AEE eNews Update September 2010
Tom LaMonica - The Essence of an Experiential Educator
AEE Council on Research and Evaluation (CORE)
Camp Greenville, Voyager Program, Point6 Sock Press Release
AEE Accredited Member Profile, Charleston County Parks & Recreation, Josh Hall, Outdoor Program Manager
By Josh Hall and Kirsten Kindt, AEE
Charleston County Park & Recreation (CCPRC) serves the community of Charleston County with nontraditional recreation for summer camps, after school programs, colleges and universities, and the citizens of Charleston County. What many of our clients walk away with is the excitement of having experienced something for the first time in their lives, like climbing or paddling, and lately we have had the most interest in the stand-up paddleboarding craze. One of our major clients for outdoor recreation are summer camp participants - 1200 kids from 6 to 16 years old each year, totaling over 8500 user days. We also serve colleges like Charleston College and the Citadel that outsource the outdoor curriculum to us.
My role at CCPRC as program manager is to oversee the challenge course, youth/summer camps, climbing and outdoor facility, and water sports. One gem that I am proud of is our having hosted the East Canoe Kayak Festival each April for 20 years. I have also enjoyed being involved in the stand up paddleboarding phenomenon. Our team has even written curriculum and standards we hope will be adopted by the American Canoe Association.
The best part of the job that we do is exposing people to activities that they would not otherwise experience. Being exposed to paddling on water can change lives, and yet it is difficult to do without certain resources. One would think that rock climbing would be out of reach for most people in the Lowcountry, but our Climbing Wall facility allows for a great introduction to the sport. In fact, our wall served over 20,000 people last year.
One of the biggest challenges we face is making sure that our program continues to be relevant and meets the needs of the public. We have to keep changing with demands. For example, when I first started 15 years ago, a 2.5 day course was standard, but now the public demands the same type of experience in 2 - 4 hours. Our programming had to be modified to fit the short time our society allows for pleasure, and to compete with so many other things people need to spend time on. Our philosophy has generally stayed the same. We always work to keep the program marketable and at the same time maintain the standards of safety and education.
We pride ourselves on being at the highest level standards available, and that was our motivation for seeking AEE Accreditation. I believe that the work we do is important and achieving the highest safety standards is equally important.
I got into this type of work early because I participated in outdoor programs in high school and college. I was fortunate enough to spend a semester with NOLS and from there I grew mostly from the school of hard knocks. And I spent a lot of time in the field here at Charleston County Parks & Recreation learning the all the aspects of this industry. 
A typical program at CCPRC starts with short introductions and checking in with the participants to see what their goals are. That way we can modify the program a bit to make sure most people will hit their objectives. A mentor of my once told me that “we don’t teach outdoor activities, we teach people”. I have tried to pass this idea on to all our staff. With all of our programs, we want to turn people into active enthusiasts and hopefully not have this be their first and last outdoor adventure. We need to keep them safe to do that. A big part of safety is letting people know the risks up front and working with them so they become conscious of the risks and their limitations. Water and weather can turn fast.
I became involved with AEE when CCPRC hosted the SE Regional conference. I had some mentors in the membership. Back around 2000, we became serious about AEE accreditation. At the time we went through the self-assessment, I had moved from Youth Programs to the paddling program. In 2004 we became accredited. In 2008, the Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission was proud to receive the David J Webb program of Excellence Award from AORE.
*****CCPRC Staff Spotlght
Joshua Hall began his career with PRC in 1996 as a summer camp counselor for the Adventure and Teen venture camp program. Over the next two years, while working for Charleston County School District, he continued his relationship with PRC’s outdoor program as one of the first part time Climbing Wall Assistants and a facilitator of the Challenge Course. A native of Rhode Island, Joshua is a graduate of Roger Williams University with a BS in Social Science and minor Education. In 1998 Joshua began his Full time career with CCPRC as the outdoor program’s Youth Coordinator and Camp Director. In 2002 he became the Water Coordinator and was a member of the team that worked to get CCPRC’s Outdoor Program Accredited by the Association for Experiential Education (AEE). CCPRC was the first, and still the only, Park and Recreation to be accredited by AEE. In 2005 Joshua was promoted to the Manager for the Outdoor Program, a position he currently occupies.
