General & SNAP Sessions
Wednesday, November 13th
An Introduction to the Double Black Diamond Model
Wednesday | 10:15a - 11:45a
Presenter(s):
Christian Itin
The Double Black Diamond Model of facilitation provides a framework and set of tools to deepen the facilitation of all forms of experiential practice. This highly experiential workshop will use the model to guide participants in how to develop their ability to facilitate, even in the most difficult situations. Practitioners will come away with a better ability to conceptualize and implement the facilitation of experience regardless of their context (school, therapeutic or corporate).
Wednesday | 10:15a - 11:45a
Presenter(s):
Christian Itin
The Double Black Diamond Model of facilitation provides a framework and set of tools to deepen the facilitation of all forms of experiential practice. This highly experiential workshop will use the model to guide participants in how to develop their ability to facilitate, even in the most difficult situations. Practitioners will come away with a better ability to conceptualize and implement the facilitation of experience regardless of their context (school, therapeutic or corporate).
How to Navigate Triggers: Strategies for staying present as a facilitator
Wednesday | 10:15a - 11:45a
Presenter(s):
Meg Bolger
Being triggered as a facilitator is a tricky thing to navigate. Something has happened that completely derailed your ability to be present with your group. What can you do in the moment, before hand, or after you're triggered to mitigate any damage done? In this workshop participants will work through the Triggering Events Traffic Circle model to break down what happens when they are triggered and how to navigate back to being fully present again.
Examining Leadership and Group Dynamics Experientially
Wednesday | 10:15a - 11:45a
Presenter(s):
Chris Ortiz
Our future leaders need awareness and empathy for the groups they lead, they need to motivate and empower followers to action, and they need to navigate conflict through effective communication. Surveys and research regularly identify these skills as the critical to a leader’s success. This workshop will examine these concepts through experiential activities aimed to engage learners in the concepts so that theory becomes practice. A demonstration of several experiential exercises framed to bring leadership and group dynamics concepts to life.
Helping & Healing Multi-system Youth in SAMHSA's System of Care with AT
Wednesday | 10:15a - 11:45a
Presenter(s):
Bobbi Beale
Tiffany Wynn
D. Maurie Lung, PhD, LMHC, LMFT
Adventure Therapy (AT) is desperately needed in SAMHSA's System of Care (SOC), which is a framework for providing a spectrum of effective, community-based services and supports for at risk or challenged children and youth, and their families. AT's engaging and effective experiential interventions, and unparalleled skill-building, is the perfect match for these overwhelmed, struggling and traumatized youth and families. Join us to explore the current SOC expansion project, identify appropriate AT applications for the SOC service array, and strategize on how we can increase our visibility and impact to be most helpful for this vulnerable population.
Effective Peer Leadership: The Adventure WV model for student leader development
Wednesday | 10:15a - 11:45a
Presenter(s):
Patricia Chan
Research shows peer leadership to be an integral part of a meaningful Outdoor Orientation Programming; allowing student leaders to experience responsibility and education in real-life application, while providing student participants with mentorship and multiple levels of interaction with their campus community. While a recognized tool for programmatic success, effective training and management of student leaders can provide a significant challenge for outdoor professionals, as student leaders must develop and demonstrate competency in a myriad of departments, including: risk management, judgment and decision-making, technical skills, educational skills, environmental stewardship, logistical planning, coaching and mentoring, and facilitation. How does a program effectively find, train, and manage the right students for this large responsibility? This workshop explores the methods developed by Adventure WV over the ten years of their First-Year Trips programming, exploring important topics and emerging trends in this generation of upcoming student leaders.
Risk Assessment & Safety Management: A Comprehensive Organizational & Training Model
Wednesday | 10:15a - 11:45a
Presenter(s):
Rick Curtis
We know that risk is an inherent part of adventure-based programming. It is, also a critical element of the personal growth and learning that takes place in the outdoors. Therefore, managing risk at a level that is appropriately balanced against the rewards associated with a program’s goals and mission is fundamental to every program. Risk Management must be everyone’s job from administrative staff to instructors and participants. That requires an organization-wide risk management framework. Program managers need to be able to assess overall program safety in designing and implementing programs. Field instructors need tools for assessing risk ‘on the ground’ and understanding how to mitigate it in real-time. Administrative staff need to be able to analyze incidents and close calls after an event and determine causative factors and develop intervention strategies. Finally, participants need a tool to help them evaluate their own risk-taking behavior in order to learn to make good decisions. The Risk Assessment & Safety Management Model, used by outdoor programs around the world, is a comprehensive approach for identifying the causes of accidents, assessing changing risk levels, and managing risk by reducing negative hazard factors and introducing positive safety factors. Risk management is a combined approach of hazard assessment and risk level determination along with risk reduction strategies. This workshop will explore how probability and severity of impact determine the overall risk level. Risk level is determined by two critical factors: the negative hazard factors that increase risk and the positive safety factors that mitigate and reduce the risk level. Risk is incredibly dynamic and programs need to change operating procedures ‘on the fly’ as risk levels change. The model provides a common understanding for both field staff and program managers to evaluate risk potential through an approach which is flexible to allow for changing protocols and actions as risk levels change. It also presents a useful curriculum for participants to assess their own risk whether in personal behavior or a tool for looking at larger risks in society. These tools are not just for the wilderness context. In college settings the model is linked back to the risk management concerns that students experience on a daily basis: things like high risk drinking, sexual harassment and assault, and hazing and give them the tools and the sense of responsibility to actively intervene.
Expeditionary Discoveries: Reimagining healthy first-generation partnerships in career exploration and preparation.
Wednesday | 10:15a - 11:45a
Presenter(s):
Robert Siudzinski
Stormy diversification and inclusion efforts at a traditional residential colleges have surprisingly led to the discovery of exciting new perspectives and collaborations with first-generation students, careers center advisors, and community partners. Mindfully pushing back on simplistic deficient models for new student enculturation, this interactive and wellness-focused session shares unexpected treasures, dependable waypoints, and promising coordinates forward for career communities forming and launching within the liberal arts tradition.
Relational Cultural Theory: Shifting the Paradigm of Social Justice in Outdoor Education
Wednesday | 10:15a - 11:45a
Presenter(s):
Danny Frank
Social Justice has been a hot topic in the field of Outdoor Education for decades. Many of us seek a magic solution that will solve persistent problems related to physical accessibility, socioeconomic barriers, under-representation and marginalization along lines of race and gender, and more. Often, well-intentioned program development and outreach strategies further alienate those we are trying to engage, by tokenizing individuals or failing to account for the complexity of intersectional identities. Relational Cultural Theory (RCT) offers a radical pathway forward by addressing the underlying psychological and social constraints that drive human disconnection, and instead cultivating connection through authenticity, empathy, and mutuality. These established connections become the foundation for greater agency and engagement among all involved, and can result in transformational changes within individual programs and our field as a whole. Workshop participants will learn about RCT and it's value as a foundation for shifting how we understand and enact social justice. Participants will walk away with pragmatic initial steps they can take to become more relational in their own work.
Speaking for the Trees: Learning the Language of Environmental Education
Wednesday | 10:15a - 11:45a
Presenter(s):
Laura Baird
Intimidated by identifications? Stumped by stargazing? This workshop will offer participants shortcuts, tips and tricks to make environmental education less intimidating in a time where facilitating connections with nature is more important than ever. Come experience songs, game modification, improvisation activities, and idea sharing with other attendees.
