Using the Playground as an Adventure Classroom

Beauvoir Elementary School in Washington, DC is getting attention for its unique approach to experiential learning. They have designed a playground for children that is built into a hillside at the school that doesn't include your standard playground equipment. Kids can scramble over rocks, climb rope cargo nets and splash in the man-made creek that is supplied with rain water.

Looks like a lot of fun! It's refreshing to see kids exploring their environment and using their imagination to play.

Field Trip Grants for Groups for Team Building Day at Ropes Course

Thank You cards from students who loved our ropes course

Are you a school group looking to come out to our team building ropes course in Buckeystown, Maryland for a day of learning and fun but need help with the financing? There are many corporate and government grants that are available.  Target, for example offers field trip grants up to $700.00 that can help you defray the cost of bringing your group to our course. Kohl's is making available grants ranging from $1,000 to $2,500 for field trips for the 2013-2014 school year.

Learning outside the classroom is a great way to engage students in a challenge-by-choice environment. Recently we welcomed Brunswick High School, Tuscarora High School, Gov. Thomas Johnson High School and Middletown High School's Special Education Departments out to our course thanks to help from a grant. The kids had such a great experience team building, they sent us "Thank You" cards in appreciation.

Team Building Should be Every Day, Not Just a Once a Year Event

Most of the groups that come out to our ropes course for team building, we only see once a year. As great as we are of facilitating a team building event, I always encourage our groups to come out for a series of events. Why? Because team building should not be once a year event. You have a group that needs to function as a team every day and that needs constant attention. Coaches, bosses or group leaders need to foster open communication, diffuse conflicts amongst group members and encourage the group to rely on each others strengths to help the group accomplish its goals.

Most clients that leave our course are energized by the end of the day but that energy might fade without re-enforcement. I'd encourage monthly meetings to keep the bond and energy going that was created on the ropes course. Those meeting can be any thing from a catered lunch around a conference table to keep the lines of communication open to coming out to our ropes course quarterly for a few hours just to have fun and ride our zip line canopy tour. At Upward Enterprises we offer SDI evaluations and portable desktop events at your location. Keep your team strong, successful and cohesive with regular team bonding events.

High School Teen Mentors Benefit from Day of Team Building

I was happy to welcome a group of 12 students from St John's Catholic Prep of Frederick Maryland who were being prepared as mentors to incoming freshmen this semester. Their teachers and counselors had set goals for the day and the students, I am sure, had some goals of their own. Even though the school is very close to the Upward Enterprises ropes course, this was the first time the school had ever come for team building. After the day’s successful outcome, I am hopeful they come back with more students.  

It was easy to see right from the start that this group was going to be receptive to the education that I was about to introduce to them. We started with the formal introductions and got straight into what team building meant.

One of the team building activities I set up for them was to get the team through a hoop in the fastest possible time. They had most of the "Cliché" answers but could they put the theory into action? Immediately they had questions about what through the hoop meant and if there were any rules or boundaries. As I watched the group work together, they came up with the following strategy virtually by themselves.

1. Defined the goal and confirmed exactly what “through the hoop meant”.
2. Set the standards to which they all agreed to work by.
3. Confirmed the start and finish lines.
4. Tested their theory several times to collect data and changed their strategy as more ideas were gathered.
5. Completed the task in 9.2 seconds before they showed no further improvement.
6. Processed the whole experience so as to learn what and where the new found skill and group dynamic could be used in the future.

 All this in one activity! Whew…

After that we moved on to the cable traverse, affectionately know as the Mohawk Walk. This is a series of 4 cables that have various elements one can to use on the crossing to the given destination. Here the group was tested. The students had some great ideas which worked right off the bat. However other ideas created consequences to be paid. They quickly learned that consequences can immediately slow things down putting the entire process in jeopardy. Strengths and challenges of the group as a whole were taken into consideration and the group started to work around them. This synergy lead to a major break-through idea that then set the path. The end was now in sight. Time was running out to finish the exercise, adding more pressure, but with that came focus and determination.

The whole task was completed to rapturous applause and celebration. It was amazing to watch this group learn and grow as a team right before my eyes. As a reward, the St. John students got to ride the zip line at the ropes course. But what has riding a zip line got to do with team building I asked? Of course I got all the right answers.

The students gained a rewarding learning day that they can carry with them throughout their lives. The teachers went away with a little more knowledge and pride in their students and a mountain of metaphors to use in the future when the time arises.

I went away with another gratifying day in my outdoor classroom knowing that I contributed to the future of the next generation in America.

Is zip lining a safe activity?

Is flying safe? If you select your zip line operator with the same confidence as your airline operator then the risk you take should be minimal.

The zip line industry has been hit hard in the last few months with some bad press involving zip operators who function outside industry practices with little or no standards.

