Adventure helps prepare students for Guatemala

Ms Bowman of Prospect Hill Academy writes:

"Well - it was a good time at Project Adventure on Wednesday. We played and laughed a lot, talked a lot about what’s going to make us a good traveling team, and got to try some new things we had never tried before. I’d say climbing a giant rope ladder thirty feet in the air was new for all. To watch the teamwork was amazing. It was also cool to see how much better the groups got at the climbing challenge as we went along because they were all learning so much from watching the other groups. In the end when Marc and Eddie and Jessica stood at the very top - the only group to make it all the way up all together - it felt like an accomplishment for all of us, not just for those three.
A great start to this adventure …"
- Ms B

When I asked Ms B if I could use her quote she said, "We really had a great time with a group of HS kids about to go on a three week trip to Guatemala. It was just what they needed a month before their departure. "

thanks Ms. B!

Project Adventure Workshops - May 2008

May is a great time to get some training...at one of our sites...or your's.

Project Adventure's Moraine Farm training site in Beverly MA (20 miles north of Boston). PA acquired Moraine Farm in the mid 1990's through the generosity and vision of Mimi and George Batchelder. The property, over 77 acres of Fredrick Law Olmsted design property, Moraine Farm in May is bursting with azalea and rhodendrum blooms, the beginnings of organic vegetable farming and the return of the birds to historic Wenham Lake.

The Moraine Farm training site offers lodging in double rooms with shared bath and meals on site. The veranda, overlooking Wenham Lake offers a great place to relax and connect with other participants in the evenings.

During the wedding season, Moraine Farm is booked to capacity by couples who love the history and beauty. A large white tent is often in place on the beautiful span of lawn overlooking the tea house.

Participants will also see "programming in action" as Moraine Farm serves thousands of groups annually through our Youth and College Programs division. A cadre of facilitators trained specifically to incorporate challenge, risk taking, and social emotional skill development into program design provide an emotionally and physically safe environment for peak, life changing moments.

The state of art challenge course features high and low elements including PA test elements and new innovations.

The Project Adventure Kids Campus in Covington GA (30 miles East of Atlanta) is another great spot to take a PA training. This campus is the headquarters for our direct service programs with youth through the Georgia Juvenile Justice programs, Youth and Family Services and public schools. Started in the 1980's but site director Cindy Simpson, Project Adventure Kids has remained an innovated, research-based practice for restraint free programming that empowers the toughest and most damaged children and youth to make long-term sustainable change for a better future.

You can also book your Youth and College Program at the Covington Site. This site also boasts a state of the art challenge course and is the host site to hundreds of programs annually.

Other workshop sites offered in May include Ithaca, NY (Cornell Outdoor Adventures) and Suffern NY (Suffern Middle School).

And of course, if you have six or more people at your site or in your area who would benefit from a PA training, we can come to you. PA facilitators are the best in the world, bringing a combination of real life work experience and intensive adventure and experiential expertise to you and your staff. Participants are wowed by their skill and depth of knowledge. Even the most resistant participant on your team is engaged through the skillfulness of the facilitator and the power of the methodology.

Project Adventure professional development is not only for schools, agencies and camps, but also for corporations and non-profit administration. Join the ranks of companies as large as Microsoft, Starbucks, BMW and Kodak or as small as the local restaurant or Chamber of Commerce who have participated in PA team development programs. A mixture of methodology is available and programs are customized to your specific needs. Select from inventories such as DiSC Personal Profile System and the Drexler-Sibbet Team Performance Model, team based initiatives and problem-solving activities or the high and low challenge course...or a combination.

Participants have called Project Adventure workshops, "the most meaningful and relevant professional development program I've participated in" and "Not often enough do I walk away from something and think, WOW, what a great experience! I did with the Adventure Programming workshop."

Hope to see YOU soon!

For more information or assistance in planning a workshop that is right for you and your team, contact us at info@pa.org or 1-800-468-8898.

"I like Aqua Fresh and Colgate"

You can bet that the person who said this was a participant in Lisa Faulkingham Hunt's Adventure Innovations workshop at the National AHPERD Conference in Fort Worth last week.

Brian Hagbo of Ellensburg High School in Ellensburg, Washington sent these comments following the workshop, "You put on a great session at Fort Worth and the weather was beautiful. I have already used "Quick Line Up" and added the Pump House and Heart House. After you gave me the No Props book, I went straight to the booth and got the "Achieving Fitness" book. Having the PA Course in our Auxiliary gym, these are great activities for my advanced lifetime physical education classes.
Thanks again for putting together an outstanding session".

Thank you to Brian and all the great participants. Tell us about a great PA session or workshop you attended! And what activities you are using at your school, camp or agency.

Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation and Project Adventure, Inc.

The Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation (AFYF) recently made a $250,000 investment in Project Adventure's work with youth at risk through Project Adventure Kids and Newton County Recreation Dept. as part of AFYF's 2007 year-end grants.

With a focus on youth fitness, AFYF works with non-profit organizations throughout Georgia to help curb childhood obesity.

The money will be used to renovate Cousins Gym. R.L. Cousins High School was once Newton County’s only high school for African American students, and now exists as a community center for youth in the county. Having fallen into disrepair, the Cousins Gym will be renovated through a partnership with AFYF, Project Adventure, Newton County Recreation Department and with other charitable contributions, providing opportunities for youth in the Project Adventure program and throughout the county to participate in physical fitness activities.