SNAP SESSION: Money Talks - Using Economic Data to Defend Your Program’s Value
Wednesday | 10:15a - 10:55a
Presenter(s):
Peter Ingle
Kellie Gerbers
Many organizations rely on qualitative self-reports to explain the social, physical, and psychological outcomes of participating in outdoor recreation activities. Unfortunately, valuable outcomes such as “increased confidence,” “ability to place trust in others, and “self-efficacy” don’t always translate into increased support from key stakeholders. The time has come for outdoor programs to stop relying on “feel good” outcomes and put the impact of their programs into hard dollars—because the reality is that our industry has a tremendous impact on our economy. Using data from sources such as the Outdoor Industry Association’s Outdoor Recreation Economy Report and Bureau of Economic Analysis, this presentation will provide attendees with valuable resources that they can leverage when explaining the actual economic value of our work.
Get creative with your climbing program
Wednesday | 1:30p - 3:00p
Presenter(s):
Bix Firer
Patrick Brehm
With the booming popularity of rock climbing more and more kids and adults are taking to the walls. Additionally, more and more facilities are being equipped with artificial rock climbing walls for their participants and members to challenge themselves. However, there are few resources available for instructors and practitioners to use to guide their curriculum development on these vertical playing fields. Rather than allowing your rock climbing wall, a valuable learning tool, to collect dust or , come learn how to use a climbing wall to foster personal and professional growth for the participants in your program. This session will guide participants through a series of discussions and applied experiential activities focused on bringing creativity to their rock climbing programs, rock climbing component of their experiential program or rock climbing component of their staff training. Additionally, participants will learn new rock climbing based skill and team building activities to use in their programs as well as how to adapt their own activities to a rock climbing wall. These walls won’t climb themselves!
Navigating Universal Program Design from Applications to Evaluations
Wednesday | 1:30p - 3:00p
Presenter(s):
Tommy Gardner
Ryan Craven
Universal program design begins long before participants arrive. Utilizing intentional application design, a “Universal Hierarchy of Needs” assessment, and post program evaluations, participants will be able to identify areas of growth and improvement for their organizations and programs. Attention to application language is vital and specifically outlining essential eligibility requirements needed for successful participation. Important considerations will be identified using Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, and then adapted to create a "Universal Hierarchy of Needs". This Universal Hierarchy of needs will be built while thinking of the entire group. For each section/level, identify the lowest level of functioning and establish that as the group need. This will give an objective universal baseline for you group/program. Attendees will then be directed to focus on the program evaluations. Evaluations must be intentional in design and analysis in order to ensure the quality of your program.
Inject FUNN into Learning: Prescriptive Outdoor Oddball Games
Wednesday | 1:30p - 3:00p
Presenter(s):
Rich Keegan
Do you need a prescription to get students outdoors and connecting with others? Do you consider yourself to be an out of the box thinker? If you answered “yes” to either one of these questions, you just might be an oddball! Come bounce, slide, curve, run and have fun with an oddball who loves to get kids outside. I might just bounce you right out of your comfort zone and into a new territory full of oddball games and activities with impactful health and wellness outcomes for your students.
Get Experiential! Strategic Planning and Capacity Building with your Board of Directors
Wednesday | 1:30p - 3:00p
Presenter(s):
Julia Alvarez
Antonio Alvarez
Do you work with a board of directors that is deeply passionate about your work, but that might not fully comprehend what it is you do everyday as a practitioner of experiential education? Do members of your board moan and groan when it comes time to engage in strategic planning or board capacity building? If so, join us as we explore opportunities to deepen your board's understanding of your work, while engaging them in meaningful activities that will help shape and guide the work of your organization. This experiential workshop will engage participants in activities that can be used and tailored to build the capacity of members of a board of directors or board of trustees. While we will focus on activities to help with strategic planning and organizational development, the activities can be used for myriad board development challenges.
Leading Through the Lens of Polarity Thinking: The Power of Both/And
Wednesday | 1:30p - 3:00p
Presenter(s):
Marin Burton
While some issues are problems with a definite answer, the more challenging issues are polarities — situations in which either side has benefits and drawbacks. Attempting to address these issues with traditional problem solving skills only makes things worse. There is a significant, competitive advantage for a leader who can distinguish between a problem to solve and a polarity to manage and is effective with both. In this session, we will explore Polarity Thinking and how leaders can use this lens to effectively manage individual, team or organizational challenges. We will also engage with a mapping tool designed to help individuals think through ideas within various polarities. When used successfully, it helps identify the upsides and downsides of each pole, resulting in a whole picture of the polarity to be managed. This tool can be used with individuals and teams moving forward.
Warriors Rock: A Rock Climbing Event for Veterans and Family
Wednesday | 1:30p - 3:00p
Presenter(s):
Deborah Powers
Diana Lincoln-Haye
Warriors Rock is a non-profit organization that provides an annual, free rock climbing event for Veterans and their family. This presentation will address: the backstory that led to the development of the Warriors Rock event; rock climbing and adventure therapy as an adrenaline refocusing activity providing healing from trauma; the how-tos of successful administration (and risk mitigation) for such an event; as well as volunteer management. The presentation will incorporate Veterans’ voices (from the research) on benefits gained through participation in an intentionally designed, adventure programming experience. This session also will provide opportunity for question and answer, as well as discussion on successful approaches to non-profit, adventure programming for Veterans.
Medical History Form Trends: The Pros, Cons, and Potential Consequences
Wednesday | 1:30p - 3:00p
Presenter(s):
Nadia Kimmel
Paul Nicolazzo
Leah Corrigan, Esq.
The format in which the medical history of trip participants is attained prior to a backcountry outing varies greatly within the outdoor recreation industry. This is partly due to a program’s legal and risk management team and to federal and state-specific mandates and laws. Recently a trend towards one-page, self-reporting medical history forms have emerged from the outdoor recreation industry. We will discuss some of the reasons for this trend and discuss the legal and programmatic challenges when compared to comprehensive, self-reporting forms and those requiring completion via a healthcare professional. The presentation will include a table-top scenario of a backcountry medical emergency where groups will work through a scenario using different formats of a trip participant’s medical history information to highlight the challenges that field staff can face when medical omissions occur. Lastly, the presenters will discuss practical implications for program directors to aid field staff in managing uncertainty with respect to medical omissions ranging from trip planning, to recognizing “Red-Flag” medical conditions and to dealing with an incident.
Who Do You Think You Are? How to Tell Your Story.
Wednesday | 1:30p - 3:00p
Presenter(s):
Karen Wong
Identity impacts facilitation. No matter what field we work in, we often encounter different identities and intersectionalities of these identities. In order to be effective leaders and role models, we must understand ourselves and the perspectives of those around us. In this workshop, you will participate in activities to become more aware of your identity, discuss how identity can affect how we lead and facilitate, and learn activities that can help foster personal storytelling. These activities can be used to build deeper connections and mutual inter-personal understanding within the groups or teams you work with
Collegiate Recovery and Outdoor Programming - Partners in addressing substance use disorders
Wednesday | 1:30p - 3:00p
Presenter(s):
Nathan Harlan
How will universities and colleges respond to the soaring opioid crisis which is currently affecting students and their families across the country? Is your institution or community already providing support to students in recovery from substance use disorders? What role can outdoor programs play in these efforts? This workshop will make a case for partnership between Outdoor Recreation and Education programs and Collegiate Recovery services both on campus and in the community. We will look at the initial efforts taking place at WVU and brainstorm some avenues of approach for partnership at your institution.
