PROJECT ADVENTURE’S

2013 CAROL M. WHITE PEP PACKET

Prepared by Project Adventure with assistance from Insight Grants Development, LLC

Table of Contents

Packet Overview 2

I. Essential Points 3

II. Selection Criteria 8

Need 8

Quality of Design 11

Quality of Management Plan 13

Quality of Project Evaluation 13

III. Making the Case for Adventure 16

Components of Adventure 16

Theoretical Support for Adventure Components 18

References 21

How Project Adventure helps you meet the PEP Absolute Priority 23

IV. Project Adventure Model Descriptions 25

V. Detail Program Components, Challenge Course and Equipment Options 32

VI. Budget and Pricing Guidelines 38

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PACKET OVERVIEW

The purpose of this packet is to assist you in writing your 2013 Carol M. White PEP Grant.

We have created this packet for several reasons. The first is to assist you in making a case for

the use of adventure as a vehicle for meeting the needs of your students. The second is to

provide specific information about Project Adventure services and products to help you

create an implementation design. Detailed information for your budget section can be

obtained by calling Bill Bates, 978-524-4658. Finally, we want to highlight specific aspects

of the grant to which you should pay close attention.

Nothing can substitute for a very careful reading of the Request For Proposals (RFP)

provided by the U.S. Department of Education. Please consider the information we

provide as a guide. We assume that you either have grant writing skills or will find someone

appropriate to help you.

This year’s grant is especially complex, so more than ever, we recommend that you either

enlist someone with strong grant writing and organizational skills or utilize a professional

such as Insight Grants Development, LLC. Insight offers a discounted rate for either full

proposal development or a variety of editing services to any organization that includes

Project Adventure products and services in their PEP grant applications. For assistance,

contact Rosalie Mangino-Crandall at:

716.474.0981 or rmangino@insightgrants.com

Website: www.insightgrants.com

This packet is organized into five sections:

I. Essential Points to Keep in Mind

II. Specific Information about “Selection Criteria”

III. Making the Case for Adventure (Project Adventure’s Comprehensive Adventure Program

for Physical Education)

IV. Project Adventure Model Descriptions (sample three-year implementation roll outs)

V. Information on challenge courses, equipment and training

Passages or statements taken directly from the RFP are presented in italics.

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I. ESSENTIAL POINTS TO KEEP IN MIND

A. Line up your KEY ADMINISTRATIVE and COLLEGIAL SUPPORT. Hopefully,

by this time, you have enlisted and received the support of your superintendent’s office,

curriculum director or executive director of your organization as well as additional program

support. It is important to have many people involved in the brainstorming phase of writing

your grant AND to know to what your system is willing to commit. If you are writing with

one or more public schools as the applicant, the application MUST come from the district

Superintendent’s Office.

The grant application process is complicated – grant writing experience is a big help. If you

have a grant writer on staff, or a colleague with significant experience, it will help you to get

that person involved. If not, we suggest you seek outside professional assistance (see

Overview, above). In any event, you will need your Administrator’s support to know what

resources will be available to you and to obtain required signatures for grant forms, letters,

and assurances.

B. Start and finish EARLY. All applicants are required to do submit online applications

through grants.gov this year. The deadline for submission is April 12, 2013 before 4:30pm

Washington DC time. Plan to complete your preparation and submit your application at least

2 full days early, if at all possible. Online submission of large documents is not always

problem free and may require extra time. Additionally, grants.gov has a multi-part

verification system than may involve your application being rejected upon the first

submission. If that happens, you will only be eligible to for grant review if you can re-submit

and have the application accepted by the grants.gov system prior to the deadline and cut-off

time.

C. Remember the MISSION. The Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP)

provides grants to local educational agencies and community-based organizations to initiate,

expand, or enhance physical education programs for students in kindergarten through 12th

grade to help students meet their state standards for physical education.

Schools will do this by using funds to meet the Department of Education’s Absolute Priority.

That priority is:

Programs Designed to Create Quality Physical Education Programs.

Under this priority, an applicant is required to develop, expand, or improve its physical

education program and address its State’s physical education standards by undertaking the

following activities: (1) instruction in healthy eating habits and good nutrition and (2)

physical fitness activities that must include at least one of the following: (a) fitness

education and assessment to help students understand, improve, or maintain their physical

well-being; (b) instruction in a variety of motor skills and physical activities designed to

enhance the physical, mental, and social or emotional development of every student; (c)

development of, and instruction in, cognitive concepts about motor skills and physical fitness

that support a lifelong healthy lifestyle; (d) opportunities to develop positive social and

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cooperative skills through physical activity participation; or (e) opportunities for

professional development for teachers of physical education to stay abreast of the latest

research, issues, and trends in the field of physical education.

The PEP Grant program’s Request for Proposals is designed to ensure that applicants seek to

support this mission. The 2013 RFP’s seven requirements and five priorities are detailed

later in this packet.

D. Design for YOUR NEEDS. You MUST be attempting to meet the needs of your own

students according to YOUR state standards and your assessed needs. Your needs section

must be based on information from your local system, not state or national data. School

applicants and community-based organization applicants that are partnered with schools

MUST complete ALL physical activity and nutrition questions in Modules 1-4 of the School

Health Index (SHI), include their Overall score cards in their applications, create Plans for

Improvement, and discuss in their narratives how their PEP projects align with and/or

support their Plans for Improvement. Community-based organizations that are not partnered

with schools do not need to complete the SHI, but must instead select, complete, submit

scores for, and discuss an improvement plan related to another relevant community needs

assessment.

E. Address required MEASURES. There are three GPRA performance measures

required for this program:

(a) The percentage of students served by the grant who engage in 60 minutes of daily

physical activity measured by using pedometers for students in grades K-12 and an

additional 3-Day Physical Activity Recall (3DPAR) instrument to collect data on students in

grades 5-12.

(b) The percentage of students served by the grant who meet the standard of a healthy

fitness zone as established by the assessment for the Presidential Youth Fitness Program

(PYFP) in at least five of the six fitness areas of that assessment.

(c) The percentage of students served by the grant who consume fruit two or more

times per day and vegetables three or more times per day as measured in programs serving

high school students using the nutrition-related questions from the Youth Risk Behavior

Survey and in programs serving elementary and middle school students using an appropriate

assessment tool for their populations.

F. Go for the BONUS POINTS. Competitive priorities are given 2 criteria in 2013.

Addressing these criteria successfully will earn your application bonus points. Insight Grants

Development, LLC recommends cashing in on any and all bonus points, since you need to

score so very highly to win an award. The two opportunities for bonus points in 2013 are:

(3 points) Competitive Preference Priority 1 - Competitive preference is given to projects

that are designed to provide services to students enrolled in persistently lowest-achieving

schools as defined in the Notice Inviting Applications. A list of these Tier I and Tier II

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schools can be found on the Department's Web site at

http://www2.ed.gov/programs/sif/index.html.

(2 points) Competitive Preference Priority 2- Competitive preference priority is given to an

applicant that includes in its application an agreement that details the participation of

required partners. For schools, this partnership agreement must include: (1) the LEA

(school district); (2) at least one Community Based Organization; (3) a local public health

entity, as defined in this notice; (4) the LEA’s food service or child nutrition director; and (5)

the head of the local government, as defined in this notice. If you haven’t already, identify

appropriate partner entities and individuals and contact them about participating in your

project.

Note that all references to Body Mass Index data collection have been removed from the PEP

RFP in its 2013 version. While applicants may still choose to collect BMI as part of their

project-specific outcome measures, they are no longer being offered bonus points to do so.

Invitational Priorities: There are also two invitational priorities that you are encouraged to

integrate into your PEP project. While invitational priorities are optional and not required,

and there are no bonus points attached to responding to them, it is a good idea to respond to

one or both of these priorities if you are able to do so.

Invitational Priority 1: Design Filters for Physical Activity Programs

Background. In September 2012, as part of its Let’s Move! initiative, the White

House promoted the use of seven “design filters” to serve as guidelines for both public and

private sectors in creating physical activity programs. These are evidence-based program

practices developed by experts from the public, private, and philanthropic sectors.

This priority is:

Projects that propose to align their programs with the following design filters.

Programs should:

1. Strive for universal access;

2. Include a range of age appropriate activities;

3. Aim to reach the recommended guidelines on dosage and duration;

4. Be engaging and fun for kids;

5. Be led by well-trained coaches and mentors;

6. Track progress, both individually and for the group; and

7. Provide consistent motivation and incentives.

Invitational Priority 2: Turning Around Priority Schools.

Background. In addition to persistently lowest-achieving schools, 34 States and the

District of Columbia have identified a new category of low-performing schools--priority

schools--as part of their implementation of new systems of differentiated recognition,

accountability, and support under ESEA flexibility. A list of priority schools in each State

approved for ESEA flexibility may be found on the SEA’s Web site.

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F. Address All 7 Program Requirements and Commit (via signed document) to the 7

Program-Specific Assurances:

Note that the number of Program Requirements has been reduced from 9 to 7 in 2013. The

list of current requirements and their explanations can be found on pages 77-80 of the RFP.

The requirements are listed below with very brief explanation. See the RFP for additional

key details!

1) Align Project Goals with Identified Needs Using the School Health Index (SHI): As explained on

page 4 of this document, all school applicants and all community-based organization applicants that

are or that are partnered with schools must complete Modules 1-4 of the CDC's School Health Index,

include their scores in their applications, and discuss how their projects align to their SHI Plans for

Improvement. Community-Based Organizations that are not schools and are not partnered with

schools must administer, submit scores from, and discuss project align to a plan for improvement for

a similar community-level assessment.

2) Nutrition- and Physical Activity-Related Policies: Applicants need to discuss their policies,

frameworks, and protocol for creating, reviewing, and revising policies related physical

activity and nutrition.

3) Linkage with Local Wellness Policies: Any applicant with a local Wellness Policy MUST

discuss it and coordinate their project with it. Note that any organization that participates in

the national school lunch program must have a local Wellness Policy, so this requirement

applies to most public schools and some private schools.

4) Linkages with Federal, State, and Local Initiatives: There is a full listing of programs with

which coordination is mandatory If these programs currently exist in your school or

community: Recovery Act Communities Putting Prevention to Work—Community

Programs, Team Nutrition, Coordinated School Health, Farm-to-School, USDA’s HealthierUS

School Challenge, Alliance for a Healthier Generation, and Action for Healthy Kids State and

Local. Determine which of these, if any, are leveraged by your district or community. Reach

out to the contacts of these programs and try to obtain their participation in your

Memorandum of Understanding.

5) Updates to Physical Education and Nutrition Instruction Curricula. Awardees who will change,

update, or implement new PE curricula must use the CDC's Physical Education Curriculum Analysis

Tool (PECAT: (http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/pecat/) at the beginning and end of that process

to identify, address, and measure improvement related to curriculum weaknesses based on national

standards. Awardees who will change, update, or implement new nutrition curricula must us the

Healthy Eating Modules of the CDC's Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (HECAT:

http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/hecat/index.htm) at the beginning and end of that process to

identify, address, and measure improvement related to curriculum weaknesses based on national

standards. Project Adventure’s Adventure Curriculum for Physical Education, volumes for

High School, Middle School, and Elementary School; Achieving Fitness: An Adventure

Activity Guide; and Creating Healthy Habits: An Adventure Guide to Teaching Health and

Wellness are specifically designed to meet the National Standards embodied in these analysis

tools.

6) Equipment Purchases: Equipment purchased with PEP funds or PEP matching funds must be

integrated into the project and aligned to local curricula.

7) Increasing Transparency and Accountability: Data on project progress toward outcomes must be

collected regularly and made available to the community in aggregate, anonymous format.

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A Programmatic Assurance must be signed committing the applicant to complying with these

requirements (except the SHI requirement which you must comply with in your actual

application in order to be eligible for review). An example of such an assurance is provided

on page 61 of the RFP. DO NOT FORGET TO INCLUDE A SIGNED VERSION OF THIS

IN YOUR APPLICATION!

G. Consider your PREFERRED SOURCES. While you are not allowed to name a specific

vendor in your application, you may describe the qualities you seek in a vendor and you may

specify products that are unique or only offered by a single source – such as a curriculum

guide or other publication.