Joshua is most happy when he is teaching in the outdoors and sharing his knowledge with both youth and adult. H is a current Board of Director for the American Canoe Association and member of their Safety and Education Counsel. He holds certification in both whitewater canoe and kayak, and is an Instructor Trainer Educator for Coastal Kayak (one of 18 in the country). In addition, Joshua is a Wilderness First Responder, American Heart BLS Instructor, and Leave No Trace Trainer.
Over the years at PRC Joshua has been a part of expanding the camp program to Wanamaker County Park and developing a relationship with Charleston Community Sailing to add sail as an activity for the Adventure and Teen Venture Camps. As the current chair of the agencies East Coast Canoe & Kayak Festival, he has continued the tradition of establishing this event as the premier paddlesport event, not only on the east coast but the country as a whole.
” I am very fortunate to work with and for so many wonderful and professional people. Thanks for the opportunity to share my passion.”
Tom LaMonica - The Essence of an Experiential Educator
By Long-time AEE Member Craig Dobkin
Tom LaMonica died in early September leaving a profound loss in the world of Experiential Education. An extraordinary teacher, inspirational coach, husband, father of 5, grandfather of 3, progressive farmer, teacher for 39 years at the Friends School in Baltimore Maryland and an undefeatable spirit to all that met him. In the world of EE he founded, created and nurtured the Genesee Valley Outdoor Learning Center (Parkton, Maryland), which offered clients infinite experiences in outdoor, adventure, experiential and environmental education. Tom is best known for his philosophy on life, unique teaching style and unsurpassed ability to motivate the 100% in each person he came in contact with.
He is responsible for the overwhelming success at the GVOLC with year round programs, camps, corporate retreats, full-length football and lacrosse fields for community use. Hundreds of experiential educators got their first experiences in our profession here (GVOLC) and now practice their “GVOLC” throughout the U.S.A. Along with the fields and numerous Challenge courses over lakes, mountain ridges he had a fully working and thriving farm were children from Baltimore had first hand experiences about animals, growing food and the awesome environment of many habitats. Tom’s ability to make the impossible possible astounded his colleagues, students and clients. In his commitment to his profession, he mentored many young EE professionals. Tom has left us with many tasks, goals to accomplish and the continual vision he embraced in all he did. He will be missed in mind and body but his spirit remains a guiding light for all of us.
AEE Council on Research and Evaluation (CORE)
By Tiffany Wynn and Bobbi Beale
What an exciting time! The Council on Research and Evaluation is looking forward to seeing you at the annual international conference in Las Vegas! This year we have a great deal to report. In 2010 CORE launched the White Papers Project and will unveil several “state of knowledge” papers at the conference, supported the development of the new Distinguished Researcher Award, increased our collaboration with government funding agencies, and identified many worthy goals for 2011!
Please consider attending the CORE reception on Friday night from 6:30-7:30! We will be previewing the spring 2011 REAP Symposium (Research and Evaluation of Adventure Programming), to be held near DC. If you have ever wondered what REAP is about or how it relates to CORE, or if you would like to hear from leading researchers, possible funders and enthusiastic students who have benefited from the various relationships offered through CORE, join us! We will begin with some highlights from AEE members who have successfully navigated funding sources and collaborated with universities and programs to produce meaningful research. Then we’ll break into small groups so that you can get more in depth information about the topics or issues that interest you. Further, CORE leadership and AEE members involved in research and evaluation efforts will be available to speak with anyone who would like more information or who would like to join CORE.
CORE would also like to invite all conference participants to attend our Annual CORE Business Meeting. This meeting is open to everyone and your ideas become the fuel for the next round of strategic planning. The Annual CORE Business Meeting will be held Friday at noon; check the conference brochure for location details.