SNAP SESSION: The Ins-and-Outs of Crevasse Rescue: Breaking the process into simple steps
Wednesday | 1:30p - 2:10p
Presenter(s):
James Pierson
This presentation will break the process of creating a complex 6:1 crevasse rescue system into 3 primary steps that will make it both easy to remember and easy to teach. If time allows, we will discuss alternatives for team rescue.
SNAP SESSION: The what and why of SCORP (State Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan)
Wednesday | 2:20p - 3:00p
Presenter(s):
Jeremy Jostad
Matthew Chase
Jeremy Schultz
Have you ever wondered how to better serve your community by understanding what activities they participate in or wondered how to fund a local project that can create more outdoor recreation opportunities that leads to health and well-being for your community? If so, a better understanding of SCORP (State Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan) and the benefits that are derived from this plan may help. This presentation will explain what SCORP is and how local communities might utilize the information from SCORP to better understand their community and deliver higher quality services. The presentation will describe a recent SCORP project, how to access SCORP data, and Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) grants that may be available to communities. By the end of the presentation, attendees should be able to understand how to utilize SCORP for the development of community projects at home.
Sequencing for Positive Outcomes
Wednesday | 3:15p - 4:45p
Presenter(s):
Lucinda Martinelli
Good sequencing can improve the experience of learning and wellness outcomes for the teacher, facilitator and student alike. In this highly interactive workshop, we’ll experience a sequence of activities, many of which can be used in the classroom or any experiential program. Then we’ll take apart the experience and discover the power hidden in the sequence. You’ll also get a chance to build a sequence of your own! Leave this workshop ready to make sequencing work for you.
The Power of Storytelling as an Assessment Tool
Wednesday | 3:15p - 4:45p
Presenter(s):
Bix Firer
Rodo Leone
The presenters will be sharing a technique for using storytelling as an assessment tool, that allows participants and administrators to cocreate goals and measure outcomes. Presenters will share their results of this technique's application from two separate campus outdoor recreation programs, as well as video from other sites this has been used. This storytelling as assessment technique is a way to allow participant's experiences to generate goals, input, and outcomes of outdoor programming
Mental Health and Resilience in Experiential Education: Identifying a Path Forward
Wednesday | 3:15p - 4:45p
Presenter(s):
Curt Davidson
Alan Ewert
This workshop will explore the role resilience and mental health plays in experiential education programming. This topic has a rich history in the field and will be explored at length. In particular, this workshop will examine the role that the natural environment and selected course elements often included in an experiential education program play in mitigating or improving levels of mental health. The goal of this session will be to explore these topics with particular emphasis on how practitioners can operationalize this information for their individual programs. Resilience has long been a variable suspected to be enhanced by EE programs and of significant importance to research and practitioners (Fredrickson et al., 2003; Neill & Dias, 2001). Resilience is defined as an individual’s characteristics and capacities that mitigate the factors that threaten an individual’s health and well-being (Kaplan, 2002). This dynamic process is accomplished through adapting to adverse circumstances, through the altering of attitudes or beliefs (p. 23). Through EE experiences that increase a student’s level of resilience, the field of EE may be able to make a contribution to the overall resilience of society and the ability for participants to deal with traumatic events such as loss of a loved family member or adverse conditions at school. This is an important attribute for young people when dealing with adversity and tough situations especially as they get older and join the workforce, assume leadership positions, or teach and mentor other people (Jackson, Firtko, & Edenborough, 2007). Borman (2004) suggests that resiliency plays an even bigger role for minority students and their performance at school. Additionally, resilience has also been shown to play an important role with teacher retention and mental health (Patterson, Collins, & Abbott, 2004).
Powerful Partnerships and Radical Collaboration
Wednesday | 3:15p - 4:45p
Presenter(s):
Matthew Edenfield
Brook Swanson
The session will explore how university outdoor education programs (programs housed within student affairs without outdoor leadership degrees) can integrate authentic models of collaboration as a way to build powerful partnerships with academic programs at higher education institutions. Multidisciplinary partnerships can be messy, frustrating, and take significant time. However, student affairs and academic collaborations can also provide opportunities for students to connect classroom learning to life, make learning more active, and capitalize on informal and experiential learning. Gonzaga University staff and faculty members will explore how they were able to successfully design and teach wilderness field-based academic programs for undergraduate and graduate students. These collaborative programs have been extremely successful, but not without logistical and administrative challenges to overcome. This session will provide insight, suggestions, and solicit feedback for how other programs can discover natural links for radical collaboration with the goal of implementing creative outdoor programs within academic departments.
Leadership Development for Facilitators through Adventure Education
Wednesday | 3:15p - 4:45p
Presenter(s):
Karen Wong
Mo Kappes
Adventure Learning Programs (ALPs) at UW-Madison is a student organization that develops leaders through the experience of facilitating adventure education, specifically teambuilding and high and low ropes course workshops, for groups. In this workshop, we will describe the structure we have created to intentionally and experientially not only develop skilled facilitators, but also confident, change making leaders and impactful global citizens.
Augmented Reality: Applications of cutting-edge technologies to educators and outdoor recreation stakeholders
Wednesday | 3:15p - 4:45p
Presenter(s):
Mary Clark
Russell Crispell
Agents of Discovery is a mobile educational platform born out of the revolutionary concept of combining “green time” with “screen time.” Using an app that takes learning outdoors, this platform helps kids move while they learn. Not only this, but it uses gaming to create a stronger emotional connection between students and the material at hand, and it is an effective evaluative tool for educators. Using real-time analytics to track user progress, Agents of Discovery can help educators with assessment of learning, as well as their own teaching styles. In addition, with features such as“player response questions,” users can now answer questions on site by collecting data, taking photos, or recording their experience in other ways. The objective of this presentation is to show how mobile educational gaming tools such as Agents of Discovery can be beneficial in a huge variety of learning environments. The presenter will delve into the theories and evidence behind the origins of this platform, and will also provide a demonstration of its effectiveness for the attendees. A case study on the versatility of the platform will be presented with our Co-Presenter Russ Crispell of the University at Buffalo, who is helping coordinate the use of the technology for numerous uses at his site: the Office of Student Engagement, Boy Scouts, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and various outdoor pursuits.
Demystifying Corporate Facilitation: How to transform your facilitation for the next stage
Wednesday | 3:15p - 4:45p
Presenter(s):
Hutch Hutchinson
At some point in their careers, many facilitators must make the shift from youth programming to adult programming. Although EBTD (Experience Based Training and Development) shares key fundamental elements with youth program, there are essential differences which facilitators must understand in order to make the shift successfully. This workshop will address those differences and will help participants articulate a clear path forward in their own professional development. This workshop will explain the role of EBTD in AEE, then identify the key elements of successful EBTD Facilitation including: practical tools, corporate examples/metaphors, and solid research. These may include, but are not limited to: learning orientation, Lewin’s Formula, MARS Model, 5 Modes of Conflict Resolution, GRPI, Plus/Delta feedback, dimensions of success, creative problem solving model, etc. The presenter will also share a variety of models that have found to be successful in adult facilitation, as well as demonstrations of initiatives that transition well to adult programming. At the end of the workshop, participants should have a professional development plan that will help them either continue the work of transitioning to corporate clients and deepening their practice.
