Go Outdoors!

Martha McCormick on August 24, 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 the parks make you say, “I can’t believe this place is only 20 minutes from my house!” They work to make kids and adults more comfortable in the outdoors.

The Polk County Conservation staff has facilitated service learning with Chrysalis After-School groups for years–kids like to cut out invasive species. They have taken girls snow shoeing, canoeing, fishing, hiking, geocaching, snow shoeing, winter survival….

You can count on them for innovative programming that involves active learning. They bring all their own stuff for programming like fishing poles and snow shoes, and their programs are FREE all year round but spring and fall are the best times for programs.

Schedule your group by emailing Patti Petersen-Keys or calling her at 515-323-5359.

Review the Chrysalis Report

Martha McCormick on August 23, 2009

As I finish the 2009 Chrysalis After-School Evaluation Report, I am impressed by the hard work and stellar outcomes of this innovative program. The third year of my evaluation work for Chrysalis documents positive outcomes for young women in:

  • Resilience
  • Economic Empowerment
  • Leadership

Girls, facilitators and parents are seeing positive changes in confidence, communication skills, school attendance and work, and in their leadership qualities, skills and behavior. These outcomes are the result of serious work at the front lines–facilitators have attended training, put it into practice and set goals for continuous improvement. They have involved the girls in planning and leading the groups and the girls have stepped up, led discussions, games and committees, and written applications for funding.

The Chrysalis Foundation Board, under the leadership of Terry Hernandez and the Education Committee, have examined the findings from previous years, made adjustments and committed 2/3 of their grant dollars to the program for each of the next three years.

If you would like to read the entire report, please download it here–

Play Elbow Tag

Martha McCormick on August 23, 2009

This is another great game for mixing up your group and busting cliques. The action gets so frantic that people don’t pay attention to who they’re grabbing onto. You do have to lay some ground rules to keep the game fair though.

  • Boundaries are really important so the “chasee” has to stay in the vicinity.
  • Some groups may need the rule that they can’t grab onto the pair right next to them.
  • Reserve the right to yell “switch” if your chaser is getting worn out.

Everyone in the group gets a partner and links elbows with her.

One pair volunteers or is chosen to split up. One of these two will be “it” and the other will be chased.

Whenever the chasee links elbows with a pair of players, the person on the opposite end of the pair must break off and becomes the chasee. “It” now starts chasing that person. If the chasee gets tagged, they become it.

Play People to People

Martha McCormick on August 23, 2009

This is a great game for any group of more than about a dozen people. I’ve played it outdoors, in classrooms and auditoriums. If you have an even number of people, just add yourself into the mix.

Pair up participants. Start out being the “caller” unless you have someone with experience who is dying to do it. The caller yells out different body parts, such as hand to hand, knee to knee, foot to foot, head to head.  Or they can holler, “hand to knee” or “elbow to hip”. Participants follow these directions with their partners and touch an elbow to their partner’s hip.

The caller calls out several different arrangements. You can have participants hold each pose throughout or just one at a time. When the caller is ready to mix into the game again, she calls, “people to people” and all participants find a new partner while the caller does her best to grab someone who is now solo.

Whoever doesn’t have a partner becomes the new caller and repeats the process. This is a great game to lead into Elbow Tag.

Venture into Social Drama

Martha McCormick on August 23, 2009

Annie Mielke and I met last year and got excited about the potential for working with girls on drama and then training them to work with younger groups as a service project. Annie’s specialty is working with kids with Asperger Syndrome and Autism, so her audiences learn a lot about these mental disorders, the challenges people with these diagnoses face, and how to relate well to them. Adventures in Social Drama visited several Chrysalis After-School groups last year, including McCombs PRIDE.

The goals of Adventures in Social Drama (ASD) are to:

  • establish safe environments in which drama enables individuals to explore creative moments as learning opportunities
  • utilize appropriate forms of social interaction
  • facilitate meaningful participation in a group dynamic
  • coach individuals to express themselves through creative thinking
  • promote positive interpersonal relationships
  • develop self-worth through episodic memories

Adventures in Social Drama specializes in dramatic exploration: Each program is specially designed to meet the needs of your organization. Free initial consultations are available. ASD works with people from 4 years old to adults. Depending on the size and length of the class, the cost is $150-$500.

For more information, contact Annie Mielke, 515-306-0030.

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Learn about Relationships

Martha McCormick on August 20, 2009

Several years ago we were brainstorming about different approaches to adolescent pregnancy prevention, and came up with the idea of an adventure education program framed around healthy relationships. Part of the rationale is that it might be easier to talk about sex and sexuality while you’re busy climbing a wall or getting your group through a giant spider web. We developed Challenge for Healthy Relationships (CHR) and ISU/Polk County Extension has continued the program.

