TRAINING SHOULD BEGIN WITH A SOLID FOUNDATION OF BASIC TECHNICAL AND FACILITATION SKILLS.

Which Training is Right for Me?

High 5’s Recommended Training Plan

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Novice

If you are looking to begin or enhance your skills as a challenge course practitioner, your first experience should be Adventure Basics Level 1 Training, our 5-day, 40-hour workshop that will start you on your path. This workshop focuses on the basic skills necessary to operate a low and high challenge course. Upon successful completion of Adventure Basics, participants are encouraged to begin facilitating on a challenge course within the limits of their training and competency level.

This workshop is also valuable to practitioners who have received prior training who would like to refresh their skills and take part in a focused immersion training. After completing Adventure Basics Level 1 Training you are eligible to take the Level 1 Practitioners Certification Test.

Advancing Your Skills

The next steps to advance your training should include an Annual Skills Refresher from a Qualified Challenge Course Professional that start with a Beyond Basics Level 2 Training or equivalent. Successful completion of Beyond Basics Level 2 Training qualifies you to take the Level 2 Practitioners Certification Test.  Additional programming includes taking a Managing an Adventure Program (Industry standards dictate that challenge course programs have someone on-site who has attended a manager-level training). Successful completion of MAP qualifies you to take the Challenge Course Manager Certification Test And, here are other workshops we offer, for specialized focus.

Recommended Staff Training for Adventure Programs

Training should begin with a solid foundation of basic technical and facilitation skills and be updated regularly to stay current with best practices in the field and with the needs of one’s program. High 5 offers a variety of workshops to support ongoing staff development plans and can customize any of them to best fit with the needs of your program and staff.

Professional Trainings vs In-House Training

Trainings by Qualified Challenge Course Professionals are a vital piece of every organization’s training plan. In-house trainings that refresh and re-visit the various skill sets are also invaluable to maintaining good practices among staff. We recommend a combination of both. It is not a best practice for a program to conduct internal trainings only.

Often a staff person who attends a professional training provided by an external vendor may want to come back to train others on his/her staff. However, too often these efforts include only a fraction of the time and content of the original training. They also tend to focus on technical skills only with insufficient time spent on the broader but equally important topics such as program design, proper sequencing, program philosophy, etc. These “second” and “third” generation trainings can result in diminished quality over time.

We believe that developing and growing your skills and repertoire should be a dynamic and ongoing process. We encourage you to practice and update your skills regularly and re-visit workshops to keep your technical and facilitation skills current. Don’t forget our Annual Practitioners Symposium for a winter injection of new games, new friends and new things to think about.