Experiential Peacebuilding – framing what is possible through Learning Goals and Evaluation
Wednesday | 3:15p - 4:45p
Presenter(s):
Flavio Bollag
Ana Patel
Experiential Peacebuilding harnesses the power of outdoor, learning by doing challenges to inspire leadership toward peace and collaboration. In this session, we use real examples from 10 years of Outward Bound Peacebuilding programs around the world to frame a discussion of what is possible and feasible when taking on conflict resolution. Our programs have engaged local leaders from 25 countries, including 7 years of work with Palestinians and Israelis. We will focus on the role of setting appropriate learning goals in program design, and the role of peacebuilding focused evaluation to gauge short- and long-term success. Experiential Peacebuilding, our approach can be integrated and adapted to many contexts of experiential education and outdoor leadership development. One of the key challenges is to frame what can be achieved and what can be measured when taking on the complexity of conflict resolution. Participants will leave with real examples from OBCP programs and will work in small teams to draft learning goals and evaluation questions for sample programs from their own experience.
Queering the Outdoors: LGBTQIA+ Ally Training for Outdoor Recreation Professionals
Wednesday | 3:15p - 4:45p
Presenter(s):
Chris Weyant
Through group activities, small group discussion and large group sharing, we will all become LGBTQIA+ allies in action! Participants will be able to recognize challenges the queer community faces in outdoor recreation, more appropriately engage with LGBTQIA+ participants, and connect with others invested in creating a meaningful shift toward LGBTQIA+ inclusive programming. You will leave with language, tools and support to boost inclusion in a space where it is okay to mess up and grow from there.
SNAP SESSION: Type II Fun: A Prescription for Growth?
Wednesday | 3:15p - 3:55p
Presenter(s):
Jonathan Stahl
"It was miserable at the time, but fun, looking back..." If personal growth happens when we leave our comfort zones, what are the risks and rewards of facilitating Type II Fun on outdoor programs? Does Type II Fun just happen or can it be intentionally facilitated with impactful experiential learning in mind? How do we as practitioners leverage this terminology in framing or debriefing adventure experiences? This presentation invites participants to examine Type II Fun through personal reflection and review industry practices and outcomes reported by AORE/AEE members.
SNAP SESSION: Considering the implications of gendered risk in youth outdoor adventure education programming
Wednesday | 4:05p - 4:45p
Presenter(s):
Elisabeth Tilstra
Whether guiding single or mixed-gender courses, leaders of youth outdoor adventure education programs know that gender can play a role both in group dynamics and in risk management. This session looks at how the ways in which outdoor adventure education leaders think about, teach, and manage risk may create gendered experiences for youth participants. We will examine gendered assumptions and expectations that show up in outdoor education, discuss how language can create gender hierarchies, and think about binaries that show up in outdoor programming. Attendees will utilize critical thinking skills to build an awareness of how their own organization's policies, procedures, and culture may be able to create more gender aware and inclusive experiences for youth participants.
Thursday, November 14th
Walking Meditation
Thursday | 8:00a - 9:30a
Presenter(s):
Maurie Lung
One of the most useful ways of attending to our body and regulating our brain is the practice of walking meditation. Walking meditation is a simple practice for developing calm, connectedness, and embodied awareness. Practiced regularly, walking meditation helps us to learn to be aware as we walk and to use the natural movement of walking to cultivate mindfulness and wakeful presence. Experienced in the out-of-doors allows nature to enhance these benefits. A variety of walking meditation activities, along with some background research evidence, will be facilitated and can be applied for youth and adults in a variety of settings. Come to this workshop with your walking shoes on!
Not All Feedback is Created Equal: Designing and Facilitating Effective Feedback Sessions
Thursday | 8:00a - 9:30a
Presenter(s):
Mary Breunig
Jane Panicucci
This experiential workshop will expand upon participants’ capacity to effectively facilitate feedback sessions in groups and one on one settings. The workshop will provide an historical and theoretical understanding of relevant concepts. New innovations in facilitation “best practice” and contemporary insights into the topic of feedback will be explored via a pro-social lens. This session will combine facilitated activities, practical and theoretical insights, and opportunities for practice and reflection. Educators, leaders of organizations, students, corporate trainers, and facilitators will benefit from this workshop as it will analyze, critique, and generate new insights about designing and conducting effective feedback sessions and meetings. Attendees will leave with several key takeaways: a resource list, transferable new knowledge, and improved social justice-oriented facilitation skills. The session is well suited for a wide audience and professionals of any level, aligning well with the conference theme, as effective, developmental feedback is essential to health and well-being.
Training through skits, role-plays, improv, and scenarios
Thursday | 8:00a - 9:30a
Presenter(s):
Elizabeth Andre
Why use interactive drama as a training tool? Research in brain-based learning suggests that we learn best when we’re laughing, active, and slightly anxious. And we’re more likely to be able to recall and use information if we learn it in a way that mimics the situations where we expect to apply it. We’ll discuss how to effectively use interactive drama, explore a few examples, and share insights with each other from our practice.
What's Your Value Proposition?
Thursday | 8:00a - 9:30a
Presenter(s):
Jani Jackson
Are you ready to walk into an organization and explain the value your program will bring to their organization? Are you able to give a concise description of your program in a way that grabs a potential client's interest so they want to know more about you? Or do you sometimes feel like you and your client are speaking different languages? Learn how to talk about the value of your organization and its programs with confidence. In this interactive workshop, you'll create an elevator pitch that gets attention, and begin to develop your own unique value proposition.
Abuse Prevention as an Empowerment Tactic
Thursday | 8:00a - 9:30a
Presenter(s):
Courtney Aber
There are more and more examples of sexual abuse cases in the news every day and outdoor organizations are not immune. Additionally, previous abuse affects a significant part of the population. Learn how to use an abuse prevention system to empower participants and staff while keeping your organization safer as well. We will look at how policies, training, and documentation can work together to create a positive and open culture.
Employing the Future: STEM Experiential Work- Based Learning in the K-12 Classroom
Thursday | 8:00a - 9:30a
Presenter(s):
Erin Conley
The misalignment between workforce needs and current teacher pedagogy is profound and results in businesses being unable to find employees with adequate training for high demand jobs, specifically in STEM fields. Additionally, jobs in STEM are expected to grow by 13% from 2017-2027 (Education Commission of the States, 2018) exacerbating the gap between demand and supply. In order for us to transform the current education classroom so that it prepares students for the workplace and careers of tomorrow we need to create relevant and authentic STEM learning opportunities for our students. In this workshop educators will experience a STEM work-based learning curriculum from the perspective of a learner and teacher. First, participants engage in a STEM lesson from the role of a Landscape Architect. Operating as students in the beginning of the workshop teachers explore how the lines between STEM disciplines dissipate and real-life application of content and skills are brought to life through career based authentic projects and tasks. In the second half of the workshop participants switch to teacher hats and are presented with theory and data supporting this pedagogical shift. Participants will then be guided through the planning process for creating STEM experiential work-based learning lessons. By the end of the workshop participants will be able to Identify key characteristics that bring work-based learning to the school classroom and explore how to revise current lessons and units to include these features.
Landscapes of Belonging: Teaching about race, gender, and marginalization in Outdoor Education
Thursday | 8:00a - 9:30a
Presenter(s):
Cecil Goodman
The objective of this workshop is to invite participants’ critical awareness to create curriculum and learning activities that work against the limits and privileges afforded by cultural space as it applies to Outdoor and Environmental Education. Through a variety of learning activities, participants will learn about the historical foundations of the cultural construction of wilderness, examine its effects on curriculum, and brainstorm ways to address its implications.