Yes, zip lining is safe if your operator follows the industry standards and maintains the daily and monthly checks that they should perform to ensure that they are not putting their staff and clients at risk. If you are looking to zip line be sure to find out the qualifications of the company you choose to hire to ensure your safety.

Here at Upward Enterprises, we go above and beyond assuring that all industry standards are met and you have a trained staff member with you at all times when you are the zip line at our ropes course. I encourage my clients to ask about the safety rating and procedures that we enforce to keep them safe.  I have a display of my last inspection and trainings to hand for the client to see. I insist that clients fully understand the protocols of our course and if they chose not to adhere to them, they will not ride.

Zip lining is fun and very rewarding so let's keep our industry safe from both the operator's side and as clients get the answers to questions that will keep everybody safe.

Outdoor Team Building Worth It?

Recently while searching the Internet on team building articles, I came across this blog posting by a woman who calls herself "Team Doc" who says she has been working with teams for years improving leadership. She wrote, "For identifying specific leadership traits, I think an outdoor team building activity is a poor method. I’m a strong leader and do lead in outdoor activities, but I’m not athletic and would probably not demonstrate what someone was looking for."

As the owner of the largest Team Building and Outdoor Challenge Course Company in the Washington DC Metro area, I wanted to offer my comments on this topic.
First I would like to say that outdoor team building does NOT require athletic ability. If that is her impression, she did not hire the right team builder. We have many types of individuals come to our course from those with handicaps to people in their 80's. UEI encourages everyone to participate to the degree that they can and are comfortable with (challenge by choice). We never leave anyone out or feeling they are not part of the group team experience.

The activities nor the location of being indoors or outdoors, are not the important factor in a successful team building program.

How you approach a task as a team is the most important and sometimes the right activity and a different location can enhanced that development. Getting away from your normal environment where you always perform well, (well you should because you’ve been doing it for years) and experiencing the unknown is a key way to accelerate the learning.

Secondly team building doesn’t always have to be done outdoors because that would mean I wouldn’t work very much during the winter. We like to sequence our activities, from the apparently simple tasks, to the more mentally challenging and indeed to the upper level of the challenge course. That is not to say that everyone goes to the high challenges in a day or even at all.

The apparently simple tasks need to have the goals defined as do the more complicated ones. Communication and trust with the support of the team has to develop before any ideas on the solution to the problem can even go beyond the proverbial drawing board.  Leadership will develop in due course and it may stem from different and unexpected sources. The trend is to role play within the team in a position that the individual sees themselves in. The point is that most people in our team building environment end up falling into a natural role that both suits them and the nature of the task. This role, however, is not always what is expected from themselves or their team members.

Through simple tasks we set a pattern for problem solving and getting the job done. Upward Enterprises assesses the team goals, helps the group identify resources to achieve those goals then watches as the group puts in place the best person available for a particular task ensuring the learning that goes with such a task is carried forwards outside of the team building exercise and into every day practice.  Whatever type of group you might be, youth to adult, we strive to have everyone who leaves our team building program with that “ah ha” moment where they see the synergy and the power of group dynamics.

I would like your comments and please do not hesitate if you want to discuss further.

Sports Teams can Benefit from Team Building

On Saturday, March 5th we had our first big group of the season out on the course and we were happy to welcome back the rugby team from Arch Bishop Spalding Catholic School to the course.  The boys ranged from 14-18 years old and were all up for the various challenges ahead of them.

Getting a team to work together off the pitch is a great way to improve how they work as a team during the game. We worked on various communication activities, where vocal communication wasn't allowed! This helps to make people look at each other and feed from other forms of communication to enable them to understand each other.

Trust is another big part of any team, and when your playing a contact sport like rugby you want to be able to trust in your fellow team members that they have your back when that huge winger from the other team is barreling towards you.  We can help teams build trust through all of our activities, and in the simplest of ways by teaching them to 'spot' for each other.  Knowing that someone is watching out for you while you are taking part in an activity and are there to protect you from falling is huge.  We teach all of our clients the importance of correct spotting at the beginning of each day as it ensures a safe environment for everyone to fully enjoy the day.

With any group of people when you take them away from their normal surroundings, it instills a level playing field for everyone. For their time on the course there is no 'boss' or 'team captain'.  People get to see each other in a different light and see what other skills each of them have.  It's an inspiring moment when somebody gets to shine in an area which they are not normally associated with.  We like to give everyone the opportunity to 'lead' the team in an activity.  Building respect for each other is another important factor that we like to include throughout the day - Respecting each others abilities as well as being respectful of people's inabilities.

The Spalding Rugby team is just one of many teams that we have worked with on the UEI Ropes Challenge Course and many come back to us year after year, as team's change and develop. 

In this photo the team had to exchange places on the raised poles, without talking.  Not as simple as it sounds.