If you would like to select Project Adventure, Inc (PA), for instance, you can describe a

highly-experienced vendor with curriculum design expertise, well-tested and published

health, wellness and fitness expertise, a professional development provider with research and

evaluation capabilities to help support your evaluation requirements. You may also specify

PA publications as the basis for your staff training.

H. Present CHALLENGE COURSE INFORMATION accurately. You will need

equipment for your PA program, but the emphasis in your grant should be on how to use it in

programming. This is a non-construction grant program, so it is important that you NEVER

use the word "construction," should you propose low or high elements. You buy elements

and have them INSTALLED.

When including the installation of a challenge course in your proposal, be sure to include

costs for 1.) equipment – items that have a life span of more than five years and cost more

than $5,000 each, 2.) supplies – items that you need for a course – rope, cable, etc, 3.) design

and installation time, 4.) travel, shipping and other related costs.

You may say: “In order to permit us to implement the program, our Adventure

service provider will design a challenge ropes course that will help us to meet our needs.

They will install the elements and train staff on their use. In addition, portable equipment will

be purchased for each school.”

Here you should also describe the qualifications you are looking for in your vendor. For

example, “The vendor we select will have a tested and relevant, published curricula; more

than 30 years in the field; be accredited by AEE and be an ACCT Professional Vendor

Member; offer technical skills training and certification for teachers.” Remember that you

cannot use the name Project Adventure.

Contact Project Adventure if you are interested in establishing us as a sole source

vendor. We are the only adventure provider with a published K-12 Physical

Education curriculum and two additional programs on Fitness and Health and

Wellness. However, rules around sole source are tricky, and depend on a lot of

factors. Contact us if you are interested in this approach.

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II. SPECIFIC INFORMATION ABOUT “SELECTION CRITERIA”

Before beginning the four major parts of the Selection Criteria section, it is important to

review the Absolute Priority for the grant:

Absolute Priority - Under this priority, an applicant is required to develop, expand,

or improve its physical education program and address its State’s physical education

standards by undertaking the following activities: (1) instruction in healthy eating

habits and good nutrition and (2) physical fitness activities that must include at least

one of the following: (a) fitness education and assessment to help students

understand, improve, or maintain their physical well-being; (b) instruction in a variety

of motor skills and physical activities designed to enhance the physical, mental, and

social or emotional development of every student; (c) development of, and instruction

in, cognitive concepts about motor skills and physical fitness that support a lifelong

healthy lifestyle; (d) opportunities to develop positive social and cooperative skills

through physical activity participation; or (e) opportunities for professional

development for teachers of physical education to stay abreast of the latest research,

issues, and trends in the field of physical education.

While only one item under the physical fitness activities explanation is required, it is unlikely

that focusing on a single item will be enough to meet all of your students’ needs and present

a comprehensive approach to helping students achieve state PE standards and establish

lifelong healthy habits. Therefore, we strongly encourage you to address as many items as is

possible, reasonable, and justifiable based on your unique needs.

As will be shown, Project Adventure’s Comprehensive Program for Physical Education

ensures a well-rounded implementation design. See pages 23-24 of this packet for an

expansion of each of the above five points as they relate to PA models and programs.

Secondly, thoroughly review the Program Information in the RFP, beginning on page 6. This

section gives you detailed information about the program’s five priorities – one absolute

priority, two competitive preference priorities, and two invitational priorities. The section

also provides answers to Frequently Asked Questions on pages 13-29.

Selection Criteria

NOTE: Your narrative is limited to 25 double-spaced pages using 12-point Times New

Roman, Courier, Courier New, or Arial font this year.

Need for the Project. (20 Points)

(A) The extent to which specific gaps or weaknesses in services, infrastructure, or

opportunities have been identified and will be addressed by the proposed project, including

the nature and magnitude of those gaps or weaknesses.

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Note: In addressing this criterion, applicants may want to consider including a clear and

specific description of how the proposed project will help students meet the identified

standard(s) as required by the absolute priority. Additionally, applicants may want to

consider including a discussion of the outcomes of the self-assessment indicated in

Requirement One of the Notice for this application and how the results will help you develop

a program to improve gaps or weaknesses.

In this section you need to specifically address the gaps in what is currently offered to

students that prevents them from or at least does not empower them to meet state PE

standards. This means explaining how you know your students are NOT meeting state

standards and explaining why the existing programs and services do NOT help them. You

should discuss the percentages and/or numbers of children who do NOT meet state standards

on every variable level that you can think of, with particular emphasis on developing lifelong

skills for health (including mental health) and fitness. You should also discuss your SHI

results. Do not give a lot of statistics that show how well things are being done or how

affluent the district is. To do this section well, you need to have statistics gathered formally

or informally that show need related to state PE standards achievement and/or SHI results.

These can be in areas such as overweight/obesity assessment, fitness testing, nutrition

choices, level of physical activity, social skills, etc. Tie identified areas of weakness to

student data verifying that problems exist, and identify and discuss the state standards not

being met.

The following are examples of what you might include:

More than 85% of our students are unable to meet the state criteria as discussed in

Standard 1 [include standard text somewhere] for cardiovascular endurance. Our lack

of lifetime fitness equipment and cardiovascular fitness equipment combined with a

lack of teacher training on how to teach fitness in a way that is understandable and

engaging to students contribute to this problem.

There were 172 incidents of inappropriate responses to conflict in our middle school

as shown by disciplinary actions for fighting taken last year. Standard 2 [insert

standard text somewhere] calls for students to … Our lack of social and emotional

programming in PE that is aimed at teaching good decision-making and

communication skills and a respect for differences contribute to this problem.

Significance: (15 pts.)

(A) “The likelihood the proposed project will result in system change or improvement.”

Use this section to talk about the anticipated results of your proposed project and how you

know your proposed project is likely to work for your target population. While the 2013 RFP

does not delineate a specific section in which to present your goals, objectives, and

outcomes, do not fail to include them. This section may be an ideal spot in which to present

those important items, since it is a logical place to state how your planned activities will meet

the needs identified through the self-assessment process and correlate the expected

improvements to the goals and objectives of the program.

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What are your long-term goals for the program and the students? Goals are very broad aims

that are longer term and are rarely achieved completely by project’s end. Therefore you can

target 100% achievement. A few examples:

To have all of our students complete a sequential physical education program

designed to promote healthy life-long behaviors.

To institutionalize a physical education program in the school system that will enable

100% of students to meet the state physical education standards.

Outcomes are very much more defined. They are shorter-term aims that can be expected to

be achieved within the timeframe of the grant award period. They should always be

“measurable” meaning they have targets (or numbers/percentages) attached to them.

Objectives fall somewhere in the middle.

Be sure that your objectives and outcomes include targets and dates. They need to relate to

your state standards, be very clearly be tied to the needs you discussed, and be achievable

through the activities you are proposing. Unless most of your students are already

accomplishing a given end (achieving state standards, for example), do not say 100% will be

able to accomplish that end due to this project if that is unrealistic. Successful grants have

written their outcome measures based on the outcomes of our PE, Fitness and Wellness

curricula. They MUST relate to the program measures that were stated earlier.

Objective/outcome example:

“To increase the number of students enrolled in and actively attending physical

education classes by 50% by the end of year three.” (So, if you currently have 100

kids participating, you will have 150 by the end.) The measure here could be a count

of the number of students attending all but two or three classes a semester, or it could

be an increase in the number of classes and students. MUCH better would be a

comparison with a matched school in your district, also counting the number of

students now and in year 3 in that school.

Be sure to include an outcome for each of the GPRAs because you are REQUIRED to

measure all of these:

(a) Measure One: The percentage of students served by the grant who engage in 60

minutes of daily physical activity measured by using pedometers for students in grades K-12

and an additional 3-Day Physical Activity Recall (3DPAR) instrument to collect data on

students in grades 5-12.

(b) Measure Two: The percentage of students served by the grant who meet the

standard of a healthy fitness zone as established by the assessment for the Presidential Youth

Fitness Program (PYFP) in at least five of the six fitness areas of that assessment.

(c) Measure Three: The percentage of students served by the grant who consume

fruit two or more times per day and vegetables three or more times per day as measured in

programs serving high school students using the nutrition-related questions from the Youth

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Risk Behavior Survey and in programs serving elementary and middle school students using

an appropriate assessment tool for their populations.

Quality of the Project Design. (30 Points)

In the Quality of Project Design section you will connect the needs, as you have already

stated them, to the program you will provide. This is not the place for additional needs; if you

want to add anything, go back and revise the previous section.

(A) “The extent to which the proposed project is designed to build capacity and yield

results that will extend beyond the period of Federal financial assistance. (10 pts.).”

Essentially, in this section, you need to describe how the program will improve your ability

to provide high-quality programming design to facilitate state PE standards achievement and

lifelong healthy habits AND how you will carry on beyond the funding period. Being able to

sustain a program is mandatory; it provides a strong rationale for investing in training and

equipment as core elements for implementing a program. The expense of keeping training

current, challenge courses safe and inspected and equipment intact is considerably smaller

than the initial expense. (Talk to your PA consultant for an estimate.)

So is it reasonable for you to propose that, for example…

• your school system will absorb the future costs?

• your students will raise the needed funds?

• your local Kiwanis club will fund future costs?

• your local hospital or other organization represented on your advisory board will help

fund future costs?

If an organization has agreed to help sustain your funding beyond the grant period, you

should include a letter agreeing to such in your appendix.

Your PEP advisory board will be key here as well. Along with advising program planning,

their responsibility should also be to help sustain the project.

Examples of how your plan will be sustainable could include:

All of our physical education teachers as well as our health teachers will be trained to

implement a sequential K–12 curriculum. In addition, a representative team of

administrators, support staff and classroom teachers will experience an Adventure

approach to physical fitness and health so they can support the program across the

schools.

We will train a core group of professionals that includes a range of health-based

professionals, including physical education teachers, guidance counselors and staff

from the parks and recreation department. When using the challenge course, we can

ask these additional people to assist. This can result in more students climbing and

guidance counselors spending time with students in a different setting than sitting in

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their office. Parks and Recreation people may be available, because kids are all at

school instead of in their programs. In the summer, Parks and Recreation can hire the

teachers to run the Adventure portion of their day camps. Training a wide range of

people ensures that our program does not reside with one or two people, but is spread

across several domains.

We will create a collaboration between teachers and police officers who work with

youth. We will train both in the Adventure models to enable a comprehensive

community approach to working with students.

Parents will experience the program and begin to understand how the family can

participate in lifelong healthy lifestyles.

(B) “The extent to which the design of the proposed project reflects up-to-date knowledge

from research and effective practice. (10 pts.).”

Talk about research that shows the activities you're proposing are effective and/or present

other evidence of the currency of your proposed approach here.

(C) “The extent to which the proposed project represents an exceptional approach for

meeting statutory purposes and requirements. (10 pts.).”

Note: In addressing the Quality of the Project Design” criterion, applicants may want to

consider including clear and specific descriptions of plans for integrating Requirements

2,3,4,5,and 7, as detailed in the Notice Inviting Applications.

Consider how you might demonstrate what you're proposing is above and beyond the average

PE program. This is a great place to talk about the uniqueness of Adventure!

See Section III: Making the Case for Adventure which begins on pages 16-17 of this

packet.for narrative that will you help you explain that.

Adequacy of Resources (10 Points)

(A) The extent to which the costs are reasonable in relation to the number of the persons to

be served and to the anticipated results and benefits.

In this section, you should make it clear you're asking for enough money to achieve what

you've indicated you want to achieve but not more money than is necessary to do so given

the size of your population. This is a new section and is, in effect, a way for reviewers to

attach a score to your budget or at least to the rationale for your budget total. Therefore,

you'll want to be comprehensive but judicious in your budgeting. Talk to PA about how to

design a comprehensive yet cost-effective Adventure model that will fit your population.

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Quality of the Management Plan (15 Points)

(A) “The adequacy of the management plan to achieve the objectives of the proposed project

on time and within budget, including clearly defined responsibilities, timelines, and

milestones for accomplishing project tasks.”