Maximizing Serendipity in Adventure Programing
Thursday | 9:45a - 11:15a
Presenter(s):
Chad Thatcher
As adventure leaders, we have a unique opportunity to create experiences that could lead to serendipity and help shape people’s lives. Serendipity requires a sagacious mindset coupled with a novel experience. Adventure provides the perfect opportunity for both. Learn the science behind training your mind to recognize the potential for serendipity and more importantly, the skills to seize the moment. This program will give you effective tools, examples and ideas about promoting serendipity into your adventure programing and how to take full advantage of the powerful AEE/AORE conference experience, potentially one of the most serendipitous moments of your life!
Effective Debriefing Tools & Techniques
Thursday | 9:45a - 11:15a
Presenter(s):
Michelle Cummings
Are you good at the games but not so good at the debrief? Do you ask questions and get blank stares from your participants? This workshop will focus on 10 effective debriefing tools and techniques that are simple and easy to use. We will break each technique down and demonstrate different games or activities teaching the concept. These techniques for processing are sure to liven up your debriefing circles.
Forest Preschools - The triumphs and challenges of taking toddlers outside
Thursday | 9:45a - 11:15a
Presenter(s):
Stevie Lee
Michele Pavilionis
Join us in this interactive workshop as we explore the forest school movement, the merits and challenges of forest preschools, as well as the day to day logistics of a mobile forest preschool. What happens when kids have to go to the bathroom? What about extreme weather? WHAT ABOUT NAPS?!? Join us in this session to find out!
How Outdoor Orientation Programs are Evolving: Ideas, Trends, Obstacles.
Thursday | 9:45a - 11:15a
Presenter(s):
Brent Bell
Patricia Chan
Back by popular demand and updated for 2019! Pre-college Outdoor Orientation Programs (OOPs) are an important entry point for outdoor recreation beginners with over 25k participants a year and a significant growth segment for outdoor education. Research findings indicate OOPs programs can increase positive outcomes like social support, student retention, GPA, and graduation rates. This workshop focuses on how OOPs across the U.S. are evolving to adapt to the changing needs of students while maintain great outcomes. This workshop will use discussion activities to explore how programs are remaining relevant in changing times through the lens of current research, curriculum, marketing, and other trends occurring across the nation.
Making your Program Inclusive for People of All Abilities
Thursday | 9:45a - 11:15a
Presenter(s):
Jeremy Oyen
Whether you know it or not, you have already made the decision around the inclusivity of your program. During this session we will discuss how to assess your program’s inclusivity for people of all abilities and review the process to develop Essential Eligibility Criteria to help guide your staff and your participants (using paddlesports as the foundation).
Career Paths in the Outdoor Industry
Thursday | 9:45a - 11:15a
Presenter(s):
Jose Gonzalez
This workshop explores the different roles, job opportunities and career paths for professionals in the Outdoor Education and Recreation Industry. From salary expectations for entry level positions to supervisor positions and qualifications. Skills and education needed for the next position (supervisor). Entrepreneurship opportunities in the industry. Lastly, participants will walk away with action items to help them continue their paths in the industry.
Expand Your Horizons Through Play: Engaging Students with Experiential and Cooperative Learning
Thursday | 9:45a - 11:15a
Presenter(s):
T Grant Lewis
Ryan Zimmerman
Looking for ways to assist your students with the retention of knowledge and skills? This workshop focuses on the use of experiential and cooperative learning activities to support knowledge and skill development for students. The aim is to provide participants the tools to assist in the creation of a student-centered learning environment, where activities extend beyond the classroom. As active participants, attendees will gain direct experience with a variety of group development activities, ultimately leading up to a practical session where attendees will discuss ways to adapt and apply activities in order to deliver content in their teaching lessons.
Trauma Informed Care for all...universal precautions and considerations for experiential education practitioners.
Thursday | 9:45a - 11:15a
Presenter(s):
Sky Gray
Chrtsine Norton
Dr. Anita Tucker
The Trauma Informed Care movement is gaining significant traction and is entering many schools, treatment facilities, prisons, and programs, in order to assist practitioners in better understanding the impact of high Adverse Childhood Experience(ACE) and related traumas in those we serve. In this workshop we will review the ACE study, administer the ACE questionnaire, take a deep dive into the impact of trauma on the brain and body. You will learn about why experiential approaches are so powerful and effective in the healing process. We will review concepts that will enable attendees to live a more trauma informed life and take the precautions needed better create a safe container for whom we serve.
Conflict: Obstacles and Opportunities in the Outdoors
Thursday | 2:15p - 3:45p
Presenter(s):
Quinn Linford
Sarah Schneider
Literature indicates people are using the outdoors in the U.S. in increasing numbers. (BLM, 2019; NPS, 2019) As usage increases, groups with different goals and priorities are more likely interacting in these limited recreation spaces. Though land managers increasingly apply limits on visitation, users claim they would rather deal with crowding and the associated conflict than with increased regulation (Cole, Watson, Hall, & Spildie, 1997; West, 1981). In this session, we will discuss how professional program leaders can consider causes of conflict, methods of dealing with conflict, and ways to utilize conflict to intentionally facilitate learning in participants.
Harnessing creativity in the classroom using the Experiential Learning Cycle
Thursday | 2:15p - 3:45p
Presenter(s):
Daniel Cape
Christie Miga
Experiential education is a highly effective pedagogy that empowers students to explore their world and construct meaning through intentional experience and reflection. It is also a powerful method of promoting student creativity in the classroom. This experiential and creative workshop will introduce participants to how classroom teachers can incorporate the Experiential Learning Cycle (ELC) into their lessons to foster creativity and enhance learning outcomes. Creative concepts will be addressed throughout the workshop in order to support intentional promotion of creativity for students. Participants will explore the ELC through collaborative activities, real world examples, and reflection in a creative and judgement-free environment. The workshop will conclude with an experiential activity that will invite participants to apply the ELC and creative concepts to their work and lives.
Serious Play: Using Experiential Education Education to Engage in Social Emotional Learning
Thursday | 2:15p - 3:45p
Presenter(s):
Sheldon Franken
Social-Emotional Learning is about building self and social-awareness to enable change and growth – the foundations of resiliency. Experiential Education is the use of kinaesthetic activities to promote learning. This workshop will explore experiential-based games and activities that can be used to enhance social-emotional learning and resiliency with students and colleagues. There will be a strong emphasis on the practice of the experiential learning models of framing and debriefing. These tools and resources can be used in your places of work immediately. This will be a very active and hands-on as we will be engaging in a variety of adventure and experiential based social-emotional learning activities. Come ready to Play!
Thursday | 2:15p - 3:45p
Presenter(s):
Sheldon Franken
Social-Emotional Learning is about building self and social-awareness to enable change and growth – the foundations of resiliency. Experiential Education is the use of kinaesthetic activities to promote learning. This workshop will explore experiential-based games and activities that can be used to enhance social-emotional learning and resiliency with students and colleagues. There will be a strong emphasis on the practice of the experiential learning models of framing and debriefing. These tools and resources can be used in your places of work immediately. This will be a very active and hands-on as we will be engaging in a variety of adventure and experiential based social-emotional learning activities. Come ready to Play!
