  • Students will use available resources to research the environmental impact of recreation. Implementing their new knowledge of Leave No Trace, they will be given a challenge to solve by incorporating elements of environmental responsibility and conservation. 

  • Deliverable: Students will create educational posters about climbing conservation for the gym, write a letter to an outdoor recreation organization, and plan a hypothetical trail maintenance day.

  • The session will be interspersed with structured climbing sessions focused on problem-solving and communication, belaying exercises that emphasize trust, leadership, and responsibility, and group challenges that require collaboration.

Elementary School Development Day: Ages 6 - 9

• Fostering Community and Building Relationships Through Acts of Kindness 

  • Students will be exposed to social-emotional learning (kindness, encouragement, inclusion), communication, teamwork, empathy development, and community building by engaging in acts of kindness. Students will explore what it means to them to be kind and why it matters. Together we will investigate how tone and use of language plays a large part in the signals we send and the energy we create.

  • Students will practice kindness, empathy, and compassion by selecting what resonates with them from a variety of activities. They will develop encouragement phrases that enable them to express themselves and positively contribute to the experience of others. 

  • Climbing with Kindness Challenge examples:

    • Partner Encouragement: Pairs climb while giving specific compliments

• Buddy System: Help partner find footholds, give directions

• Cheer Squad: Groups take turns being climber vs. encourager

• Inclusion Challenge: Make sure everyone tries every station

• Helping Hands: Students teach each other techniques they've learned

• Thank You Wall: After each climb, thank your belayer/spotter

• Deliverable: Students will engage in a kindness craft by creating kindness cards for fellow classmates and gym-goers. They will collaborate on a community board that they believe visually represents what it means to be kind. They will draw pictures and share words of encouragement that act as a light within the gym to any bypassers. 

• The session will be interspersed with climbing activities, including an introduction to climbing as a lifetime fitness activity, basic problem-solving and spatial awareness, teamwork and encouragement of peers, and physical fitness and body awareness.

Mosaic Staff Participants:

• Chase Sebastianelli, Facility Manager

• Samuel Schindler, Routesetting Program Manager

• Luke Tacy, Youth Coach and Personal Trainer

• Christopher Lynch, Routesetter

• Caitlin Nightingale, Youth Coach and Community Specialist

Mosaic Will Provide:

• Certified instruction and safety orientation

• All equipment (harnesses, shoes)

• All materials for each deliverable

• Structured programming aligned with educational objectives

• Post-visit materials (climbing tips, career resources, etc.)

• A 10% discount on a future visit

Student Preparation:

• Students should arrive in closed-toed tennis shoes and comfortable athletic apparel, including a winter jacket. 

• Students should arrive with a refillable water bottle and any desired snacks. 

• All students must present with a waiver on file prepared by their legal guardian.