In February, seven girls from Youth Development’s Xtreme Green group took a day trip with group leader, Danielle Miller, to go snow tubing at Snoqualmie Summit. “There was plenty of preparation for this trip, as most of us hadn’t had much experience with snow outside of our own front yards,” says Danielle. The group did a “dress rehearsal” a few days before the trip and each girl received her very own snow gear—such as coats, gloves and hats— that she got to keep. “The girls were extremely excited about their trip,” recalls Danielle.

Bright and early on a Saturday morning the girls were off. “On the drive up I mentioned how lucky they were to grow up in such a beautiful state,” says Danielle. “One of the girls said, ‘I didn’t even know we had this in our state.’ It was such a treat for me to be able to be a part of what was, for some, their first experience outside of the city.”

Once at Snoqualmie, everyone got in line for their first time down. “The girls teetered between excitement and nervousness,” says Danielle. “Needless to say, after getting over the fear of that first slide down, you couldn’t keep them off their tubes for the next two hours!”

The trip was fun and valuable for the girls. “They got to step out of their comfort zone and try something new,” says Danielle. “And it certainly increased their self-confidence because they overcame their fear. They were pros by the end of the day!”

Danielle believes that the biggest success, however, was that the girls learned about an entirely different aspect of their home state. “This allowed them to open up to many possibilities that reach far beyond their community and neighborhood,” she says.

For information about the Youth Development Program or Xtreme Green, contact Danielle Miller at (206) 438-3944 or daniellem@atlanticstreet.org.