Outdoor Education and Program Administration in K-12 Independent Schools
Thursday | 2:15p - 3:45p
Presenter(s):
Deborah Powers
This presentation/ workshop will address what it takes to direct and administer outdoor education programs within the K-12 independent school setting. The session will address how outdoor education programming fits into the curriculum of K-12 independent schools. The Chadwick Outdoor Education Program (COE), established in-house in the early 1980’s, and accredited by AEE since 1996, will be used as a case study for the presentation. The mission and curriculum of COE will be shared, as well as the programming offered for students in grades K-12. Responsibilities and duties of outdoor education program administrators will be described: including designing your program; curriculum development; outreach to parent/student body; course area development, relationships with public land managers, and accessing permits; risk management; hiring practices and staff training; and operations. Question and answer will take place in the big group format, as well as small group round table, solution-oriented sharing and discussion.
Mitigating the Negative Effects of Heuristics and Cognitive Bias Using Decision Aids
Thursday | 2:15p - 3:45p
Presenter(s):
Lee Frazer
Aaron Ball
Decision aids are tools designed to help us make good choices and avoid errors in the face of important and complex decisions, particularly situations with uncertain outcomes. Examples in outdoor leadership (OL) include planning checklists and decision trees found in instructor handbooks, policies and procedures manuals, and wilderness first-aid field guides. As ubiquitous as the outdoor gear we depend on, many of us carry them into the field and for a variety of reasons: often because we’re required or encouraged to, but also because we believe we’ll be more prepared if we do. Whatever the case may be, we depend on decision aids for good judgment and decision making – to ferret out the facts, reduce cognitive biases, avoid heuristic traps (errors that arise from heuristics, or mental shortcuts), and approach decisions as objectively as we can. In this presentation, we’ll focus in particular on cognitive biases inherent to outdoor settings and the ways in which decision aids can help mitigate the decision errors associated with them. We may also, depending on time, touch on the influence of social biases on our thinking and risk-taking, such as the impact of social media, and a research project exploring the use of decision aids in avalanche avoidance and backcountry travel which we’re directing. Our agenda will include: 1) A short introduction to: (a) cognitive bias and heuristics (i.e., mental shortcuts) in decision making (including what they are, types, & some current research) and (b) decision aids (what they are, some examples from outdoor leadership, and a few examples of how they’re used in other fields, including aviation and healthcare). 2) An activity and discussion on the ways in which decision aids in outdoor leadership can help us mitigate the negative effects of cognitive bias. 3) A brief overview of research we’re conducting in collaboration with AIARE (the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education) on the use of decision aids in avalanche avoidance, which will include an invitation to participate in our study. Come ready for what we hope will be a lively discussion, including time for reflection on how this topic is relevant to you!
The LGBTQ+ and Allies Retreat: Adapting Existing Programming to Support Unique Populations
Thursday | 2:15p - 3:45p
Presenter(s):
Kelly Sloan
Outdoor Adventures used years of data from Outdoor Orientation Programming, to help inform best practices and garner support and funding within Student Affairs to host an LGBTQ+ Allies retreat, modeled to be repeated. Blending together theory around transition, and mattering and marginalization, then identifying the emotional and physical needs of this population, and assessing the unique risks associated with our queer identified students at USD, Outdoor Adventures hopes to share the successes, learning and challenges of this yearly event.
The Introvert-Aware Experiential Educator
Thursday | 2:15p - 3:45p
Presenter(s):
Callie Auman
Robyn Handley
Think about the way you facilitate. Do you find that you are frequently speaking or prompting your groups to speak? When you think debrief do you automatically associate it with speaking? If so, this session is for you. Extroversion and constant activity are the norm in experiential education, but with 50% of the world identifying as introverts, these techniques inevitably fail to connect with many participants. Using some tried and true experiential reflection techniques as well as several new ones; this workshop will provide concrete tools to incorporate introvert-friendly practices with your groups. Participants should be ready to think about what kind of spaces they are creating for their groups. They will further explore their own daily interactions with silence as well as to learn new practices that can be used with a variety of groups.
Police Community Challenge: Preemptive Community Building to Combat Negative Stereotypes and Biases
Thursday | 4:00p - 5:30p
Presenter(s):
Mark Flynn
Jason Hyland
There is a distinct disconnect between perception and reality of community members and police officers understanding of one another. The Police Community Challenge program is intentionally designed to bring community members and police officers together in a neutral setting outside of traditional police service roles. This gives the two groups an opportunity to learn about one another in a safe and open environment that requires for them to work together in a designed hands on experience. The core components of the program requires learning about each other as individuals and creating foundations of trust. The program leverages the power of peer facilitation by having one officer cofacilitating the entire experience. Each program collects pre and post quantitative and qualitative data aimed at discerning overall impact and future best practices. The program is grounded in the great work being done by the Baltimore Chesapeake Bay Outward Bound School and Baltimore Police Department through their Police Youth Challenge Program and is seeking to share and grow on how this specific program is getting off the ground.
Exploring Power Dynamics in Group Facilitation
Thursday | 4:00p - 5:30p
Presenter(s):
Hannah Kelling
Despite the common conception of the teambuilding facilitator as a neutral party, each choice of word and action may have consequences for a group. Therefore, facilitators must be aware not only of group power dynamics, but also of their own influence upon the group. This workshop is designed to allow facilitators of all experience levels to explore the power of their position. We will review theoretical models of social power and explore AORTA’s techniques to address systemic power imbalances within a group. In this workshop, participants will complete a collection of activities to discuss the nuanced nature of power. You are guaranteed to leave this workshop with a better understanding of how to wield your own power and confront it within the groups you serve!
Effective Staff Training Activities
Thursday | 4:00p - 5:30p
Presenter(s):
Michelle Cummings
You expect staff to think on their feet, why not train them on their feet? This workshop will cover a wide range of helpful staff training topics, from icebreakers, getting-to-know you activities, to activities that help staff embrace their different work styles and gifts. Help your staff develop skills for how a team communicates, makes decisions, recognizes conflicts and solves problems---all in an atmosphere that is non-threatening and FUN! Come prepared to participate and play.
Expanding Beyond an "Outdoor" Pre-orientation program to include other "experiential education options
Thursday | 4:00p - 5:30p
Presenter(s):
Brien Sheedy
Stuart Chapin
Outdoor Orientations Programs are learning expeditions that bring many benefits to participants. The bonds and community that are developed can help ease the transition to college. At many schools these programs are optional while other places they are part of orientation. The Whitman College Outdoor Programs "Scramble" program has been running for 42 years and did a comparison study in 2015 of 50 other programs. Whitman College is currently transitioning beyond just outdoor trips to providing "Immersions" (Experiential education) bonding activity choices for all. Community building during service trips, topic exploration trips and athletics are now options to give all incoming students a "community building" experience during orientation. Lessons learned from Whitman's "Scramble" Program, the comparison study, and the new Immersions Program will be explored. Management topics such as staffing, volunteers, training, risk management, equipment, logistics, marketing, curriculum and new program development will be covered. Participants will be encouraged to explore ideas and techniques that could be transplanted to other programs. Some of those ideas are likely to come from other participants and program representatives in the session. There will be opportunities for questions and answers in addition to time for participants to share challenges and advise with others in the room. Anyone managing a pre-orientation or orientation program will benefit from this presentation in which a group of individuals with similar challenges and goals will be able to share their collective knowledge and develop relationships via networking that can lead to stronger programs nation-wide.