This is an important section where you will tell how you will implement and administer the

programs you propose. You should begin your timeline for the project in October, 2013

and should show a chronological list of your key implementation steps and any outcome

goals that you expect to meet. Identify the lead person or position responsible for each task

or milestone. Remember to schedule baseline data gathering in the fall of 2013.

List key project personnel by name and title if you have them already designated and

qualifications that exist or are anticipated. Include in your appendices brief biographical

sketches or resumes for existing staff who will play key roles that highlight prior experience

with similar programs, and/or include job descriptions for positions for which you will be

hiring. Be sure to discuss personnel time commitments to the project for key personnel

and especially for your Project Director. The 2013 RFP also recommends listing the

Project Director's time commitment on your Supplement to the 424 and in your budget

narrative.

An organizational chart accompanied by brief descriptions of each role and its

responsibilities is a good way to describe your plans for ongoing operations management if

you have the space, although it is not required. If you are tight on space, you might convey

the same information using narrative text.

For help developing a realistic timeline, you may wish to contact your Project Adventure

consultant.

Quality of the Project Evaluation (10 Points)

(A) The extent to which the methods of evaluation are thorough, feasible, and appropriate to

the goals, objectives, and outcomes of the proposed project.

Important note about the project evaluation: A strong evaluation plan should be included in

the application narrative and should be used, as appropriate, to shape the development of the

project from the beginning of the grant period. The plan should include benchmarks to

monitor progress toward specific project objectives and also outcome measures to assess the

impact on teaching and learning or other important outcomes for project participants. The plan should describe the evaluation design, indicating: (1) what types of data will be collected;

(2) when various types of data will be collected; (3) what methods will be used; (4) what instruments

will be developed and when; (5) how the data will be analyzed; (6) when reports of results and

outcomes will be available; and (7) how the applicant will use the information collected through the

evaluation to monitor progress of the funded project and to provide accountability information both

about success at the initial site and effective strategies for replication in other settings. Applicants are

encouraged to devote an appropriate level of resources to project evaluation.

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Please note that Project Adventure is available to support your specific evaluation needs in

the grant writing process. For further information please call Bill Bates (978) 524-4658 or

email: bbates@pa.org

We recommend that you consult with someone who has experience with evaluation to

implement your evaluation. Although the grant does not require an outside evaluator, we

have found that grants with this included score better. Using an outside evaluator also usually

allows for a higher quality evaluation during implementation which should in turn help you

actually have a higher quality implementation. This could be someone in the superintendent’s

office, a professor of education or psychology at a local university with research design

experience or a professional evaluator (such as Insight Grants Development or Education

Policy Research). This is also a good opportunity to reinforce the coordinated approach

through partnering with outside agencies/organizations. Again, please refer to the website

http://www.wilderdom.com/tools.html for empirically validated tools and other instruments

used for evaluating adventure education. You should also refer to the Department of

Education document – “Identifying and Implementing Educational Practices Supported by

Rigorous Evidence: A User Friendly Guide.”

You need to show that your evaluation is thorough and that you can do it. This also means

that you need to evaluate ALL of your objectives, both process and outcome.

Start with an overview of the evaluation.

Be sure to link your evaluation and assessments to your proposed outcomes. Look at each of

your outcomes and decide how it can be measured. If you can’t measure it, you may want to

reword the outcome. Some of the results will need to be measured in numbers (25% of the

overweight participants lost two pounds or more) and some can be in terms of the process or

how people are feeling about the program—using quotations or number of people who feel

the training or the new classes are good.

One clear indicator would be an increase in the number of hours that students spend in

physical activity. Make sure to address the required GPRA measures.

(a) Measure One: The percentage of students served by the grant who engage in 60

minutes of daily physical activity measured by using pedometers for students in grades K-12

and an additional 3-Day Physical Activity Recall (3DPAR) instrument to collect data on

students in grades 5-12.

(b) Measure Two: The percentage of students served by the grant who meet the

standard of a healthy fitness zone as established by the assessment for the Presidential Youth

Fitness Program (PYFP) in at least five of the six fitness areas of that assessment.

(c) Measure Three: The percentage of students served by the grant who consume

fruit two or more times per day and vegetables three or more times per day as measured in

programs serving high school students using the nutrition-related questions from the Youth

Risk Behavior Survey and in programs serving elementary and middle school students using

an appropriate assessment tool for their populations.

15

Conducting an ongoing evaluation, especially with an outside evaluator, will help to ensure

that you are doing what you planned to do, that it is having the effect that you want and help

you to adjust the design as needed.

You should indicate that you will look at measures periodically and then revise your plan

based on what is going on – perhaps monthly data collection and review by a project team,

with plans to revise the project plan when needed, based on that review. You should

explicitly state how often you will evaluate your program. Quarterly is minimum, monthly is

better; more often is outstanding--but consider what is reasonable for your organization and

project.

16

III. MAKING THE CASE FOR ADVENTURE

Project Adventure’s Comprehensive Adventure Program for Physical Education aligns very

well with the priorities as stated in this grant. For details on how each component of

adventure compliments each sub section of this absolute priority, see pages 23-24. Following

is a more general overview of the key components of all Project Adventure programs as well

as the theoretical underpinnings of our work. This information is very helpful as you

substantiate the use of adventure in your application.

COMPONENTS OF ADVENTURE

Project Adventure’s Comprehensive Adventure Program for Physical Education includes the

Adventure Curriculum for Physical Education, Achieving Fitness and Creating Healthy

Habits. These are structured programs that improve physical well-being, fitness, social skills

and behavior in K-12 students. By adapting the proven concepts, strategies, and tools of

Project Adventure, these programs are expected to develop life-long skills for physical

activity and nutrition, improve students’ self-efficacy and goal-setting capacity, empower

students to better manage their own behaviors and promote positive interactions among

students.

Project Adventure's cutting-edge physical education, health/wellness, and fitness programs

are based on 40 years of experience, standards in education and best practices. Building on

these foundations, Project Adventure has developed a methodology that supports and

enhances student’s fitness and motivation to move, as well as improves decision making

around nutritional choices and general behavior. By making physical education fun, Project

Adventure programs lead to an increased sense of safety and, therefore, increased

engagement and levels of physical exertion.

The Comprehensive Adventure Program for Physical Education incorporates a coherent and

well-developed sequence of Adventure-Based Lessons for use by K-12 teachers. The

cornerstones of these adventure-based lessons are the experiential learning cycle and the

adventure integrated model. The experiential learning cycle provides students with a context

and opportunities to learn, understand, and apply an otherwise isolated adventure experience

using a process of activity and reflection on activity. The adventure integrated model (created

by Project Adventure) enhances the experiential learning cycle by: (1) highlighting the

importance of aligning activities with goals (Schoel & Maizell 2002), (2) identifying the need

to promote group development as vital to effective experiential learning, (3) expanding the

reflective process to broader life experiences, and (4) empowering students to be active and

participatory by asking them to define their own “stretch zone” (i.e., their optimal learning

zone) through the use of Challenge by Choice.

The adventure concept of Challenge by Choice (a registered service mark of Project

Adventure) provides both teacher and student with a tool to assist students in making sound

choices. Coaxing young people to do difficult tasks or exercises teaches them only that they

can be talked into doing something. On the other hand, helping students see that they have

17

the right and ability to choose their level of challenge, and how to assess what is and isn’t an

appropriate level of challenge, teaches them how to make positive decisions for life. This is

critical to a well-taught adventure and/or fitness program.

Challenge by Choice helps both students and professionals to understand that what is a

challenge for one individual may be panic-producing or too physically difficult for others.

Many fitness programs incorporate activities that offer choices to students, but the process

for making good choices based on principles is never explained. The Challenge by Choice

concept gives language to the notion that I as a participant have choice, but within that choice

I must still challenge myself and still work hard to meet my goals. Choosing not to be

challenged is not OK. Once it is taught, the important step is to keep it alive during every

class. This does not assume that you will allow students to keep opting out of activities

because they have chosen not to play. It assumes that students will learn how to work safely

in their “stretch zones” while avoiding situations that will push them into their “panic zones.”

The adventure-based lessons presented by the programs offer students a common set of

learning experiences that enable them to increase their levels of physical fitness, build their

problem-solving skills, learn how to work with students who are different from themselves,

develop compassion, and increase their self-knowledge.

Project Adventure’s Comprehensive Program for Physical Education rests on the notion that

creating and maintaining a safe learning environment, called the Full Value Contract

(behavioral norms), provides the backdrop for learning. The process is designed to promote

pro-social behavior and actively prevent problem behavior. The process is student-centered,

allowing students to participate in creating the norms for their class.

Individual contracting and goal setting are common in many fitness programs. The technique

of creating group norms and the infusion of Full Value into the contracting process is what

differentiates an adventure program from a traditional program. The Full Value Contract

serves as a structure for creating behavioral norms that everyone in the class agrees to follow,

and that everyone in the class agrees to work on maintaining throughout the life of the class.

The norm-setting process establishes an atmosphere of caring, of feeling connected, and of

feeling valued. This atmosphere is critical to students being able to participate fully and to

establishing an environment in which students can reach for their fitness goals.

Goal-setting receives particular emphasis in Project Adventure’s Comprehensive Program

for Physical Education. Students are guided and supported by teachers in setting fitness

goals. In order to help students understand what real goals are and how they can be achieved,

teachers will introduce students to strategies for creating Specific, Trackable, Achievable,

and Realistic (STAR) goals.

18

THEORETICAL SUPPORT FOR THE COMPONENTS OF ADVENTURE

Project Adventure’s Comprehensive Adventure Program for Physical Education was

informed by and grounded in strong theoretical and empirical evidence.

Adventure as a Process

In a widely respected article, Hattie et al. (1997) examined hundreds of adventure-based

research articles and found that, “Adventure programs can obtain notable outcomes, and have

particularly strong, lasting effects (pg. 77),” as compared to more traditional means of

instruction. The authors also found that not ALL adventure programs yielded as powerful

results. The adventure programs with the following instructional factors corresponded with

the greatest gains in outcomes: challenge, risk taking, increased physical activity, feedback

and mutual group support.

Social learning theory provides a general theoretical framework to both explain and support

Adventure programming. Social learning theory believes that people learn new behaviors

through modeling and rehearsal, and opportunities for mastery experiences. One of the

premises of social learning theory is that a person’s self-efficacy (perceived ability to

function in particular domains) drives their ability to be successful.

Particularly compelling is the evidence outlining the positive effects of promoting self-

efficacy. Self-efficacy beliefs (commonly associated with particular domains like cooking or

teaching) are most often associated with behavioral outcomes (Pajares, 1996). Thus, students

with positive self-efficacy beliefs about their learning or performance on a task work harder,

participate more, persist longer, and have higher levels of achievement than their

counterparts with lower efficacy beliefs (Schunk & Pajares, 2002). There is also evidence

that generalized self-efficacy contributes to positive behavioral outcomes (Smith, 1989).

Self-efficacy research points to the value of increasing efficacy beliefs to not only improve

achievement but to proactively address other skills, behaviors, or perceptions (Pajares &

Schunk, 2001).

Adventure learning experiences provide students with an opportunity to increase their self-

efficacy. Because students practice skills, receive feedback and are motivated to be involved,

students actively work on improving their self-efficacy during adventure experiences.

Improved self-efficacy leads to greater confidence in physical endeavors as well.

A key element of the Comprehensive Adventure Program for Physical Education involves

the use of adventure-based activities. As noted earlier, these activities are theoretically

grounded in the Experiential Learning Cycle (Kolb, 1984), which provides a conceptual

model for understanding adventure learning. According to Kolb’s four-stage model, learning

is most effective when students are guided through the process of having experiences,

making reflective observations, forming generalizations and applying learning to new

situations. Thus, students are asked questions about how to apply the skills to other

situations, including outside of the classroom, and they are asked to transfer the skills to new

settings.

