16th Annual T.E.A.M. Conference

T.E.A.M. is an organization dedicated to promoting and supporting the process of experiential and adventure based learning. Through the sharing of a progression of ideas, skills, and curricula, TEAM provides individuals and organizations in the areas of education and community service with professional, cross-cultural, and personal growth opportunities. Our mission is accomplished through an annual conference, The Ripple Effect Newsletter, and our web site (www.neiu.edu/~team).

• Adventure Education - type of experiential education in which the teaching activity may use perceived risk as a learning tool (ropes courses, primitive camping).
• Bag of Tricks - tools used by educator/facilitator to enhance the learning experience of an individual or group (i.e., games, props, utilization of space).
• Challenge by Choice - student participates in a learning experience to the extent to which s/he is comfortable. A Project Adventure coined term.
• Climbing Wall - tool used to create trust within a group or between individuals. [Note: a climbing wall is a primarily vertical climb; a traverse wall is a primarily horizontal climb.]
• Debriefing - reporting of group members about their experiences after completion of a mission/task.
• Experiential Education - a student's experience of an activity serves as the object of a lesson.
• Outdoor Education - type of experiental education in which the teaching activity uses nature as a learning tool.
• Processing - ongoing learning after the actual activity has ceased; this may be interpersonal, but may continue with individuals as theygain further insights (days, months, or years later).
• Facilitator - the guide/leader who helps group members debrief an activity; "a guide on the side; not a sage on the stage."
• Labyrinth - an ancient walking meditation, often garden-like; a metaphor for life's journey; a means of self-discovery; this is not a maze, which may have dead ends and paths that lead nowhere.

As experiential education relates to the newly revised "Illinois State Professional Teaching Standards," it may be surmised that the five major areas included in the detailing of these standards (content knowledge, human development and learning, instructional strategies, assessment, and professional knowledge) can be considered divisions into which the many and varied workshops offered at the TEAM Conference can be categorized/identified, thus paralleling the areas in which professional growth is mandated for teachers in Illinois.

Useful websites from The Illinois State Board of Education regarding standards are:
http://www.isbe.state.il.us/ils/  (homepage) and http://www.isbe.net/curriculum/CTE/advdescr.html (description areas)

Learning  can and should be an exciting experience for students and teachers. If you attend the conference and are not completely satisfied, we will refund your registration fee!

For more information contact: www.neiu.edu/~team  (e-mail: team@neiu.edu )
or Dan Creely, Jr. Phone: (773) 442-5564 (email:d-creely@neiu.edu )

• Deb Perryman: The 2004-2005 Illinois Teacher of the Year.
• Karl Rohnke: The author of over 30 books, he is "The Adventurer" and recognized around the world for teambuilding and adventure programs. This is his 12th year presenting at T.E.A.M.
• Ray Piagentini: Winner of the Illinois 2004 Education Association Human ans Civic Rights Award for outstanding work with high school students.
• Momfeather Erickson: Cherokee elder who received the Kentucky Colonel Award for service to the State of Kentucky.
• Lem Joyner: In 2002 was awarded the Anthony J. Lauck Alumni Award from the University of Notre Dame, "...for his service to integrate the heart, mind and soul to restore healing in people and the community."
• Leon Secatero: Grand Elder of the Canyoncita Band of the Navajo. He has spoken at the United Nations and is invited all over the world to share his culture.
• Richard Rutschman: Winner of the 1999 Michael Stratton Practitioners Award from the Association of Experiential Education (A.E.E.). Coordinates the Play-for-Peace (PFP) programs in the Chicagoland area.
• Tony Calabrese: Finalist for National Physical Education Teacher of the Year. Over thirty years of experience sharing his passion for adventure with students.
• Mike Vondruska: Has taught over 1,000,000 people to juggle, and he can teach you, too!
• Terry Jacobus: First Heavyweight Poetry Champion in 1982, defeating Gregory Corso. He has been invited to read and teach for the last 22 years at the Taos Poetry Circus, Taos, New Mexico.
• Laurie Frank: Winner of the 1997 Michael E. Stratton Practitioners Award rom the Association of Experiential Education (A.E.E.). A dynamic natinoal speaker, she has presented for over ten years at T.E.A.M.
• Jeff Schafermeyer: A North American Junior National Orienteering Champion.