Bringing back the bike! Mainstreaming the bicycle within Outdoor Adventure Education curriculum.
Thursday | 4:00p - 5:30p
Presenter(s):
Paul Stonehouse
Before learning to drive, bikes are the vehicles through which kids explore the world. This presentation celebrates the bike as a venue for Outdoor Leadership, and recommends – through trip-leader guidelines, dynamic-site risk management strategies, simple DIY rigs, and digital mapping tools – how you can incorporate bike-touring and bikepacking into your program. Come rediscover the joy of biking, and learn why cycling is the closest thing we have to an environmental silver-bullet. With the imminent threat of climate change, and oil requiring increasingly expensive/destructive means to access, a post-carbon reality seems unavoidable. Outdoor Adventure Education is strategically positioned to assist in this transition to a more sustainable way of living. By prioritizing non-contrived activities, like biking, that contribute to a life (rather than merely programmatic) curriculum, we help participants envision alternative ways of living that emphasize health, well-being, and social/environmental justice, while simultaneously strengthening the communities in which they dwell.
Gender and Sexuality - Recreation's Role in Challenging the Binary
Thursday | 4:00p - 5:30p
Presenter(s):
Jordan McIntire
Wayne Thomas Means
This presentation will provide participants with an overview of the various dimensions of sex, gender, sexuality, and gender expression based on contemporary literature. We will discuss the commonly sanctioned cultural ideologies associated with these various identities and leisure and recreation's role in challenging or reinforcing them. Participants will learn the difference between these important identities and what they can do throughout their organization (in programming, staffing, marketing, structurally) to support individuals who do not exist within heteronormative binaries.
Transforming Misadventure into Frontier Adventure: Stepping onto the Threshold
Thursday | 4:00p - 5:30p
Presenter(s):
Matt Hayes
Will Black
As adventure and wilderness professionals there is an ever increasing and important concern with not only the physical, but the psychological safety of those we work with. This can sometimes feel at odds with a recognition that so much of the powerful transformative experiences we can offer are about dancing on the edges of our Zones of Tolerance. This workshop will introduce a framework of “Adventure Thresholds” to assess the functioning of the people we work with and support them identifying their own thresholds. The use of mindfulness and intentionality, coupled with relationships grounded in principles of Trauma Informed Practice, will support us to explore and step onto our own personal thresholds. We will discuss what is needed to transform what might be and or has been an experience of misadventure into an opportunity for growth.
Friday, November 15th
Accessing Public Lands: Understanding the Permit Process and Your Potential Personal Liability
Friday | 10:00a - 11:15a
Presenter(s):
Paul Sanford
Samuel Hensold
Benjamin Johnson / Dave Ballenger
America's public lands provide a wealth of opportunities for outdoor recreation and education. In most cases, outdoor leaders are required to obtain special recreation permits from land management agencies to provide these experiences. What some outdoor leaders do not realize is that the permit requirement applies whenever students pay to participate, including situations in which participants earn academic credit. If an outdoor leader conducts an activity without securing the required permit, he or she may be subject to fines and significant personal liability. Consequently, securing a permit should be standard operating procedure. However, for first time applicants (and some veterans), the process for obtaining permits can be intimidating. Fortunately, this double-length workshop will demystify the process. A team of AORE veterans and federal agency representatives will provide an overview of the permitting processes of the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. In addition, the team will spend extra time on those aspects of the process that cause outdoor leaders the most difficulty, including the indemnification and additional insured requirements. We will explore ways to work through these issues and review the types of costs that AORE and AEE members may be asked to pay when applying for a permit. Finally, we will provide an update on legislative proposals working their way through Congress that would simplify the permitting process.
Online Experiential Education: Contradiction or Evolution?
Friday | 10:00a - 11:15a
Presenter(s):
Bruce Saxman
Alison Detjens
The demand for distance and online education is increasing from traditional students and adult learners motivated by professional advancement and external expectations seeking a flexible education that will accommodate constraints on their time such as jobs and family responsibilities. This session will investigate the pros and cons of this trend for experiential educators and areas of study that require a practitioner component to their education as well as examine the opportunities available for programs willing to make the leap.
The Virtual Mountains are Calling and I Must (Oculus) Go
Friday | 10:00a - 11:15a
Presenter(s):
Nathan Williams
As much as we encourage our participants to get out of their comfort zones, the phrase “virtual reality” (VR) might send some of us into panic mode. Whether people saying “insta” makes you think of bad coffee before social media or if Ready Player One could have been your autobiography, this workshop will demonstrate ways you can use VR to augment your (real world) outdoor programs. You’ll get a brief introduction to VR technologies before trying out some of the ways that outdoor experiences can be delivered virtually, either for outdoor program marketing or as stand-alone programs. No technology experience or gear is necessary but bring your smartphone and Google Cardboard if you packed them!
Bikepacking Basics: Logistics, Accessibility & Marketing to Beginners
Friday | 10:00a - 11:15a
Presenter(s):
Eva Dunn-Froebig
Rob Cook
Bikepacking and other forms of bicycle travel are booming, yet few outdoor learning centers have programs incorporating this type of outdoor recreation. Discover how to envision, implement and market a bikepacking program that appeals to students who have never been on a bike tour-- and even for students who don’t regularly bike or camp. Hear strategies directly from program coordinators who have developed bikepacking programs on college campuses, including planning, logistics, risk management, and marketing. Adventure Cycling, a nonprofit organization with a mission to inspire, empower, and connect people to travel by bicycle, will provide free resources and tips on how to develop accessible biking and camping experiences, like Coffee Outside, a short bike ride and meet up to make and drink coffee from a camp stove. This session will provide outdoor recreation center staff and students with the tools to discover self-contained bicycle travel.
How to Care Less
Friday | 10:00a - 11:15a
Presenter(s):
Paul Dreyer
This workshop aims to provide a deeper look at impermanence and how it relates to being an educator or administrator for a school or outdoor program. Experiential educators are passionate, loving, and caring people. That includes YOU. Your caring provides incredible programming and builds lasting connections, AND… sometimes caring too much can negatively effective you and your group. Sometimes you need to care less. This workshop give you some tools to do just that.
Building Resilience: HeartMath to Release Stress and Increase Mental and Emotional Balance.
Friday | 10:00a - 11:15a
Presenter(s):
Leah Chambers
Tim Moore
HeartMath is proven to help reduce stress and anxiety by increasing one's inner balance and self-security. In this presentation, expect to learn how to access the heart's intuition to release stress, find mental and emotional balance, and build resilience. HeartMath tools and techniques are based on over 25 years of scientific research concerning the psychophysiology of stress, emotions, and the interactions between the heart and brain. This tool is an effective intervention for anyone who experiences stress themselves, or who works with a population under stress. We will speak to typical stress responses, how we integrate this intervention with acute students in our wilderness immersion program (NVW), refer to our own data as we track our students' progress, and teach workshop participants how to use this tool and integrate it into their own personal and professional work.
A Dialogue on Social Justice Issues in Experiential Education
Friday | 10:00a - 11:15a
Presenter(s):
Karen Warren
Mary Breunig
Dr. Anja Whittington / Kari Grain
The March 2019 special issue of the Journal for Experiential Education was on Social Justice in Experiential Education. This panel discussion will further the dialogue about this important topic. Authors published in the special issue will present their research and practice informed by social justice in more depth. Panelists topics will include an overview of social justice in outdoor adventure; developing a critical consciousness by embracing social justice literacy and practice; outdoor careers and motherhood; and power and privilege in international service learning. Facilitated dialogues on other topics generated by workshop participants will also be part of the discussion.
