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by Mike Donovan For eight years I lobbied without success to install a climbing wall and integrate an adventure/challenge program into our Physical Education Curriculum at Glen Grove School in District #34 in Glenview, Illinois. However, that changed when our current superintendent, Dr. Daniel Johnson, arrived in the fall of 1995. Dr. Johnson seemed to understand immediately that the adventure/challenge program could have far reaching effects on not only the students, but the staff and the climate within the entire district. Dr. Johnson had us present a number of sessions to inform the community about the philosophy of the program, safety procedures, and emotional benefits to our fourth, fifth and sixth grade students. The outpouring of support from our principal, Irene Rielly, our PTA, and our district Physical Education groups was overwhelming. We received an enthusiastic approval to proceed with the project. My teaching partner, Kay Sopocy and I have started the program. Discussions about philosophy, the Full Value Contract and Challenge by Choice were all covered before we taught our 400 fourth, fifth and sixth graders how to tie knots and secure climbing harnesses. Suddenly all the struggles and frustrations from the past eight years have faded, only to be remembered for the value of perseverance. I once heard someone who had seen the Grand Canyon for the first time say, "It was more than the mind could hold." The future of our program is a tapestry so rich and limitless that it too is more than the mind can hold. As Gus McCrae said in "Lonesome Dove", "It's going to be quite a party!" We can't wait. If you would like to visit our school and experience something very special call us at (847) 998-5030 and ask for Mike Donovan (I am the one who rides a Harley) or Kay Sopocy. Note: The superintendent was so impressed by the presentations we made to the various groups he devoted one of our District #34 Staff Newsletters to our program specifically, and as a metaphor for the district. The superintendent gave us permission to reprint a copy of his newsletter: District #34 Staff Newsletter, "Up the Minute", American Education Week, November 14, 1995. As I think about American Education Week I am inspired by a recent physical education department presentation to the Board of Education regarding adventure/challenge education. As most of you know this process take people from various backgrounds with varying degrees of talent, and with varying degrees of self-confidence, and provides an experience from which they can gain a new sense of self and a greater appreciation of others. Please grant me a little poetic license as I use an adventure/challenge metaphor to describe the "District #34 Adventure." The participants in our adventure are students, parents, teachers, administrative and support personnel, the Board of Education, and the entire Glenview community. Ours is an experience appropriate for those who need low risk activities, those who like a challenge, but don't want to get too far off the ground. Often we have a difficult time 'communicating' with one another, let alone 'cooperating' with one another. From time to time we need prodding to challenge our limits, to realize that we can accomplish more by working cooperatively than through competition. Some of us have been burned enough that we are afraid to take new risks, and we have difficulty placing our fate in the hands of the group. This experience is also appropriate for those of us who seek a bit more adventure. We want to get higher off the ground, to push our limits. We, too, however, forget from time to time that we can accomplish more through cooperation than through competition. Sometimes we become the "hot dogs" who need to ask whether we are serving the needs of the group or our own egos. Generally after a few setbacks we recognize that we need the group's help. Finally, this experience is appropriate for those of us who are somewhere between these extremes. We want to experience some excitement, but we also don't want to take great risks. We like people, and we trust them - to a point. After all, is anyone else really concerned with our interests? As I watched last night's Board celebration and the meeting of the new Board that followed, I caught a glimpse of our adventure/challenge in action. Students, school staff, members of the community, and friends gathered to pay tribute to three of our own: Mary Belgrade, Liz Dinsomre, and John Witt. We paid tribute to our glorious past, witnessed through the student presentations the success of our present efforts, and listened to questions in the first meeting of the new Board which caused us to think about our future. Thinking as constructivists, how can our adventure program provide us opportunities to construct our own knowledge and perspectives? For me, last night's snapshot indicated that we are as strong as we are today because of our past. It also indicated that, despite our differences in philosophies and willingness to risk, we have a bright and challenging future. I hope that we, as part of our District 34 adventure, will remember that it was cooperation, not competition, that brought us this far. We have taken giant steps toward cooperation, moving from independence to interdependence. Whether we want to view ourselves as a family or as a business, it is that interdependence which will determine our future. Some of us need to ask if we are pushing ourselves enough, while others will have to ask if we are being the "hot dogs". Some of us will get involved more quickly than others, but none of us can afford to be observers. As a relative newcomer to District 34, it is clear to me that we are a community of doers. We will experience financial challenges, breakdowns in communications, and real-life setbacks. Nevertheless, if we remember our adventure/challenge experience as a trust-building activity, if we trust one another to ask tough questions, to make tough decisions, and to stay focused on the common good of this school district and this community, we will continue to grow individually and collectively. I want to thank each one of you for being a part of the District 34 adventure. May this year's adventure bring us individually and collectively a meaningful sense of accomplishment and a positive future for American Education. --Daniel P. Johnson, Ed. D., Superintendent of Schools
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