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Coworkers are circled around a twist of five colorful chords, working together and trying to come to an agreement as to which rope is connected to the other four. 

Consensus Circle was one of the activities that Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Center Collinsville’s Upward Bound Scholars Academy (UBSA) program staff participated in during team building exercises held Friday, May 28 in the Multipurpose Room at the East St. Louis Higher Education Campus (ESLHEC). The workshop was provided by Wyman Center of Eureka, Mo., with facilitator Terrance Brown. 

“We plan to build relationships and learn techniques we can use when our students arrive,” said UBSA Program Director Yvonne Hart. “We are a predominantly new staff, and this is our first time working together. The Wyman Center will guide us through various activities that we can use with our students during the summer and academic year.” 

“We are finishing up our second week of training. In our first week, we were virtual,” she continued. “We completed trainings of mandated reporting, CPR, suicide prevention, first-aid, and workshops on developing relationships with youth. We started this week with a discussion on how to create positive classroom environments, announced summer class assignments for lesson planning, and today will end with team building activities that will help us get to know each other better, in order to build a stronger bond before the students get here.” 

UBSA Summer Academy runs from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday, June 7-Friday, July 16 in Peck Hall on the Edwardsville campus. 

After more than 10 minutes in the Consensus Circle, the UBSA staff decided upon one rope – the green one. They were wrong. It was the brown chord. 

“How do you turn a negative into a positive? That is one question and perspective you can offer students,” said Brown. “And how many people ever decided to go along with a group decision, only to find out they made a wrong choice in the end?” 

“We can reinforce that we all did come to one agreement,” said UBSA Counselor Gregory Johnson. 

“We can also emphasize that sometimes our decisions may  be wrong,” explained Jennifer Yoder, instructor in the SIUE Department of English Language and Literature. 

In another team building activity, participants were paired off. One person had to navigate the other (who kept their eyes closed) to a nearby triggered mousetrap. The objective was for the person with their eyes closed to be able to spring the trap. 

“I appreciated that when I was close enough to the trap my partner gave me options on how I could execute the task,” said Stephanie Bargiel, UBSA STEM instructor, of her partner Nathan Smith, UBSA teaching assistant, a graduate student majoring in art therapy counseling. 

Other UBSA staff participating included teaching assistants Lizzie Kalous, a graduate student majoring in school psychology, and Lydia Durr, a graduate student majoring in art therapy counseling. 

Upward Bound Scholars Academy (UBSA) is a TRIO program federally funded by the U.S. Department of Education. UBSA serves Collinsville High School students, ages 14-19, from low-income families and from families in which neither parent holds a bachelor’s degree. The goal of Upward Bound is to increase the rate at which participants complete secondary education and enroll in and graduate from institutions of postsecondary education. 

Photos:
Contemplating their correct move are UBSA staff (left to right): Nathan Smith, Gregory Johnson, Stephanie Bargiel, Lizzie Kalous, Lydia Durr and Yvonne Hart. Not shown is Jennifer Yoder. 

(L-R) Smith directs Bargiel to her destination goal. Johnson (right) almost reaches his goal with the help of Kalous.