The feedback from the 5 A Greater Hope staff and 20 teens who attended the event last night at Dodger Stadium shares a common word- “amazing!” And that amazing began the long bus ride there.

Predictably, there was lots of traffic on the 3.5-hour bus ride from Victorville to Dodger Stadium. Normally, that’s a negative our High Desert kids must endure living in such remote and rural areas. But not this time. AWBW made it a positive. Certified Facilitator Andrea led the teens in the Self-Portrait for Teens activity. Oil pastels, markers, watercolors, colored pencils, paint, and washi tape were shared everywhere on the bus so the girls could illustrate how they felt on the inside, not just how they look.

The workshop helped a ton, because the girls were nervous about a fancy event with the wives of celebrities like Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani. Andrea’s quick warm-ups and reflection prompts (feelings, favorite songs, “three words that describe me”) shifted the vibe from jitters to creative focus: “I felt calm during the workshop,” said E.J. Others added, “It was creative,” “I felt good during the workshop,” “I didn’t create and felt more comfortable observing,” “I want to do this again!” and “I shared my artwork, that felt good!”

By the time we rolled in, they were centered and ready—greeted at the gate, escorted to a suite, snapping selfies with the World Series trophy, loading up on wings, nuggets, mac & cheese and a dessert cart, getting hair styled and custom jewelry, opening gorgeous fabric goodie bags, and finally pulling on custom Dodgers jerseys with their names. As one teen put it, they felt “like royalty.”