19

The process of using a Full Value Contract as a way of establishing a “community of

learners” is supported by research that has shown that classroom culture has an impact on

overall achievement (Schunk, Pintrich & Meece, 2008), and that you can increase the power

of your motivational efforts by attending to your students' social and physical goals as well as

their academic goals (pg. 32) (Brophy, 2004).” Specifically within a Physical Education

setting, the individual participating in learning as a member of a group with established

norms has been shown to have a positive effect on levels of physical activity and increased

fitness (Toropainen & Rinne, 1998). As the authors state, it is important to establish group

norms by involving members in the process and encourages “responsibility and support of

other members (pg. S106).”

There is also evidence to support the adventure concept of Challenge by Choice, both from

the perspective of giving students options and from engaging students at the appropriate level

of difficulty. Students who are given choices experience increased levels of intrinsic

motivation and engagement (Iyengar & Lepper, 2000). Students in physical activity settings

who are encouraged to challenge themselves at their own levels have been shown to improve

engagement and outcomes (Toropainen & Rinne, 1998).

Investigators have documented that setting and monitoring goals, depending on the quality of

those goals, also impacts self-efficacy and physical and academic performance. Setting

proximal goals produces stronger self-efficacy beliefs than when more distal goals are set

(Bandura & Schunk, 1981). Those proximal goals provide more immediate feedback and

evidence of an increase in expertise. Many researchers have shown that goal setting is an

effective way to engage students in the learning process, increase learning, and improve self-

efficacy (Wilson 2001, Bandura 1989). Project Adventure’s Comprehensive Adventure

Program for Physical Education explicitly teaches students and staff the skills to set, work on

and evaluate physical, behavioral and academic goals.

Adventure and Physical Fitness

Adventure programming is often associated with the development of emotional and social

competencies, rather than as a tool to enhance fitness; however, many of these competencies

are critical to the behavior change and motivation necessary to improve one’s fitness. A

recent study conducted by Rhode Island Hospital and Brown Medical School substantiates

this notion (Jelalian et al., 2006). The study focused on weight loss in overweight

adolescents, but the findings are relevant. In a randomized control study with adolescents

ages 13–16, researchers compared the use of a cognitive-behavioral weight control program

combined with adventure therapy to the same cognitive-behavioral weight control program

combined with aerobic exercise. Participants in the adventure therapy group lost more weight

and maintained their weight loss over a longer period of time. The study cited two important

reasons for these results. The first is the positive effect that adventure experiences can have

on student self-concept, locus of control, and sociability; the second is the reliance on peers

to support change, which appeared to have a significant effect on each student’s ability to

sustain the program. Peer role modeling is common to many Adventure models, including

Achieving Fitness. The study concludes, “Consequently, an intervention that targets both

self-efficacy and social function may have particular benefit for overweight adolescents.”

20

Many studies indicate that there is a significant correlation between social support from

friends, family, and program staff and physical activity (Sallis & Owens, 1999). Support can

be indirect – simply being encouraged to exercise by a friend or parent – or direct –

exercising together, doing physical tasks at home, etc. Play and adventure incorporate the

dynamic of a group in astounding ways. Activities require group participation.

In Project Adventure’s Comprehensive Adventure Program for Physical Education, students

work with partners and small teams to solve problems and complete activities. The structure

of an adventure program offers students immediate social support. Traditionally, fitness and

health activities are completed by the individual alone or, if there is group involvement, that

involvement is competitive in nature. An adventure program is different from traditional

programs because it increases a group’s awareness of their exercise and healthy behaviors

and pays attention to how classmates can support each other’s fitness goals.

Enjoyment

Many researchers believe that enjoyment is essential to maintaining a regular exercise

regime; however, the concept of enjoyment is so complex, there are few instruments that can

assess it. In a recent study, Dutton et al. found that enjoyment was correlated to positive

changes in levels of physical activity (2007). Similarly, Motl et al. states, “The observed

correlations among enjoyment, physical activity, and sport involvement lend support to the

importance of the enjoyment (i.e., intrinsic motivation) component of expectancy-value

theories as a possible target for interventions (pg. 116).”

Common sense and some reflection on our own life habits easily suggest that people do what

they like and avoid what they dislike. How can exercise be fun? The National Association for

Sport and Physical Education’s (NASPE) Physical Best program acknowledges fun as the

primary reason that students give for participation in physical activities. The program

suggests four characteristics of intrinsically motivating activities: they create challenge,

provoke curiosity, provide control (chances for self-responsibility), and promote creativity.

Anyone who has participated in adventure activities, especially the many active games that

are a part of a comprehensive adventure program, has experienced the fun of adventure.

Students show up for an adventurous physical education class, prepared to participate,

because they like it. If teachers integrate fitness components and traditional exercises into the

many adventure activities that lend themselves to adaptation, they can provide opportunities

for participants to enjoy exercise.

Challenge Courses A specific component of an adventure program, the challenge course, provides a unique

means for reaching physical education outcomes. Challenge courses provide a potent mixture

of social support, enjoyment, physical activity, risk and personal challenge. Project

Adventure is the only vendor to design new cutting edge challenge course elements intended

to improve health related fitness.

What evidence is there to support the use of challenge courses to reach physical education

outcomes? Statistical evidence of the effectiveness of challenge courses is presented in the

21

article “Are Challenge Courses an Effective Tool? A Meta-Analysis”, H. Lee Gillis and

Elizabeth Speelman, Journal of Experiential Education, 2008, Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 111-135.

Other common outcomes from research on challenge course include increased self-efficacy,

group support, teamwork, communication and trust (Haras, Bunting & Witt, 2006). Glass and

Behshoff (2002) conducted a study that looked at adolescents and experiences on low

challenge course elements. They found a significant increase in measures of group cohesion,

which has been correlated to overall group productivity. It has also been shown that although

one-day programs may have localized outcomes, those affects are not always found

longitudinally (Hatch & McCarthy, 2005); hence the need for the inclusion of a challenge

course as part of a curriculum instead of as a standalone activity.

References

Bandura, A. (1989). Human agency in social cognitive theory. American Psychologist, 44(9),

1175-1184.

Bandura, A., & Schunk, D. H. (1981). Cultivating competence, self-efficacy, and intrinsic

interest through proximal self-motivation. Journal of Personality and Social

Psychology, 41, 586-598.

Brendtro, L. K. and M. A. Strother (2007). "Back to Basics through Challenge and

Adventure." Reclaiming Children and Youth: The Journal of Strength-based

Interventions 16(1): 2.

Brophy, J (2004). Motivating Students to Learn. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah,

New Jersey.

Dunton, G. F., M. Schneider, et al. (2007). "An investigation of psychosocial factors related

to changes in physical activity and fitness among female adolescents." Psychology &

Health 22(8): 929-944.

Glass, J. S. and J. M. Benshoff (2002). "Facilitating Group Cohesion among Adolescents

through Challenge Course Experiences." Journal of Experiential Education 25(2):

268.

Haras, K., C. J. Bunting, et al. (2006). "Meaningful Involvement Opportunities in Ropes

Course Programs." Journal of Leisure Research 38(3): 339-362.

Hatch, K. D. and C. J. McCarthy (2005). "Exploration of Challenge Courses' Long-Term

Effects on Members of College Student Organizations." Journal of Experiential

Education 27(3): 245.

Hattie, J. and et al. (1997). "Adventure Education and Outward Bound: Out-of-Class

Experiences that Make a Lasting Difference." Review of Educational Research 67(1):

43.

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Iyengar, S. S. & Lepper, M. R. (2000). “When Choice is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too

Much of a Good Thing?” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 79(6): 995-

1006.

J.F. Sallis and N. Owens (1999) Physical Activity and Behavioral Medicine, Thousand Oaks,

CA: SAGE Publications.

Jelalian, E., Mehlenbeck, R., Lloyd-Richardson, EE., Birmaher, V., & Wing, RR. (2006),

‘Adventure Therapy’ combined with cognitive-behavioral treatment for overweight

adolescents. International Journal of Obesity 30 (1), 30–39.

Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential Learning: Experience as the source of learning and

development. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Mears, D. (2007). "High school physical education and physical activity in young women."

Perceptual and Motor Skills 104(3): 844-854.

Motl, R. W., R. K. Dishman, et al. (2001). "Measuring enjoyment of physical activity in

adolescent girls." American Journal of Preventive Medicine 21(2): 110-117.

Pajares, F. (1996). Self-efficacy beliefs in academic settings. Review of Educational

Research, 66(4), 543-578.

Pajares, F., & Schunk, D. H. (2001). Self-beliefs and school success: Self-efficacy, self-

concept, and school achievement. In Self-perception (pp. 239-265).

Schoel, J. & Maizell, R. (2002). Exploring Islands of Healing: New Perspectives on

Adventure-Based Counseling. Beverly, MA: Project Adventure, Inc.

Schunk, D. H., & Pajares, F. (2002). The development of academic self-efficacy. In The

Development of Achievement Motivation (pp. 15-31): Academic Press, Inc.

Schunk, D.H., Pintrich, P. R., & Meece, J.L. (2008) Motivation in Education: Theory,

Research and Applications, Pearson: Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Toropainen, E. and M. Rinne (1998). "What are groups all about Basic principles of group

work for health-related physical activity." Patient Education and Counseling

33(Supplement 1): S105-S109.

Wilson, D. B., Gottfredson, D. C., & Najaka, S. S. (2001). School-based prevention

of problem behaviors: A meta-analysis. Journal of Quantitative Criminology,

17, 247–272.

23

PROJECT ADVENTURE’S COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM FOR PHYSICAL

EDUCATION AND THE PEP ABSOLUTE PRIORITY

As suggested in the RFP, it is critical that the program that you highlight for this grant

meets the absolute priority which is:

Programs Designed to Create Quality Physical Education Programs.

Under this priority, an applicant is required to develop, expand, or improve its physical

education program and address its State’s physical education standards by undertaking the

following activities: (1) instruction in healthy eating habits and good nutrition and (2)

physical fitness activities that must include at least one of the following: (a) fitness

education and assessment to help students understand, improve, or maintain their physical

well-being; (b) instruction in a variety of motor skills and physical activities designed to

enhance the physical, mental, and social or emotional development of every student; (c)

development of, and instruction in, cognitive concepts about motor skills and physical fitness

that support a lifelong healthy lifestyle; (d) opportunities to develop positive social and

cooperative skills through physical activity participation; or (e) opportunities for

professional development for teachers of physical education to stay abreast of the latest

research, issues, and trends in the field of physical education. (RFP page 7)

(Included with each of the following is a brief description of how PA’s Comprehensive

Physical Education Program meets the criteria.)

1. Instruction in healthy eating habits and good nutrition.

Nutrition is one of the six major topics addressed in Creating Healthy Habits, and it is

addressed through activities that promote the skills to Think, Choose and Act upon the best

possible choices in each situation. Achieving Fitness includes a specific chapter of activities

that address the subject of Body Composition, through which students learn what factors they

can and can’t influence related to their Body Mass Index.

2. Physical fitness activities that must include at least one of the following:

(Our experience is…the more the better…)

a. Fitness education and assessment to help students understand, improve, or maintain their

physical well-being.

By participating in Project Adventure’s Achieving Fitness program, students engage in

moderate to vigorous physical activity that improves Flexibility, Muscular Strength and

Endurance and Body Composition. This program will engage more students because it is fun,

new, and motivating. Project Adventure is also designing new high challenge course

elements that will incorporate both muscular strength endurance as well as cardiovascular

conditioning. Lessons also point to out-of-school time activities to better ensure greater

overall fitness results.

24

b. Instruction in a variety of motor skills and physical activities designed to enhance the

physical, mental, and social or emotional development of every student.

Project Adventure’s Adventure Curriculum for Physical Education (ACPE) teaches social

emotional competencies such as conflict resolution, compassion and respect for differences

through experiential activities that are well designed and easy for the teacher to implement.

The use of Project Adventure’s Full Value Contract, (a registered service mark of Project

Adventure) differentiates our model from any other adventure vendor, and is the catalyst for

students showing clear improvements in their ability to model positive social and emotional

traits. Research also cites that the use of a challenge course can accelerate learning especially

in the realm of social and emotional content and the development of group cohesion.

