High 5 Community Blog

Heads up! Looks like PEP grants will be announced tomorrow.

2010-06-17T15:52:11Z

http://www.federalregister.gov/inspection.aspx#spec_E

Taking Play Serious

2010-05-25T17:16:12Z

The topic of brain research is hot and as our field continues to grow, so does our need to validate the effectiveness of our programs on those they serve. Experiential programming, in most circumstances, offers participants the opportunity to learn through doing, or put differently, through playing. Though play is seemingly fun and engaging, does it serve a purpose? We seem to think so but, how do we prove it? Dr. Stuart Brown, a pioneer of research on play, is beginning to provide that research and says that play is more than just fun, that it's vital to human development and intelligence in children and, more interestingly, also in adults. Brown is providing scientific evidence that being playful, in a wide sense of the word, is critical to healthy human development and that the more play we experience, the better we socialize, adapt, solve problems and meet with success, sound Familiar?

Phonetically Speaking

2010-05-20T20:21:21Z

Phonetically Speaking
A challenging hidden message and sequencing puzzle of fun.

Props: Index cards and a marker
You need to create the sound cards before hand. To begin you'll need to think about a message you want your group to figure out like, "Together everyone achieves more."
The next step is to divide each word into syllables or sounds like, to-geth-er. Finally, create an index card for each syllable or sound in the phrase. Instead of using the obvious to, geth and er, try something like two, geth and rrrrr.

Group Size: It's important to think about your group size. Each participant should have one index card with one crazy sound. The phrase "Together everyone achieves more" can be split into 10-12 sounds.
Focus Areas: Problem Solving
Objective: The objective is for the group to place themselves in the correct sequence and figure out the hidden message.

Guidelines:
1. Each participant is handed one index card with letters that can be sounded out printed on it.
2. Participants are asked to not share their card with anyone else. In fact, once participants look at their card, suggest they put in their pocket.
3. Participants may only share the sound the letters on their card make when sounded out. They may not say anything else.

Facilitator Tips:
This can be a challenging activity. To create a greater chance of success, I have sometimes given out the cards in the correct sequence. This eliminates the sequencing objective but can still be quite funny and challenging.

Hulbert to High 5

2010-04-22T00:07:25Z

We are often asked at conferences and in trainings how we ended up with such great jobs. Each one of us has a different story, a different path that has landed us at High 5 Adventure, but for 3 of us... that story has a similar sound. That path meandered through the same place, the Hulbert Outdoor Center.

]]>
The Hulbert Outdoor Center marked my first full time job out of college. I started at Hulbert in January of 1997 as a School Program Instructor. During my time at Hulbert I had many roles including Voyaguers/Elderhostel Trip Leader, Rock Specialist, Andy's Minnion and Challenge Course Trainer. It is in that last role that I first met Ryan McCormick.

Ryan McCormick's first full time job out of college was also at the Hulbert Outdoor Center. While Ryan and I had met the year earlier when Hulbert hosted the AEE Northeast Regional Conference, this was our first opportunity to work together. I was the trainer for the challenge course during Ryan's first staff training, a role Ryan would later take on. It was the fall of 1999 and ironically... the 6 founding members of High 5 were laying the foundations for their new organization.

Prior to his time at Hulbert, Ian Doak led trips for Peak Adventures and programmed for Smugglers Notch. It is unclear to Ian and I when we actually met for the first time. It likely was back at the 1999 AEE conference at Hulbert when Ryan and Ian were on the service crew and I was working at Hulbert. Ryan and Ian met at Lyndon State College in the Adventure Based Management program and Ian joined Ryan on the Hulbert School Program staff in 2000. While I had left Hulbert by this point, I worked a few weekend challenge course program with Ian and Ryan.

Ian continued to work at Hulbert as a program coordinator for school programs and a trip leader for Voyagers until 2002 when he left to work for Benson's Woodworking in NH as Timber Framer. Ryan stayed on with the Hulbert School Programs, taking on the role of Assistant Director of School Programs until 2005, when he took a position with Project Adventure, Inc with the Trianing and Consulting department.

