Next Step AdventureMartha helps you do, what you do, better then you did it before…

Speak Your Mind

Posted on Friday, May 28th, 2010

Polk County Conservation is collecting input from the public about renovations for Yellow Banks Park in the southeast part of Polk County, and for Thomas Mitchell Park in Mitchellville, the eastern part of the county. [...]

Help Evaluate Chrysalis After-School

Posted on Sunday, May 2nd, 2010

As it always does, the school year has somehow disappeared, with May catching me unprepared! It’s time to collect information about your work with the Chrysalis Foundation’s after-school girls’ groups so that we can report [...]

Weigh In

Posted on Friday, April 30th, 2010

I’ve been working with Culture Incorporated for about a year, and it’s been really exciting to watch their struggles and triumphs. Since they won a grant for “Bridging the Gap” in December, they’ve really been [...]

Join the Movement

Posted on Sunday, March 7th, 2010

Go outside! It’s spring, and Iowa is joining a broad based movement to renew a close, personal relationship with the out of doors.

April 10-11–As part of Iowa’s “Reconnecting Children with Nature” effort, the Department of [...]

See the iJAG Survey

Posted on Thursday, February 4th, 2010

I am working with iJAG (Iowa Jobs for America’s Graduates) to assess longterm outcomes for graduates of the program. iJAG is working hard to increase the high school graduation rate in Iowa and have staff [...]

Discover a World of Difference

Posted on Saturday, January 9th, 2010

Sometimes people are amazed at the places I’ve been–Oaxaca, Zambia, Greece, Istanbul, Poland, Czech Republic, Budapest. Paris, Lille and London last spring were amazing, but not as exotic as the earlier destinations. Sometimes even I [...]

Learn by Doing

Posted on Friday, December 18th, 2009

Only as an adult have I settled into my preferred learning style. A counselor once listened to me describe a daydream of swimming and labeled me a kinesthetic learner. I’ve embraced that definition and learned [...]

Sleep Out for Reggie

Posted on Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

As the weather gets colder, I feel more and more sympathy for the homeless people I see on the street. A few years ago, a young homeless man named Reggie died in Des Moines, bringing [...]

Give Feedback

Posted on Sunday, September 20th, 2009

The Chrysalis Foundation works very hard to collect accurate information about its work with girls in after-school groups. On this post you’ll find the Evaluation Tools for the Chrysalis After-School Programs for 2009-2010. I will [...]

Go Outdoors!

Posted on Monday, August 24th, 2009

The naturalists at Polk County Conservation are some of my favorite people to work with. I’ve facilitated adventure education programs with them, canoed, and learned to use GPS in parks throughout Polk County. Some of [...]