SNAP SESSION: Adapting to New State Industry Standards for Challenge Courses and Climbing Walls
Friday | 10:00a - 10:30a
Presenter(s):
Tammie Stenger-Ramsey
Meghan Loughry
Over the past few years several states have changed industry standards for built aerial recreation facilities. We will discuss how Western Kentucky University navigated the new Kentucky standards, share lessons learned from the experience, and provide tips on how to move forward should your state make a similar change.
SNAP SESSION: Empowering students for Earth-centric leadership in an environmental studies summer program
Friday | 10:45a - 11:15a
Presenter(s):
Jim MaKinster
Many summer experience-based programs address environmental issues from a scientific perspective. However, the inherent interdisciplinary nature of environmental issues and problems requires one to consider a variety of perspectives; including the scientific, economic, political, social, aesthetic, and ethical dimensions. The Environmental Studies Summer Youth Institute (ESSYI) is a summer program for high school students that focuses on the complexity of environmental problem solving and empowering young people in terms of environmental leadership. In this presentation we will use the Earth Education Framework (Assadourian, 2017) as a means to assess the nature, design, and implementation of ESSYI. The Earth Education Framework consists of six principles, each of which can serve as a tool for evaluation. This framework was used to inform our own program design and we hope to illuminate the ways in which other programs can use it as well.
DEEP DIVE SESSIONS
Core Elements of Adventure Therapy Certification: Facilitation and Processing in Adventure Therapy
Friday | 1:15p - 5:15p
Presenter(s):
Federico Borroel
Kim Sacksteder
Gary Stauffer; Noel Pompa; Ricardo Santiago
AEE’s Therapeutic Adventure Professional Group is glad to offer this Professional Development Intensive to seasoned and burgeoning adventure therapists. Presenters will use a range of teaching methods to explore Facilitation and Processing in Adventure Therapy, one of the ten Core Elements of Adventure Therapy Certification. This element focuses on the effectiveness of the adventure therapy experience, assists clients in finding direction and sources for functional change, and creates changes that are lasting and integrated into the clients’ lives. Participants will engage in experiential activities, didactic learning, and a learning lab commensurate to his/her/their level of experience.
Creating a more beautiful world: emergent strategies for diversity, inclusion and beyond
Friday | 1:15p - 5:15p
Presenter(s):
Meg Bolger
In the past few years many of us have started to tackle issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in ways we never have before. But many people feel overwhelmed with questions. Where do I start? What do I change? How do I bridge the gap between understanding and my participants/students understanding? What do I do with the polarization I'm feeling in and outside of work? This session will invite participants to bring the questions they have about diversity, inclusion, equity, and together we'll take a deep dive to tackle these questions in service of a more beautiful world.
Recreate your classroom as a student-centered learning team
Friday | 1:15p - 5:15p
Presenter(s):
Ed Maggart
Christie Miga
Scott McClintock
In most academic classrooms, students are passive receptors of whatever information the teacher decides to share with them through lecture, worksheets, and reading. Students in this type of classroom get good at figuring out what the teacher wants them to know, memorizing that information for a test or writing it in a paper, and then emptying that information out of their brain so they can repeat the cycle. Research shows that there is poor retention of content and skills over time, students do not tend to change their understanding of the world based on what they have learned, they see little relevance to their daily lives, and they are much more likely to be bored and disengaged, be disciplinary problems, and skip school than in a classroom that operates as a student-centered learning team. What would it be like if students saw relevance in their work were involved in projects that were important to them and to others outside their classroom? What if you were their guide an a learning adventure every day? What if they didn’t want to miss school because they were a critical member of a learning team that was doing important work? Come to this workshop to find out how to transform your classroom into an experiential learning team. We will look at theory, research, and successful examples to set the stage. Whether you teach preschool or middle school language arts, run push out programs at an environmental center or camp, teach high school science or a college class, the approaches and structures we will share with you will allow you to begin to create a unique learning team based on your personality, your students, and the goals you have for them. We will provide time for you to develop an idea to take back to your classroom and put into action! We will discuss how to grow your initial efforts into a classroom revolution. It is not a cookbook approach, rather a framework you can utilize to create your own vision of a learning team with your students!
Resilience, Leadership & Story
Friday | 1:15p - 5:15p
Presenter(s):
Eric Boggs
Christine Norton
Storytelling matters. Stories have the impact the lives of others but also shape our own futures and improve our capacity to adapt to challenges, navigate ambiguity and recover from set-backs. Attention to the craft of storytelling emphasizes meaning making as an vital component of the experiential learning cycle and leadership development which are often ignored. We will follow a"didactic-demo-do- reflect" approach so participants leave with newfound efficacy in storytelling tools for resilient leadership. Gain resources to develop their own stories, and tools to listen to the experiences of others. This workshop will be interactive and participative as you work to craft your story, refine how its told and share with your peers.
The Experiential Creative Generalist: The Choice of Change
Friday | 1:15p - 5:15p
Presenter(s):
Kim Neal Wasserburger
Kim Olson
The importance of sincere and genuine experience transcends time and technology and is the marrow of change. The eloquence of change is a subtle recognition of perspective in a shared experience, backed into the corner of our own opportunity and given the Choice of Change. As Experiential Creative Generalist guides “alchemist trash pickers”- we choose available tools from the canyon to the clouds (adventure programming, expressive arts, body/life stories, metaphor, perspective, sensory exploration, music, dance, and more) for the intervention, and mysteriously but intentionally move to transference of the change, an art and a learned skill. We will experience, educate, navigate, investigate, explore, move, practice, laugh, reflect and open up to CHANGE. Participants will find usable skills and understanding of change within the context of wellness and balance for themselves and others. Old stories will intersect with new stories creating cohesiveness of mind, body, spirit, and soul and become a part of the mystery and the mystery a part of us.
Tying the Strongest Knots: Building an Organizational Culture of Risk Management
Friday | 1:15p - 5:15p
Presenter(s):
Steve Smith
The goal of this workshop are to (1) Explore how the concept of "Safety Culture" has evolved throughout the ages; (2) Identify organizational steps that can help foster a culture of risk management; (3) Apply these steps and theories to participants' own programs in small-group exercises and scenarios. This presentation outlines a brief history of safety theory through the ages, identifies major events that signaled changes in how we think about safety management in various industries, shows how theories have evolved over time and looks at current thinking regarding ways to build a culture of risk management. We will use videos, scenarios, stories, and small group discussions to explore the concepts, and end with a "cheat sheet" of steps to foster a culture of risk management in your program. Participants will have a chance for a deep dive into their own program's organizational culture and to build out an action plan for themselves to apply upon returning home.
Universal Design, Inclusive Programming & Accessibility on Challenge Courses
Friday | 1:15p - 5:15p
Presenter(s):
Melanie Wills
Moving from a mindset of creating opportunities for all to engage in meaningful outdoor programming, this workshop will dive deeper into what it takes to utilize challenge courses for people with disabilities. This interactive format will allow participants to go through simple adaptations that can be used in initiatives and low challenge courses. It will further unpack what can be done on a high challenge course (in retrofitting, new building, specialty gear and programming) to provide an impactful experience for anyone seeking to join your program.