CHR uses trained and professional staff to work groups through a sequence of ice-breakers, cooperative games and problem solving initiatives. The activities are framed around a variety of aspects of relationships including trust, communication, sexuality, goal setting, decision making and healthy choices.  Facilitators process the activities around relationships and the entire sequence is framed around the Full Value Contract as a guideline for healthy relationships–

  • Have fun
  • Be safe, physically and emotionally
  • Work together
  • Achieve personal and group goals
  • Give and receive honest feedback

Participants in Challenge for Healthy Relationships complete an evaluation tool that measures self-efficacy–a person’s belief in their abilities to deal with specific tasks or situations. The tool measures a group’s growth during the program. Challenge for Healthy Relationships creates a safe and encouraging atmosphere tor all participants and can be brought to a group’s site or be implemented at the Adventure Learning Center challenge courses.

Schedule the program by contacting Melissa O’Neil at 515.957.5767.

Explore the Teen Brain

Martha McCormick on August 19, 2009

I became fascinated with brain research more than 20 years ago when science began to really get inside the human brain and explore it. I’ve done my best to keep up over the years as more and more information is added to the body of knowledge. Right now I’m planning a mind mapping workshop; this technique of visual note taking is very helpful for me, as I go through the world as a concrete random thinker.

Instead of driving myself crazy trying to fit into a more sequential world, I’ve learned to build on my strengths and find colleagues who can help me with details and task orientation.  Brain research has helped me grow creatively and professionally. I use research on learning styles and personality types when I do team building and strategic planning. I’ve put together a post with links to a number of inventories besides the one below.

One of my favorite areas is adolescent brain development. Understanding how the young person’s mind is growing and developing helps me understand her mystifying behavior, sometimes. To that purpose, I’ve developed an experiential workshop for teens and adults that explore–

  • Brain development in adolescents
  • Addressing different learning styles in groups
  • Inspiring creativity
  • New approaches to academic gains

Other topics and areas of interest can be included. Schedule one session or more. Please email Martha to schedule the program.

–Martha McCormick

Take a Quiz to Find Your Style

Martha McCormick on August 19, 2009

It’s always interesting to find out more about yourself. I think that’s what life is really about–finding out who we are and then becoming the best of that. So, whether it’s the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, or the Chinese Horoscope (I’m a Tiger, rrrawrrr) on your placemat at your favorite ethnic restaurant, it’s fun to look at what it says about you and decide whether it fits or not.

Here are some links to quizzes that can provide some insight to your preferred personality, learning, thinking, relationship styles. Follow the links for free or inexpensive web-based assessment tools–

Some of the above are research sites; some may be more scientific and reliable than others. Please use your best judgement as you explore your inner tiger, boar or rooster!

Upset the Stagecoach

Martha McCormick on August 11, 2009

This is a great game I learned when I first started working in Urban 4-H with Rick Hofmaster. It is hilarious and has a sneaky way of helping people become comfortable speaking in front of a group, even if all they say is “The stagecoach upset!” You can adapt it to holidays or themes like “Santa Claus is Upset,” “The Rocket Crashed,” “The Fruit Basket is Upset.” You get the idea.

  • Players sit in chairs placed randomly around the room. Make sure each person can stand up and run around her chair at the same time everyone else is running around their chairs.
  • Have your group generate a list of stagecoach parts, equipment, and passengers. For Example–Driver, Suitcase, Shotgun, Brake, Horses, Bank roll, Wheels, Whip, Robbers, Bumps in the road, Wheels, Harness, Seat, Luggage
  • Have each player choose an item from the list. The same name may be given to more than one player if the circle is very large.
  • Start out as the storyteller and make up a story about the passengers, parts and equipment.  As the storyteller mentions a part or passenger, the player who represents that part stands quickly, runs around her chair once, and sits down. Make sure to use all the items on the list so people really have to listen and run around their chairs a lot.
  • Each time the storyteller says “The stagecoach upset,” all the players have to change seats and the storyteller tries to get one of the places. The storyteller can actually try to steal a chair any time one is open. This makes the running around the chairs more suspenseful. The player left without a chair continues the story.

Run Like a Kenyan

Martha McCormick on August 11, 2009

How hard would it be to make a living running marathons? Salina Kosgei has done so since she was 16 years old, and won the 2009 Boston Marathon by 1 second. She trains hard, several times a day, and at 33, knows she won’t be able to run forever. She thinks of returning to prison work so she can be near her family, but what she really wants to do is run a camp to help other young Kenyans learn to run for a living.

This story about Salina is part of an American Public Media series called “Working.” The program profiles one worker from outside the US each month with the idea of connecting us to others who are like us, produce something we can relate to, connect us with the shrinking world around us. There are additional segments on a child laborer, a circus performer, a chocolate taster, cabinet minister, CEO, electronic recycler and pop singer.

Here are some questions to ask your group after you’ve listened to the program, about work and careers–

  • What do you think about this career field?
  • How does this type of work make a difference in the world?
  • Can you see yourself working in this type of environment?