Content area
Full text
Town of Merton -- A blindfolded Vanessa Ramirez is trying to cross through a field of red, green, blue and yellow balls and cones, without stepping on any of them.
If she touches just one, she will have to start over.
It's a team-building and trust exercise Ramirez is going through as part of a leader-in-training program at Camp Whitcomb/Mason.
Besides not being able to see, she isn't allowed to ask questions. Her only help in navigating the "moon crater field" is instructions from Nicole Kontny.
After about 10 minutes of directions from Kontny -- "Lift your left foot high and step over. Now bring your right foot forward" -- Ramirez makes it through the balls unscathed.
The lesson in this: "When you're blindfolded, you've got to relax and trust the person," Ramirez, 16, said.
Ramirez, of Milwaukee, and two others, Jake Wood, 16, of Milwaukee, and Tyler Harris, 15, of Burlington, are spending six weeks in the leader-in-training program. Their hope is to land jobs as camp counselors at Whitcomb/Mason when they turn 18.
Ramirez came to the camp as a fifth-grader on a field...