Woodwell Leadership Award: Taiyo Minami ‘24
After Avon alum Richard H. “Woody” Woodwell ’75 died in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, friend and classmate Al O’Connor ’75 worked to create the Woodwell Leadership Award in his honor.
This award is given out each year to one rising junior who best demonstrates the potential for community service and leadership. The award recipient is chosen through an essay contest. Each recipient then receives the funding to attend an Outward Bound program of their choice. Outward Bound programs are outdoor education retreats that promote personal growth, leadership capabilities, and environmental appreciation.
This past spring, Taiyo Minami ’24 was selected as the Woodwell Award recipient for his class. His trip was a 15-day canoeing, rafting, and camping expedition that took him through more than 60 miles of Utah’s mountain passes, canyons, and picturesque plains. He expressed excitement at the opportunity.
“I’ve done camping stuff before, but nothing serious like this and I wanted to try it,” Minami explains. “I knew I would get through it, but I wasn’t sure how well I would handle it.”
His journey began on June 23 when Minami and a group of 12 other high-schoolers and three instructors loaded up their gear into canoes and pushed off onto the Green River at the mouth of Desolation Canyon. For the next week, they would spend their days paddling from one camping spot to the next.
“That was a lot of work. My back and arms were very sore when I got home.”
The students traveled in two-person canoes down the Green River through Desolation, Gray, and Labyrinth Canyons. Along the way they would stop for meals, hikes, or to camp for the night. Each student in the group had a role to play.
“We had to work together to get to our goal,” Minami says. “It was interesting to see how people act in a new group, in the middle of nowhere.”
For the second week of the trip, the students traversed the river again, this time in a raft with a larger team. The group had to work together to navigate class 1, 2, and 3 rapids as they traveled through the canyons made up of Navajo Sandstone.
During the entirety of the trip, no participants had access to their cell phone—something Minami struggled with, but ultimately enjoyed.
“Ever since I got my phone at 13, I haven’t ever not had it … definitely not for 15 days. At first I was worried about that part.”
On a trip like this, however, there were much more important things to worry about. There are natural challenges that arise when exploring the wilderness, including bad weather. According to Minami, a huge storm hit on the 13th night of the trip.
“We had a lightning drill we had to follow, and we had to work to keep the tents from flying away.”
The winds were strong enough to flip one of the rafts, sending food and other supplies into the river.
“I watched all of our apples float away,” Minami says. “We only had one more day, so it was okay. If it happened earlier in the trip we would’ve been in trouble.”
He added that there were other challenges to overcome as well, including difficulties that arise when working within a group.
“At times people were getting irritated and not wanting to do their job. That made things harder.”
In fact, three of the 12 students that began the trip did not finish it. One student was forced to withdraw due to illness, and the other two left due to homesickness. As someone who lives in Japan but attends school in Avon, Conn., this wasn’t an issue that was going to affect Minami.
“Because I live in a dorm far away from home, I think that helped.”
The trip Minami chose is intended to cultivate leadership skills, character development, inspire service to others, and promote interpersonal development. This, of course, is the overall intention of the Woodwell Leadership Award.
A leader was appointed each day. The day’s leader would decide meal plans, which campsite they would stay at, keep people on schedule, etc. Most of the students served as the leader only once, but Minami did it three times. The first time he was designated by the instructors, the second time he volunteered, and the third time he was selected via a group vote.
“That made me feel motivated,” Minami says. “It meant that, ‘Yes, I am a good leader,’ and that others agreed.”
He says he learned that in order to be a good leader he needs to plan ahead to be able to prepare for obstacles, and that he needs to be more vocal at times, which was required when shouting paddling orders over the sound of rushing rapids.
“It also helps on the soccer field,” says Minami, who plays on the varsity soccer team at AOF.
Overall, Minami says the trip was worth it. “The scenery was amazing. I had so much fun, and I think I would recommend it to my kids when I grow up.”