While our collective paths only crossed briefly at Hulbert, over the years we all became good friends and when we would meet up at conferneces or social gatherings, we would inevitably start to talk about how great it would be to all work together. Little did we know that this would actually happen. It was Ian who was the first of us join the High 5 team as a part time builder in 2005, while also filling his time as a NOLS Instructor. A few years latter Ryan made the transition from Hulbert to working at Project Adventure. I began working for High 5 as a contract trainer while working full time at Camp Takodah and shortly after had the opportunity to join the High 5 family full time in 2006. In 2008, Ian officially took on his current position as the Ropes Course Design Coordinator. Completing our reunion, in April of this year, Ryan joined our Training and Program Design team.

The team at High 5 Adventure is a family. When you spend as much time together as we all do, it helps to like one another. We consider the people we work with friends and for 3 of us... that friendship started at back at the Hulbert Outdoor Center 10 years ago.

Chris "Goose" Ortiz
HOC 1997-99
Ryan McCormick
HOC 1999-2005
Ian Doak
HOC 2000-2002

Wake up!

2010-03-20T12:00:00Z

Here in New England, it is not often that the first day of spring and the look out my window match up but it appears that Mother Nature and the Calendar have synchronized for us in 2010. While I may be speaking prematurely as far as the weather goes... Spring does mean something for all of you challenge course managers in the Northern regions: it's time to wake up your challenge course from its winter slumber. It's time to take a walk through the woods and see what surprises are in store for you after the winter storms dropped not only snow but also possibly limbs and trees. Here's a list of things to put onto your spring-cleaning to do list to make sure your challenge course is ready to go for that first program of year.

]]>

The first thing you will want to do is to take that walk through the course and look closely for damage done over winter. As you take this walk, don't just look up at your element cables and structure... look down too. In a soft wood forest, branches shed under the weight of the snow and ice as well as the occasional treetop. Small branches rarely do major harm but large branches and tree shrapnel on the ground may be a sign to you to look more closely at cables and connections while setting up your equipment for the season.

If you decided to take down your equipment at seasons end last fall, it is time to climb and hang your gear back up for the season. If you can avoid it... don't climb alone. All the winter day dreaming from your office desk chair does not count as practice for climbing on the course, so be prepared and climb with a buddy. Mistakes happen to the most experienced climbers. It is nice to have someone around who can help you out of a jam or throw you a prussic in your time of need. At very least... have a cell phone handy to call someone should you find your self in a time of need.

Take your time while you are setting up your equipment and be intentional. You should be deliberate with every clip of your lanyard and every cable connection you look at. Take it all in. Do you have to put a wrench on every nut and bolt? No, but take notice. If you notice any damage, call your vendor prior to your inspection so that we aren't surprised during your inspection. We schedule enough time to complete your inspection but we do not always have the time to make repairs on the spot if we do not know about them in advance.

Unpack your gear well in advance of your first program. There is nothing worse than getting your harnesses and ropes out the day before the first program of the season to find a red squirrel has found its way into the storage bin and made a nest out of your ropes. Give yourself plenty of time to shop. Budgets are tight and it would be a shame to waste you program's hard earned cash on overnight shipping.

Make sure your rapid links and other connectors are lubricated if you did not get a chance to do that when you packed up in the fall. Lubricate rapid links if you didn't in the fall. A syliconized lubricant works great but most lubricants are fine if you are careful to wipe away any excess so it does not get onto your other equipment.

I think that is enough for you to think about on the first day of spring. I, for one, am going to go enjoy the sun and warmth. I have a feeling that winter is not done with us yet and the challenge course can wait until Monday.

~Chris Ortiz
High 5 Adventure

Lake George Video

2010-01-14T21:30:07Z

This is a great little video of Lake George students who just finished up their Adventure Unit. Thanks Kyle.

High 5 Symposium 2010

2009-12-16T21:57:42Z

It is a big year here at High 5. 2010 is our 10th year anniversary and a big part of the year long festivities is our Winter Symposium. The Symposium will be on March 6th, 2010. Put it in your calendar now, you don't want to miss out on this one!

High 5 Website Makeover!

2009-12-16T21:54:18Z

High 5's website makeover gives us a New look, New features... AND a staff blog. Still to come is a new online store with our Challenge course products, adventure facilitator products and our books. Stay tuned!

When it has been too long since your last visit to us here in Vermont... you can make a virtual visit to our website for the latest news and information in the High 5 world.