Traditional motor skill development is also a fundamental outcome. This curriculum

integrates motor skill development in a subtle way; students experience and master critical

motor skills in an environment that is fun and non-threatening. The non-competitive nature of

the activities allows for more exploration of primary motor skills, which supports the varying

ability levels in a class setting.

c. Development of, and instruction in, cognitive concepts about motor skills and physical

fitness that support a life-long healthy lifestyle.

In Achieving Fitness, students are assessed through innovative tools for cognitive

understanding of essential concepts, such as understanding the different components of

health-related fitness, how to maintain specific levels of fitness and how to apply fitness

concepts in an out-of-school setting. Skill-related fitness is enhanced through participation in

both the Achieving Fitness model and the Adventure Curriculum for Physical Education.

d. Opportunities to develop positive social and cooperative skills through physical activity

participation.

Students participating in the Adventure Curriculum for Physical Education will demonstrate

the ability to use the decision-making skills of appropriate goal setting, risk taking and

problem solving and will understand that challenge, enjoyment, creativity, self-expression

and social interaction are important. All three of Project Adventure’s PE models have at their

foundation cooperative skills through physical activity participation.

e. Opportunities for professional development for teachers of physical education to stay

abreast of the latest research, issues, and trends in the field of physical education.

Project Adventure is the leader in the field of Adventure learning. Our custom-designed and open

enrollment trainings offer opportunities for professionals to experience the value of Adventure first hand,

learn how exactly to implement an Adventure program, and become part of a growing network of

professionals who share in a common desire to bring Adventure to their schools. Project Adventure trainers

are highly skilled professionals who bring a sharp focus on the specific needs of each program, while also

keeping an eye on the global issues facing Physical Education today such as how to motivate students and

the link between physical activity and brain activity and academics.

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IV. MODEL DESCRIPTIONS FOR PROJECT ADVENTURE

PROGRAMS

In this section, the three Project Adventure programs that comprise the Comprehensive

Adventure Program for Physical Education are described. The following aspects of each

program are provided:

Program Name

Brief Description

Themes and Outcomes

Equipment Needed

A. ADVENTURE CURRICULUM FOR PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Brief Description

The Adventure Curriculum for Physical Education (ACPE) is a K-12 program that meets

most State Standards for Physical Education. The model emphasizes social emotional

learning competencies and motor skill development through a carefully written progression

of engaging activities. The ACPE is designed to supplement an existing Physical Education

program, either as a discreet unit or as an enhancer to other traditional units. The value of

ACPE is in the engaging activities themselves, and also in the teaching methodology that is

acquired by staff in training, which can influence everything that is taught.

.

This model is segmented according to age groupings, with curriculum texts and materials for

Elementary (K-5), Middle School (6-8) and High School (9-12).

Themes and Outcomes

One of the primary outcomes of the Adventure Curriculum for Physical Education is the

development of social and emotional competencies while developing motor skills. Each age

grouping has different learning themes, such as Risk Taking, Creativity and Leadership at the

high school level; Respect for Differences, Problem Solving, Self- Esteem and Compassion

for middle school; and Cooperation, Communication and Conflict Resolution at the higher

elementary level. There are lower elementary themes as well. Lessons are written to

incorporate David Kolb’s Learning Theory that suggests there should be activity with

facilitated reflection and transfer of learning.

Although Project Adventure’s Physical Education model has a strong emphasis on social and

emotional learning, physical movement and motor skill development are also central. See the

Desired Results, below, to learn more about this and other aspects of this curriculum.

Below are the desired results upon which the curriculum is written.

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Students participating in the Adventure Curriculum for Physical Education will:

1. Demonstrate an understanding of movement concepts and the use of motor skills.

Although Adventure can teach so much more than just motor skills, physical movement is

central to what physical education is about. This curriculum integrates motor skill

development in a subtle way; students experience and master critical motor skills in an

environment that is fun and non-threatening. The non-competitive nature of the activities

allows for more exploration of primary motor skills, which supports the varying ability

levels in a class setting. No longer is learning about who can throw the ball the farthest, but

about being engaged in a process where throwing happens naturally. The acquisition of

motor skills is just part of the experience that captivates the students’ attention.

2. Demonstrate responsible personal and social behavior.

Learning how to engage with others appropriately is crucial to a student’s future academic,

social and professional success. (“How do I follow rules while still thinking critically about

them? How do I learn when to trust someone else and when not to? How do my actions

impact the group that I am a part of?”) Students involved in this Adventure curriculum will

have opportunities to explore such questions on a yearly basis. Students learn how to share

and follow rules as they experience a process that allows them to explore, to question, to

participate and to reflect on themselves.

3. Demonstrate the ability to use effective interpersonal skills.

When major colleges and corporations are asked what they look for in a prospective

student or employee, it inevitably boils down to someone with leadership qualities,

someone who can work well with others to solve conflicts and create solutions. They are

looking for “team players.” It is important that educators provide students with concrete

tools that they can learn, practice and apply to future settings. The Adventure process does

exactly this. Conflict is managed, the group process is reflected upon, and leadership

models are discussed.

4. Demonstrate the ability to use the decision-making skills of appropriate goal setting,

risk taking and problem solving.

Most people seek opportunities to take risks. Unfortunately, those risks are not always

positive. Allowing students to explore the decision-making process and to consider on a

personal level which risks are and are not positive, is a key component of Adventure

programming. Another crucial component of making good decisions is understanding how

the risks taken impact individual and team goals. (“How does the risk I am about to take fit

in with the goals I have set for myself or this team?”) Ultimately, this process results in the

ability to make better decisions and to solve problems more effectively.

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5. Understand that challenge, enjoyment, creativity, self-expression and social interaction

are important, life-enhancing experiences and are found in Adventure activities.

In order for students to understand that Adventure activities can be enjoyable and important

life-enhancing experiences, the activities must be truly engaging, relevant and fun. This

curriculum provides an array of activities that can be customized to meet the needs of all

students. Because these activities are so different from traditional sports, creative and self-

expressive behaviors often emerge naturally. Students may actually find themselves

thoroughly enjoying looking silly, taking risks and laughing unabashedly with others.

6. Demonstrate an understanding of and respect for differences.

There is no time in our recent history when respecting the differences of others has been

more critical. This tolerance does not come solely from reading a book or from hearing

adults say that this is important. It comes also from experiencing the power of difference,

from seeing the results of inclusion, from spending time with people of different abilities

and backgrounds. This curriculum offers a number of activities that expose students to

issues of difference in settings that are safe and reflective. The activities illustrate the

subtleties of difference and the need to understand each of our roles in embracing

difference. What powerful learning to take into one’s future!

Equipment Needed

Grades K-5: This Curriculum requires no more than the use of “portable” equipment, which

are a series of props, and need not involve a Challenge Course. (See pg. 20 for a description

of a Challenge Course). Many programs choose to augment this basic approach with the

addition of traversing walls to allow students to begin to develop climbing skills (strength,

balance, dexterity, etc.) that will prepare them to undertake challenge course activities with

greater familiarity and confidence.

Grades 6-8: This curriculum involves the use of “portable” equipment as well as a low

challenge course.

Grades 9-12: This curriculum involves the use of “portable” equipment as well as a low and a

high challenge course.

Note: Successful implementation of this program is possible without the use of a

challenge course. The scope and sequence will accommodate a portable only program, but

the number of available activities will be reduced.

Comprehensive materials kits are available through Project Adventure for each of the three

age groupings. These kits are called PACKs, All of the props needed to implement the

Elementary School, Middle School or High School curriculum are available in the

corresponding Adventure Curriculum for Physical Education PACKs! The equipment is

high quality and durable, including many unique and hard-to- source items intended to

promote curiosity and involvement in learning.

28

B. ACHIEVING FITNESS

Brief Description

Achieving Fitness: An Adventure Activity Guide presents a model designed for ages Middle

School through Adult, although adaptations have been made for the older Elementary levels.

Outcomes are focused on participants achieving and maintaining a health-enhancing level of

physical fitness. Students will be engaged in moderate to vigorous physical activity, and will

also learn about important concepts central to Health-Related fitness. What makes Achieving

Fitness unique is the power of Adventure activities to promote self-efficacy and one’s belief

that they can achieve. Other fitness models ignore or struggle to impact this critical belief.

This program is meant to supplement an existing Fitness program and/or Physical Education

program. Ideally it follows or is combined with the Adventure Curriculum for Physical

Education. This offers innovative and engaging activities that address each area of Health-

Related fitness. The model includes assessments for cognitive understanding of content, and

fits well with existing fitness testing schemes such as FitnessGram.

Themes and Outcomes

Research has shown that enjoyment is the most significant determinant for physical activity.

Achieving Fitness activities are unique and engaging – fun and vigorous activity are paired

together. This changes the paradigm for many students, and greatly increases the chance that

they will engage in life-long fitness activities. The Achieving Fitness model promotes

lifelong activity by helping students to understand the value and enjoyment that comes from

being fit, and teaches methods for applying those skills outside of school.

Students learn specific cognitive content that will enhance their application of Health-

Related fitness, such as the FIT principles for each component, essentials of a workout,

names of specific muscle groups and much more.

Below are the desired results for Achieving Fitness

Students participating in Achieving Fitness will:

1. Achieve and maintain a health-enhancing level of physical fitness

This is the goal of most PE programs. However, it is important to note that any program that

does not address out-of-school time, personal motivation to be fit, and an individual’s belief

that he or she can get fit, will fail. Achieving Fitness, done in conjunction with ACPE and

Healthy Habits, can accomplish all three of these important factors.

2. Demonstrate an understanding of the components of health-related fitness

The more individuals understand about how their bodies work and what goes into getting fit,

the better they will be able to manage their own fitness programs and development.

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3. Value Physical activity for health, enjoyment, challenge and social interaction

Everyone is not motivated by the pure “joy” of being fit. It is important that students learn

the other outcomes of being fit and getting fit, which in Achieving Fitness is so much about

social interaction and positive peer support.

4. Exhibit responsible personal and social behavior that respects self and others in physical

activity settings

Adventure activities are a great way to give students an opportunity to reflect on their

behaviors and to learn different ways of treating themselves and each other. The ACPE

focuses a lot on this outcome, but while engaged in Achieving Fitness, students will not be

able to avoid learning more about their own and others’ behaviors.

5. Develop skills to engage in physical activity during out-of-school time

Programs have to address how we live and exercise when we are not in school. This program

continually challenges students to see opportunities in their lives to enhance their fitness as

well as to do out-of-school, fitness-related tasks.

Equipment Needed/Available

This curriculum, as written, uses portable equipment only and does not involve the use of a

challenge course. Many activities require a gym or a field space, although some are

appropriate for smaller classroom size space. Traditional “fitness equipment’ such as

pedometers, a weight room or heart rate monitors are not required but can certainly be

utilized. A comprehensive materials kit is available through Project Adventure. These kits are

called Adventure in Fitness PACKS. The props needed to implement the activities in the

Achieving Fitness activity book are available in this PACK. The equipment is high quality

and durable, including many unique and hard-to- source items intended to promote curiosity

and involvement in learning.

For programs that are including the installation of a challenge course into their grant

proposal, please note that Project Adventure has designed a number of challenge course

elements specifically to improve health-related fitness. These are exciting new additions

to existing challenge courses as well.

30

C. CREATING HEALTHY HABITS - An Adventure Approach to Teaching Health

and Wellness

Brief Description

Creating Healthy Habits (CHH) is a model and activity guide that supplements an existing

health curriculum. The activities in this text ‘bring to life’ health content that is taught in an

existing program. For example, a teacher may give a lesson that exposes students to the

USDA Food Pyramid, and Creating Healthy Habits provides a lesson that enhances that

academic content in an engaging and experiential way.

The guide is intended for a Middle School age population, although adaptations have been

successful at the Elementary and High School levels. The guide is organized as a logical

progression for three grade levels, and is also grouped around the Priority Risk areas listed

below.

A majority of the activities in this book can be done in a classroom space.

Themes and Outcomes

The guide is organized around Six Priority Risk Areas, and includes activities from each one:

Intentional and Unintentional Injury Prevention

Mental and Emotional Health

Nutrition

Physical Fitness

Substance Abuse and Prevention

Personal and Consumer Health.

