Coshocton youth explore adversity challenges

On April 22 the Coshocton County Youth Leadership Class of 2026 participated in the closing retreat that was facilitated by Casey Claxon and Shelly Payne at the M Event Center.

When we arrived in the morning, we had a breakfast spread Casey and his wife put together for the class and then went to the front of the event center to start our program day.

The first activity we did was hosted by Casey. This activity was an icebreaker activity. We all sat in a circle and asked whomever was in the middle a random question.

The theme for the day was adversity. The first activity was to simulate physical adversity. This activity required us to stand on a line made of tape and reorganize ourselves the same way but on opposite sides of the line — with one person blindfolded, one with his legs taped together and another with her arms taped to her sides.

During this game we had to get through the whole process without stepping off the tape. We also had activities to simulate emotional, mental and financial adversity before lunch from Schumaker’s.

After lunch we had activities that simulated social and spiritual adversity. In between all these activities, Shelly had us share what we gained from them and how we could see them applied to our lives. This day was incredibly interesting to be put in someone’s shoes and to really think about some of these adversities and how you need to be mindful of them everywhere.

To learn more about Coshocton County Youth Leadership, email Executive Director Betsy Gosnell at lead@coshoctonfoundation.org.

This column was written by class member Mairin Mullett.