The T.E.A.M. planning committee honors the life and service of Jim Gillihan through this award established in his name. As both a participant and guide for many years at the T.E.A.M. annual conference, Jim shared a depth of caring that welcomed all. Jim's energy lives on in the hearts and actions of those he touched. We welcome this ripple effect at T.E.A.M. with the addition of The Jim Gillihan Award in the form of scholarships to the conference.

• Come see our Peace Pole. These are carefully hand-crafted monuments erected the world over as international symbols of peace. The purpose is to spread the message...May Peace Prevail On Earth. Our Peace Pole was planted at T.E.A.M. 2000. Read more by clicking here.
• Visit our Peace Fire. It was lit at the 1996 T.E.A.M. Conference. Coal bundles from each Fire have been carried and placed globally to help spread the energies of peace and non-violence. Our fire is connected to Peace Fires that have been burning for over 1000 years. Where is it? Ask at the registration desk at the conference! Read more by clicking here.
• Walk our Peace Labyrinths, both inside and outside,  and align yourself with the universal energy of peace and balance.
• Gather at our  Rainbow Teaching Lodge. Please bring a colorful blanket to create a protective 'lodge' around this International Peace Fire. Hang your blanket on the support lines (as a windbreaker) around the Fire and pick it up after the Conference Closing Ceremonies. Name tags are available for your blanket at the information desk.

Physical Education Complex, Northeastern Illinois University
5500 North St. Louis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois  60625-4699

The campus is close to main roads, expressways, and rapid transit. The main roads on the north and south sides of campus are Bryn Mawr (5600 North) and Foster (5200 North); east and west roads are St. Louis (3500 West) and Pulaski (4000 West). Convenient, ample parking is available by entering the south entrance of campus at Foster Avenue and Central Park Avenue.

From O'Hare International Airport: Take the Kennedy Expressway (I-90) to the Austin-Foster exit. Go east on Foster Ave. to Pulaski Ave. to Bryn Mawr Ave. Turn left.
From the south: Take the Kennedy Espressway (I 90/94) north, merge with the Edens Expressway (I-94), exit at Peterson Ave. Go east on Peterson Ave. to Pulaski Ave. South on Pulaski Ave. to Bryn Mawr Ave. Turn left.
From the east: Take Lake Shore Drive south or north, exit at Foster Avenue and go west to Central Park Avenue. Then turn north.
From the north: Take the Edens Expressway (I-94), exit at Peterson Ave. Go east on Peterson Ave. to Pulaski Ave. Go south on Pulaski Ave. to Bryn Mawr Ave. and turn left.

For more information contact: www.neiu.edu/~team  (e-mail: team@neiu.edu )
or Dan Creely, Jr. Phone: (773) 442-5564 (email:d-creely@neiu.edu ) or the T.E.A.M. Information Line at (773) 442-5569.

You can also get maps and driving directions by doing an address search at Mapquest on the Internet.

Here is a campus map:
 

First, get your own life in order. Ground yourself in the single principle so that your behavior is wholesome and effective. If you do that, you will earn respect and be a powerful influence.

Your behavior influences others through a ripple effect.  A ripple effect works because everyone influences everyone else. Powerful people are powerful influences.

If your life works, you influence your family. If your family works, your family influences the community.

If your community works, your community influences the nation. If your nation works, your nation influences the world. If the world works, the ripple effect spreads throughout the cosmos.

Remember that your influence begins with you and ripples outward. So be sure that your influence is both potent and wholesome.

How do I know that this works? All growth spreads outward from a fertile and potent nucleus.

You are a nucleus.