Although the nutrition chapter is especially well suited to meeting the outcomes of this grant.

A critical component of this curriculum is that students are taught the Think, Choose, Act

Model, which offers an alternative to Just Say No.

THINK – analyzing influences, accessing information, core content

CHOOSE – interpersonal communication, goal setting, decision making

ACT – self-management and advocacy

Creating Healthy Habits meets most state standards for a health curriculum and is based on

the National Health Standards.

1. All students will apply health promotion and disease prevention concepts and principles to

personal, family and consumer health issues.

2. All students will access valid health information and appropriate health promoting

products and services.

3. All students will practice health-enhancing behaviors and reduce health risks.

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4. All students will analyze the influence of cultural beliefs, media, and technology on health.

5. All students will use goal setting and decision-making skills to enhance health.

6. All students will demonstrate effective interpersonal communication and other social skills

that enhance health.

7. All students will demonstrate advocacy skills for enhanced personal, family and

community health

Equipment Needed

Creating Healthy Habits requires minimal equipment. A comprehensive materials kit is

available through Project Adventure. These kits are called Healthy Habits PACKS. All of

the props needed to implement the activities in the Creating Healthy Habits activity book!

The equipment is high quality and durable, including many unique and hard-to- source items

intended to promote curiosity and involvement in learning.

32

V. DETAILED PROGRAM COMPONENTS, CHALLENGE COURSE

AND EQUIPMENT Please email bbates@pa.org or call 978-524-4658 for pricing.

Option 1: Project Adventure’s Comprehensive Adventure Program for

Physical Education

This model can be implemented in all grades K-12

Program elements are:

o Adventure Curriculum for Physical Education

o Achieving Fitness

o Creating Healthy Habits (middle school only)

Necessary Equipment includes

o PACK Products for Elementary, Middle School, and High School

o Curriculum Books

o Student Fitness Journals (optional)

o Low Challenge Course Elements for Middle School (Elements listed below)*

o High Challenge Course Elements for High School (Elements listed below)*

Option 1: Training and Consulting Components Planning and Introduction to Adventure (1 day)

Adventure Curriculum for PE/Achieving Fitness (3 days)

Creating Healthy Habits (2 days)

Adventure Programming (ascending and traversing elements only) (3 days)

Add one day for courses with Swingshot, Flying Squirrel, Quadrophenia, etc.

Add additional day for course with Zip Line

Technical Skills Intensive (separate from AP) (2 days but 3 days for very large course)

Advanced Skills and Standards Course (for 2 or more people) (4 days at PA site)

Adventure Program Management (for 1 or 2 people) (3 days at PA site)

Refresher Training or Consultation Days (if needed) (1 - 4 days)

Option 1: PACKS (props) and Books

Elementary Adventure Curriculum for PE PACK (min. of 1 per school)

Middle School Adventure Curriculum for PE PACK (min. of 1 per school)

High School Adventure Curriculum for PE PACK (min. of 1 per school)

Achieving Fitness PACK (min.1 per Middle or High School)

Creating Healthy Habits PACK (min.1 per Middle School)

Elementary Adventure Curriculum for PE Book (1 per teacher)

Middle School Adventure Curriculum for PE Book (1 per teacher)

High School Adventure Curriculum for PE Book (1 per teacher)

Achieving Fitness: An Adventure Activity Guide

Fitness Journals (1 per student, 30 do come in the PACK)

Creating Healthy Habits Activity Guide

33

Option 1: Challenge Course Elements

Please note that the selection of challenge course elements is very site specific. Included

below are options for combinations of challenge course elements. Challenge Course design

and element selection will be determined upon consultation to determine your school’s goals

and needs, as well as the scope of project you wish to embark upon. Challenges Course

designs can range from 2-3 low elements, to very large-scale indoor and outdoor courses.

These are some options you may include in your proposal:

Site Evaluation

Optional Elementary Low Climbing Traverse (24 feet)

Middle School Indoor Low Challenge Course

Middle School Low Challenge Course on Poles** (does not include low traverse wall)

High School Indoor Low and High Challenge Course

High School Outdoor Low and High Challenge Course on Poles

Optional High Climbing Tower

New fitness challenge course elements

Estimated Travel and Expenses

**The total cost of outdoor elements in poles varies with course layout, lumber pricing and

pole setting costs. Project Adventure’s cost estimates are intended to be comfortable planning

estimates for most locations.

Challenge Course Elements Project Adventure recommends by grade level:

Middle School:

Elements that directly align with the Middle School Adventure Curriculum for Physical

Education are the following:

Low Elements: Multi-Swing (Nitro Crossing), TP Shuffle, Islands Whale Watch,

Mohawk Walk, The Meuse, Spiders Web, Trolleys, Low Climbing Traverse.

Other Low Elements that would be appropriate for Middle School: Full House, Triangle

Tension Traverse, Birds nest, Burma Bridge*, Multivine Traverse*, Pirates Crossing*,

Wild Side Kit, Universal Person Sender, Universal Pole & Tire.

*low element version

34

High School:

Elements that directly align with the High School Adventure Curriculum for Physical

Education are the following:

Low Elements: Porthole, Swinging Tires, Whale Watch, Mohawk Walk, Low Climbing

Traverse, Fidget Ladder, Hickory Jump, Swinging Log, Tension Traverse, Wild Woosey.

Other low elements that would be appropriate for High School: Initiative Wall, Spiders

Web 3D Style, Trust Fall, Four Way Whale Watch (Moby Deck), Deluxe Mohawk

Walk, Team Triangle, Portable Kings Finger, Wild Side Kit.

High Elements: Burma Bridge, Flying Squirrel, Postman’s Walk, Two Ships Passing,

Catwalk, Centipede, High Wild Woozy, Multivine Traverse, Rappel Platform, Climbing

Wall (indoor), Climbing Tower, Dangle Duo, Pamper Pole/Plank, Portable Pamper Pole,

Quadrophenia, Swing Shot, Vertical Playpen, Zip Wire.

Other high elements appropriate for High School: Lily Pads, Dangle Trio, High

Swinging Log, Prusik Climb, Firecracker Ladder, Rope Ladder, Space Station, Cargo

Net, Islands in the Sky, Jeebie Lunge, Pirates Crossing, Matrix, Tired Two Line Bridge,

Topsy Turvey, Zap Wire, Tandem Zip Wire, Helix Tower, Wingback Tower, Four Pole

Tower, Wallenda Walk.

Note: Low and High Challenge Course Element Drawings and Descriptions can be seen

beginning on page 38.

New Fitness Challenge Course Elements::Get students heart rates up and muscles burning

with these new challenge course elements available only at Project Adventure, Macy’s

Balloon, Tarzan Swing, Draw Bridge, Fireman’s Shuffle, Spiderman, and Net Rider.

35

Option 2: Project Adventure’s Modified Adventure Program for Physical

Education for Programs without Challenge Courses

This model can be implemented in all grades K-12

Program elements are:

o Adventure Curriculum for Physical Education

o Achieving Fitness

o Creating Healthy Habits (middle school only)

Necessary Equipment includes

o PACK Products for Elementary, Middle School, and High School

o Curriculum Books

o Student Fitness Journals (optional)

Option 2: Training and Consulting Components:

Planning and Introduction to Adventure (1 day)

Adventure Curriculum for Physical Education/Achieving Fitness (2 days)

Achieving Fitness (2 days)

Creating Healthy Habits (2 days)

Refresher Training (if needed) (1-2 days)

Option 2: PACKS (props) and Books

Elementary Adventure Curriculum for PE PACK (min. of 1 per school)

Middle School Adventure Curriculum for PE PACK (min. of 1 per school)

High School Adventure Curriculum for PE PACK (min. of 1 per school)

Achieving Fitness PACK (min.1 per Middle or High School)

Creating Healthy Habits PACK (min.1 per Middle School)

Elementary Adventure Curriculum for PE Book (1 per teacher)

Middle School Adventure Curriculum for PE Book (1 per teacher)

High School Adventure Curriculum for PE Book (1 per teacher)

Achieving Fitness: An Adventure Activity Guide

Fitness Journals (1 per student, 30 do come in the PACK)

Creating Healthy Habits Activity Guide

36

Option 3: Project Adventure’s Modified Adventure Program for Physical

Education for Programs with Self-selected Challenge Course Elements

For those programs that would like to select elements that are different from the ACPE

curricula, or want to add low climbing traverses or other challenge course elements for

elementary, element pricing estimates will have to be completed. Included below is the

training plan if all three program components are included in the overall program design.

This model can be implemented in all grades K-12

Program elements are:

o Adventure Curriculum for Physical Education

o Achieving Fitness

o Creating Healthy Habits (middle school only)

Necessary Equipment includes

o PACK Products for Elementary, Middle School, and High School

o Curriculum Books

o Student Fitness Journals (optional)

o Optional low and high Challenge Course Elements for Elementary

o Low Challenge Course Elements for Middle School

o High Challenge Course Elements for High School

o New fitness Challenge Course Elements

PLEASE CONTACT PROJECT ADVENTURE FOR PRICING FOR SMALL,

MEDIUM OR LARGE COURSES

CALL 978-524-4658 OR EMAIL…..Bill Bates at bbates@pa.org

Option 3: Training and Consulting Components

Planning and Introduction to Adventure (1 day)

Adventure Curriculum for PE/Achieving Fitness (3 days)

Creating Healthy Habits (2 days)

Adventure Programming (ascending and traversing elements only) (3 days)

Add one day for courses with Swingshot, Flying Squirrel, Quadrophenia, etc.

Add additional day for course with Zip Line

Technical Skills Intensive (separate from AP) (2 days / 3 days for very large course)

Advanced Skills and Standards Course (for 2 or more people) (4 days at PA site)

Adventure Program Management (for 1 or 2 people) (3 days at PA site)

Refresher Training or Consultation Days (if needed) (1 - 4 days)

37

Option 3: PACKS (props) and Books

Elementary Adventure Curriculum for PE PACK (min. of 1 per school)

Middle School Adventure Curriculum for PE PACK (min. of 1 per school)

High School Adventure Curriculum for PE PACK (min. of 1 per school)

Achieving Fitness PACK (min.1 per Middle or High School)

Creating Healthy Habits PACK (min.1 per Middle School)

Elementary Adventure Curriculum for PE Book (1 per teacher)

Middle School Adventure Curriculum for PE Book (1 per teacher)

High School Adventure Curriculum for PE Book (1 per teacher)

Achieving Fitness: An Adventure Activity Guide

Fitness Journals (1 per student, 30 do come in the PACK)

Creating Healthy Habits Activity Guide

Challenge Course Elements

Please note that the selection of challenge course elements is very site specific. We can

provide general prices for particular size courses to assist you with your planning. We

strongly recommend some consultation with a PA specialist in order to determine which

elements are right for your program.

Site evaluation: In order to maximize your space, assure you that you can in fact install all

that you are hoping for, and to design a course that best fits your program goals, you will

need a site evaluation. Budget $1,800 for this visit.

If you are applying for a grant that targets only one grade level, elementary, middle school,

or high school, the number of training days will be very similar if not the same as the above

estimates. What will change more dramatically is the equipment that you purchase. Please

call a Project Adventure Consultant to assist you in pricing out your customized model.

38

Challenge Course Element Drawings and Descriptions

LOW ELEMENTS

The Beam

The Beam is a log horizontally supported

between poles or trees. A popular element

for all ages and abilities, the difficulty level

can be altered by adjusting the height of the

log from six to eight feet above the ground.

The group involved must try to get over The

Beam in the most efficient, safety-conscious

way. In their attempts, individuals and

groups are challenged to improve balance,

trust, coordination and teamwork.

Bosun’s Chairs

Bosun’s Chairs are a series of small wood

platform swings suspended about two feet

above the ground via ropes and a horizontal

cable or overhead beam. They provide a

traversing and swinging challenge to a

variety of age groups. Variations involve

individual or group challenges.

39

Fidget Ladder

A diamond-shaped rope and wood dowel

ladder is suspended between two points.

