Synergy.
When two forces join, the impact is often greater than the sum of the two operating independently...a force multiplier.

As we step into the shorter days of Fall and we collect the images and recollect the times of summer (our 14th!), what a summer it was! Particularly for youth programming. From May thru the end of August we had the opportunity to join with:
- Boy Scouts from Shenandoah Area Council;
- Girl Scouts from the Girl Scout Council of the Nations Capital;
- Wakefield (The Plains) School's Discovery Week;
- Frederick (MD) YMCA;
- Parks and Recreation departments from Frederick and Clarke Counties in northwestern VA, and of Frederick County, MD;
-The SGA from Rappahannock County High School (working in paradise!)
- Camp Pecometh (serving the DelMarVa region Methodist church);
- Summer school students from Washington County MD;
- New/incoming students at Washington DC's SEED public charter school;
- The Frederick Co (VA) Sherriff's youth camp;and, especially,
- Various family/child advocacy and social services organizations (Department of Social Services [DSS], Office of Children and Families [OCF] and Community agency School Services [CASS]) from northern and central MD.

WHEW!

The last category (DSS, OCF, CASS), of all the groups we served, was perhaps the most totally demanding and certainly the most fulfilling. On that point the entire Teamlink staff agrees.




Whether exploring the macroinvertebrate wonders of the river, floating, splashing, playing..

















or climbing WAY beyond and out of their comfort zone...








or just sitting, talking and laughing, sharing time and space with a friend..

the kids we shared our summertime with, just maybe, will never be the same.






..and, because of them and with thanks, we will not be the same, either.