Using hands and feet only for balance and

the group for spotting, an individual attempts

to traverse the free-spinning ladder, starting

at the low end, about 2 ½ feet above the

ground, to the high end, usually about eight

feet above the ground. The shape of the

ladder and its two attachment points provide

for a very wobbly experience!

Full House

Five 4x4 wood beams secured slightly above

ground in the shape of a house constitute this

element. The team begins by spreading out

along the rails – no feet touching the ground!

Team members are asked to then change

positions using one of a number of possible

scenarios. This shuffling of bodies requires

some acrobatics and a lot of trust and

communication!

Hickory Jump

This is a classic trust dive into a waiting

group of spotters. A target ball is suspended

about eight feet above the ground.

Participants dive toward the ball from a

series of graduated steps in line with the

target.

40

Initiative Wall (Freestanding)

Another classic activity in the field of

Adventure Programming, this updated design

includes a slightly sloping 12-foot square

wall face made of weather-resistant MDO

plywood. There is a spotting platform on the

back of the wall from which participants can

help other group members. There is also a

user-friendly descent ladder. The slight angle

on the face makes for an effective climbing

and spotting experience. The group is

challenged to get up and over the wall within

specific safety and spotting parameters.

Initiative Wall (Traditional)

One of the original challenge course events,

the Initiative Wall is a 12-foot high façade

between two upright trees or poles. The face

of the wall is smooth and the back of the wall

has a platform and staples for descending.

The objective of this element is to move your

team from one side of the wall to the other

by going over the top. After a person has

gone over the top and descended, that person

is not allowed to physically assist any person

who has not yet ascended.

Islands

The islands are three wooden platforms in a

variety of sizes that are large enough to fit a

group of approximately 10–12 participants.

The wooden platforms are placed about six

to eight feet apart. Each group is challenged

to use two planks that are both shorter than

the distance between the platforms to

traverse from the first to the last platform

without the participants or the boards

touching the ground.

41

Low Climbing Traverse

A highly engaging introduction to the thrill

of balancing, moving and spotting on

artificial climbing walls, the Low Climbing

Traverse is close enough to the ground that it

does not involve the complication of ropes

and harnesses.

Moby Deck

Moby Deck is an adaptation of the popular

Whale Watch element. A 12-foot octagonal-

shaped planked deck is balanced on a center

fulcrum. The platform can tip in every

direction, requiring participants to work

together to balance the deck without making

contact with the ground.

Mohawk Walk

One of the great low elements, the Mohawk

Walk consists of a series of five knee-high

cables tautly strung between a series of

poles. The group must traverse from one end

to the other without touching the ground.

Cooperation and communication between

group members are keys to successful

completion.

Accomplished indoors using P.A.’s Wild Side Kit.

See equipment catalog for details.

42

Mohawk Walk Universal

By adding overhead cables and a supply of

pulleys and assist lanyards, the traditional

Mohawk Walk can be converted into an

element to suit a wider range of ability

levels.

Multiswing

A swing rope is one of the handiest items on

a challenge course, because so many

activities can be done with it. The

Multiswing is a classic element with

incredible versatility – the basis being that

group members swing from one point to

another. There are many variations of this

element, such as Nitro Crossing, Disc

Jockeys, Prouty’s Landing and Do-I-Go.

Porthole

A large tire is hung between two trees or

poles at a height of about 4 ½ to 5 ½ feet

above the ground. Program options for the

Porthole include having the group pass each

participant through the tire with a variety of

consequences for ‘touches’ depending on the

challenge level desired.

43

Ring Thing

The Ring Thing is an adaptation of the

traditional King’s Finger/Vertical Pole and

Tire. A motorcycle tire is guided over a 12-

foot pole and maneuvered to the ground

without touching the pole or a series of

obstacles along the pole. Instead of the group

forming a human pyramid to reach the top of

the pole, the tire is guided by a number of

ropes, making it a more universal activity.

Spider’s Web

The Spider’s Web consists of bungee cord

woven together in a web-like fashion to

provide a classic group challenge. The

challenge is to pass each group member

through the web without touching the

bungee. The Spider’s Web activity may be

framed in many different ways, from

assigning consequences for “touches” to the

web to “closing” holes after they have been

traveled through.

Spider’s Web (Universal)

By modifying the width and configuration of

holes, the Accessible Spider’s Web

transforms a classic element. Holes vary in

size with a series of lower holes large enough

to accommodate a wheelchair or someone

with limited flexibility. The group must try

to get through the bungee web without

touching any web material. Framing this

activity can vary as described above.

44

Swinging Log

The name of this element is also its

description. A utility pole is hung just above

the ground by two support cables. The object

is to stay balanced while traversing the

element. The Swinging Log is surprisingly

engaging and tricky.

Swinging Tires

The object of Swinging Tires is to traverse

from tire to tire without touching the ground.

It can be done individually or as a group. The

tires are suspended just above the ground

from a series of drop cables and are spaced

about six feet apart.

Team Triangle

Three cables are hung loosely in a triangular

formation between three support poles. Set

on the ground in the center of the triangle is a

wooden platform. The objective is for each

individual in the group to move from the

platform, touch each pole and return to the

platform by using the cables and other group

members for support. This is an extremely

engaging activity.

45

T.P. Shuffle

A telephone pole (hence the name) rests a

few inches above the ground on notched feet.

Participants step onto the log and are

challenged to switch places according to a

variety of criteria, such as order of birth

month, without stepping off the log.

Triangular Tension Traverse

Three taut legs of cable are installed in trees

or poles in the form of a triangle. Two hand

lines are attached high above the start point,

allowing for two participants to cross by

each other as they circumnavigate the

triangle in opposite directions while being

spotted by other group members.

Accomplished indoors using P.A.’s Wild Side Kit.

See equipment catalog for details.

Trust Fall Platform

A wooden platform is installed about four to

five feet above the ground. From this height,

a group member falls backwards into the

arms of waiting group members. This is a

classic element that is very important to the

trust development of the group.

46

Trust Steps

Trust Steps is a variation of the standard

Trust Fall Platform. Built to offer three

different height options for the “faller,” the

element has a staircase look. The activity is

the same – the participant falls backwards

into the arms of the waiting spotters.

Two Line Bridge:

Two parallel cables strung horizontally between

trees or poles approximately four to four and a

half feet apart. The objective is to climb to the

element and traverse across with the lower cables

serving as the foot cable, and the upper cable

providing support of the hands.

UPS (Universal Person Sender)

The UPS platform is suspended from four

ropes and rides on a high horizontal cable

with a K-2 Zip Pulley. The platform easily

slides back and forth, transporting one

participant at a time. To make the 30-foot

crossing, the participant may use the rope

provided as an aid, or the group members

may help. It is important that team members

stay engaged throughout the activity to assist

other teammates.

47

Whale Watch

The Whale Watch is one of the most truly

universal events. It consists of a 6 by 14 foot

planked deck set on top of a fulcrum so that

the platform becomes a macro teeter-totter.

The platform is large enough to

accommodate a group of up to 20 or 25

members. Optionally, the platform can dip

level to the ground, allowing wheel chair

access. The Whale Watch can also be built

with side rails to stop chairs from

inadvertently rolling off the sides. The

number of scenarios and guidelines that a

facilitator can use with this element are

endless.

Wild Woosey

Two cables, tautly supported approximately

18 inches above the ground, originate from a

single support pole or tree and diverge

toward eyebolt anchors about 30 feet away.

The performance object of the Wild Woosey

is for two people, while maintaining physical

contact with one another, to move along the

diverging cables as far as possible. The rest

of the group spot and encourage the pair.

Accomplished indoors using P.A.’s Wild Side Kit.

See equipment catalog for details.

These write-ups are for descriptive purposes only. They are not intended to be instructional or to

substitute for proper training. For more information, refer to: The Guide to Challenge Course

Operations by Bob Ryan.

48

HIGH ELEMENTS

Burma Bridge

The bridge in the Burma Bridge is represented

by three parallel cables/ropes set in a triangular

fashion – bottom foot cable with two hand lines

about four feet above that foot cable. As with

any high traversing element, an overhead belay

cable parallels the lower cables. This is one of

the easiest high elements to complete, thus

providing a good choice for those feeling highly

challenged just by being at elevation.

Cat Walk

The Cat Walk high element is a level (non-

swinging) log, secured between two support

poles. With a little tensioned help from the

belayer and a modicum of personal

commitment, almost anyone can make the

walking passage. The application of height adds

nicely to the challenge quotient.

49

Centipede

The Centipede consists of a series of vertical

4x4 boards, suspended end to end, and hung

pendulously at the end decks. Each 4x4 board

section has climbing staples or holds

horizontally placed to suggest use as climbing

steps, and indeed they are. The task is for an

individual to climb as high as possible, enjoy

their achievement, and simply be lowered to the

ground.

Counterweight System

Imagine climbing a wall, but only lifting half of

your weight or less – that’s the effect of a

counterweight system. Simple in concept and

operation, the counterweights make climbing

possible for those who would not otherwise be

able – a great universal adaptation. When not

needed, the system does not interfere with the

standard operation of the wall. The

Counterweight System can be added to most

high elements to provide universal access.

Dangle Duo

The object of this element is for two (DUO),

three (TRIO), or four (QUAD) participants to

climb together to the top of this giant

undulating ladder without touching the side

cables, depending on one another for both

physical and emotional support. The wooden

rungs are spaced increasingly far apart as one

climbs.

50

Diminishing Returns

Diminishing Returns is a group-assisted

variation of the classic Pirate’s Crossing

challenge. Above the foot cable is a V-shaped

rope that is allowed to slide along the foot

cable, the apex of the V moving in direct

response to the pressure exerted on this balance

rope. The result is a counter-intuitive challenge

that requires the help of group members on the

ground for a successful solution. When

coordinated properly, the participant uses the

support of the handline to easily make it to the

opposite pole.

Eagle’s Nest

The Eagle’s Nest is a horizontally suspended

cargo net. On a standard Eagle’s Nest, two

individual belay cables pass overhead. Up to

eight participants can clip to static lanyards

while absorbing their experience in the nest.

Access to the Eagle’s Nest is possible from rope

ladders, a Centipede, or a high platform,

depending on the design of the course.

Firecracker Ladder

This ladder proves to be physically challenging

for most participants, and often invokes a

personal challenge to “see how high I can get.”

This ladder, which is made of dowels and

colorful braided rope, can also be used as a

more challenging method of accessing other

high elements.

51

Flying Squirrel

The Flying Squirrel element itself consists of an

overhead pulley connected to a high anchor

point with a length of static rope suspended

from ground to pulley to ground. A participant

(the squirrel) is clipped into one end of the rope

and is slowly pulled up to the anchor point by a

committed group of haulers at the other end of

the rope. This is a particularly useful event in

that it allows students who are intimidated by

height, climbing, or with physical limitations, to

experience height without having to commit to

climbing.

High Swinging Beam

One of the few high traversing elements

possible in most gyms, the High Swinging

Beam is suspended from four cables attached to

an overhead beam. Accessed by a rope ladder, it

provides all of the balance-challenge of the Low

Swinging Beam with the added dimension of

height!

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Inclined Log

A substantially sized utility pole, approximately

30-35 feet in length, is attached to the support

trees or poles at an incline of not more than 20

degrees. The object is for the participant, while

clipped into an overhead belay, to gingerly

walk, shimmy, or crawl up the log and gain

elevation and confidence.

Islands-in-the-Sky

A series of island platforms are suspended

between two poles separated by lots of air (and

cables). The climber carefully shuffles across

the parallel cables Tired Two Line style

between the islands. Islands-in-the-Sky is an

excellent transition challenge from cable to

platform traversing. Handlines are not part of

this event – careful movement and balance are

emphasized.

Jeebie Lunge

On the Jeebie Lunge, a belayed participant

makes their way out on a taut horizontal cable,

using a descending rope for balance. The rope

eventually connects to the foot cable about half

way across, at which point further progress is

improbable. At this juncture the bent-over

participant can lunge for the first of a series of

vertically hanging ropes that is just out of

his/her grasp (surprise!).

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Lily Pads

Lily Pads

Imagine a series of suspended circular islands,

each hanging from a solitary rope. In order to

cross the “pond”, the climber must step from

one teetering island to the next. Sounds

impossible, right? However, with the help of

group members on the ground, success

suddenly becomes a strong possibility. Three

ropes that run to the ground are attached to the

base of the 2 foot diameter discs, allowing the

ground team to stabilize them as the climber

makes his/her way across. A high degree of

interaction is assured as this process is

coordinated!

Multivine Travese

The Multivine Traverse is very much like the

Jeebie Lunge except with more lunges. If

you’re into lunging, this element is IT. Picture a

kind-of-taut horizontal foot cable with

sequenced vertical hand ropes interspersed

throughout the crossing. From the initial

support pole a participant must move out on the

cable and eventually lunge for a hanging rope

that is two to three feet beyond their farthest

stretching reach. This slide-lunge routine is

continued until the far support tree is reached.

This is also a superb partner activity.

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Pamper Plank

The Pamper Plank is a ‘diving element,’ setting

it apart from a typical belayed climbing

experience. The brave participant climbs up a

tree or pole on climbing staples to gain access

to a platform (the plank), from which they exit

in favor of a hanging trapeze bar or target ball a

number of improbable feet away. There’s lots

of air in this one!

Pamper Pole

The Pamper Pole has peak experience written

all over it! A truly unique balance, trust and

acrobatic experience requiring a modicum of

bravery, the Pamper Pole challenges the

climber to ascend a slender pole for the express

purpose of standing atop it for a few moments

in order to absorb the experience. The next step

is a big one – a dive for the trapeze bar or target

ball before safely regaining the ground.

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Portable Pamper Pole

An indoor version of the Pamper Pole, the

Portable Pamper Pole is a 16-foot high

improbably slender pole that the participant

ascends. The pole is held in its vertical place by

several group members, some using support

ropes. Once standing on top of the pole, all it

takes is a step into air in the general direction of

a target ball a few feet away.

Pamper Pole/Plank Combo

A classic tough element – combine the Pamper

Pole and Pamper Plank, and you have a

dynamic duo of peak experience activities. The

Pamper Pole is a slender, unsupported (except

at the ground) vertical pole that the climber

ascends with the goal of standing vertically on

top. The subsequent dive for a hanging target

ball a number of feet away adds an extra

dimension to the descent. The Pamper Plank is

a small platform connected to a pole, with a

similar dive to the target ball. The climber can

choose the level of challenge – will it be the

pole or the plank?

Pipe Dream

Two suspended, converging steel pipes in Pipe

Dream provide a new challenge to participants

as they shuffle along the wobbly rails. As they

progress, they must adapt to the changing space

between the pipes, making this activity trickier

than it initially appears. As with Tired Two

Line, Cat Walk and Islands-in-the-Sky, this is a

hands-free challenge – no handlines are

available to give that nice feeling of security.

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Pirate’s Crossing

On the Pirate’s Crossing, a belayed participant

makes his or her way out on a taut horizontal

cable, using a descending handline for balance.

That rope eventually connects to the foot cable

about two-thirds of the way across. Thankfully,

a mirror-image handline permits a somewhat

precarious ascent on the other side of the X.

Prusik Climb:

The Prusik Climb presents participants with the

challenge of ascending a fixed static rope using

three Prusik slimgs. The vertical rope is usually

a larger diameter rope (at least three-quarter

inch). A Prusik sling consists of a smaller

diameter rope tied in a loop, which is then

attached to the larger rope using a Prusik knot.

The Prusik knot is a type of friction knot which

can slide along another rope when loose, but

can also be tightened to remain fixed.

Two longer slings are used as foot loops and a

third shorter sling is attached to the climber’s

seat harness. The climber uses the Prusik slings

to ascend and descend the vertical rope. A

separate dynamic belay provides additional

security for the climber.

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Quadrophenia

The classic peak experience element – the

Pamper Pole – was created around the time of

quadraphonic sound and the classic Who

recording. Now Quadrophenia is back in a

whole new way! Four climbers transform the

Pamper Pole from an individual thing to a truly

group “high.” Imagine squeezing four perfectly

sensible adults on a small round platform 25

feet above the ground at the same time! Do a

Yurt Circle, a Trust Fall, or simply step off.

Eight people are actively involved in this one –

four belayers as well as four climbers to create

whole-group involvement.

Rappel Platform

A station from which a participant can be

somewhat secure in order to connect to a rappel

rope, the Rappel Platform is simply an 18-inch

square platform bolted to a gym wall or firmly

connected to a tree or pole. The rappelling

experience is backed-up with a belay rope and

belayer.

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Ratlines

The Ratlines is a visually impressive, angled

cargo net climb from the ground to a tower

deck – the name harkening back to the days of

tall ships rounding The Horn. Up to two

climbers may ascend the Ratlines

simultaneously. When the course is not in use,

the Ratlines are hoisted up the guy cables and

out of reach.

Ring Swing

One of the most physically challenging

elements, the Ring Swing begins from a small

platform connected to a support tree or pole. A

series of suspended rings bridge the gap

between that platform and the other end of the

element. Without a foot cable, the only way to

cross the chasm is to use momentum to swing

from ring to ring, performing a proper monkey

imitation.

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Ships Passing in the Night

The crux of this event is that two participants

cross by one another mid-span. Two

participants simultaneously climb separate

support poles. Using a horizontal foot cable and

separate tension traverse ropes, they attempt to

pass one another and end up at the far pole. As

they pass one another, they also trade ropes.

Space Station

A 4 x 8 foot suspended platform between two

telephone poles facilitates a motion akin to a

subway train. To add to the effect, the deck of

the platform is clear acrylic, making it feel

more like a real space station. The Space

Station is often used as a staging deck for two

parallel Zip Wires (Tandem Zip Wires) and as a

rappelling platform.

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Space Station (Indoors)

Instead of being connected to utility poles, the

indoor version of the Space Station is hung

from the overhead beams. Access is usually

attained via rope ladder or Flying Squirrel-style

group lift. Once there, descent is usually

accomplished by the use of a rappel rope.

Space Walk

The Space Walk is a series of ropes with foot

loops (think Multiswing swing rope) one step-

length apart, facilitating the participant’s

traverse through space to a parallel universe (or

the other pole). This is a physically demanding

challenge, but well worth the effort!

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Swing Shot

The Swingshot is a swing that combines some

of the best attributes of the traditional Giant

Swing with the group involvement and

satisfaction of the Flying Squirrel – it’s a

simple, wonderful thrill. The participant begins

and ends about three feet above the ground by

being clipped into a rope lanyard and a haul-

back rope. This rope leads to the top of a pole,

through a pulley system, to make its way to an

eager haul team back on the ground. As the

rope is pulled, the swinger arcs slowly upward.

When ready, he or she simply releases the haul

rope and shoots earthward in a breathtaking

display of gravitational and centrifugal force. A

tackle system can be fitted to aid in lifting and

lowering participants for universal

programming.

Tired Two Line

The name originates from the Two Line Bridge,

a very basic high element displaying one taut

cable strung parallel to and a few feet above the

other. The Tired Two Line is represented by two

taut cables also parallel to one another – in this

case lying side by side. The “tired” cables are

only about eight inches apart and provide a two

cable/two foot balance walk of note.

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Topsy-Turvy

Another in this series of ground-supported team

elements, the Topsy-Turvy appears like a

straightforward Indiana Jones-style bridge

crossing. However, of the three support lines

for the bridge, only the center one is fastened to

each pole. The side support lines are fed

through links and diverted to rope handlers on

the ground. The tighter they are pulled, the

more stable the bridge becomes.

Trapeze Jump

This is simply an indoor Pamper Plank, where

the “plank” platform is bolted securely to the

gymnasium wall. The participant usually gains

access to the platform by climbing a series of

climbing holds fastened to the wall. Once there,

the way off is by diving for a trapeze or target

ball, before being safely lowered to the ground

by the trusty belayer.

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Two Line Bridge

Also known as the Postman’s Walk, the object

of this traverse is simply to walk/slide from one

pole to another with your feet on the bottom

cable, using the parallel hand line for support.

That’s it, that’s all – simple!

Universal Lift

For individuals unable to climb the other access

elements, a Universal Lift arm with a 4:1 tackle

system makes it possible to either hoist oneself

aloft or be hoisted by group members from the

ground. Once the climber is at height, he or she

may do a belay transfer to another element,

rappel or be lowered on belay to the ground.

The Universal Lift can be added to most high

elements to provide universal access.

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Vertical Playpen

The Vertical Playpen is a vertical obstacle

course that offers a different challenge at each

level achieved. The Vertical Playpen might be

considered the most physically demanding of

the high challenge course events. A series of

obstacles such as rope ladders, handlines, large

tires, suspended beams, etc. creates an

interesting and varied challenge for the

climbing team as they ascend.

Wilder Woosey

Simply a Wild Woosey at height, the Wilder

Woosey steps the commitment level up a notch

as the partners attempt to traverse the 35 foot

long V using only each other for support. A

great partner high element, the objective is not

necessarily to reach the far pole, but to go as far

as they can together. The climbers are each

protected by a ground belay team using a

dynamic belay system.

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Zap Wire

The Zap Wire is a platform-to-platform Zip

Wire, thus the name similarity. The span of the

element is limited to about 30 feet, with no

elevation change. Momentum for the traverse is

acquired by a couple of energetic steps before

leaving the start platform (same at both ends of

the element). A recovery rope is provided,

allowing stranded zappers to pull themselves to

the opposite side.

Zip Wire

Zip Wires are fixtures on many challenge

courses – often being the peak experience as

well as the means of egress. The “wire” is an

arc-shaped cable strung between two poles –

the start end above a high take-off platform.

Combined with a K-2 Zip Pulley and a

connecting lanyard, the zipper gets one heck of

an exciting ride. Gravity is the brake – an

uncomplicated system that requires the removal

team only to manage a stepladder.

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Tandem Zip Wires

Tandem Zip Wires consist of parallel arc-shaped

cables strung from poles above a high take-off

deck (we suggest a suspended Space Station

platform) to lower anchor points on matching

poles. Combined with K-2 Zip Pulleys,

connecting lanyards and two willing bodies, the

zipping pair gets one heck of an exciting ride.

The riders are gently slowed using only gravity

– an uncomplicated system that requires the

removal team only to manage the stepladder to

help the “zippers” reacquaint themselves with

the earth.

These write-ups are for descriptive purposes only. They are not intended to be instructional or to substitute for proper training. For more information, refer to: The Guide to Challenge Course Operations by Bob Ryan.

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CLIMBING ELEMENTS

Climbing Tower

Climbing towers are an adventure staple. The

challenge of scaling a relentlessly vertical surface

while clinging to small urethane shapes and trusting

the belayer is only one feature of PA’s standard

climbing tower. The top deck can serve as a staging

area for elements connected to the tower, for

rappelling or even for group discussions. Climbing

Towers are often the visual and programmatic focal

point of the challenge course.

Climbing Wall

A very popular option, installed as a component of

an indoor course, the Climbing Wall simulates a true

rock climbing experience. We custom design our

climbing walls to suit your budget and the character

of your facility – the options are endless.

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Helix Tower

Imagine a standard triangular tower and twist it 60

degrees. The elegance of the Helix Tower is in the

visual impression it makes on participants and the

programmatic possibilities derived from the angle of

the wall surfaces – stay left for difficult overhanging

climbs and stay right for easier slab climbing. One

climbing surface accesses the top deck for

rappelling. A second climbing surface goes to the

top of the poles for maximum height. The third side

is for free rappelling, with only the top eight feet of

surface planked.

Wing Tower

The design of the Wing Tower makes supervision of

multiple climbing faces possible –the “open book”

configuration of the tower being the key.

Aesthetically pleasing and functionally effective, a

Wing Tower is more of a pure climbing structure

than our other towers, where all climbing surfaces

reach maximum elevation.

These write-ups are for descriptive purposes only. They are not intended to be instructional or

a substitute for proper training. For more information, refer to: The Guide to Challenge Course

Operations by Bob Ryan.