Our early morning teaching rock climbing at Malibu Creek State Park had nearly wrapped when a student named Clarissa decided she wanted to have another go at one of the climbs.

Before starting, I asked if she recalled the different parts of the CRASH test (Carabiner, Rope, Attitude, Shoes, Hair/Harness/Helmet), one of the steps in guaranteeing the safety of all climbing participants. She cruised through almost perfectly.

“I’m feeling good,” she said with a smile when we reached Attitude.

“You must be, to have another go at this,” I responded. This time, she tried a harder variation of the climb’s start.

Clarissa’s enthusiasm was true for every Animo South LA High School student who joined us that Saturday. It was the first weekend of many to come as part of Nature Now, a recurring program that teaches essential climbing skills to high school students. On the last weekend of the program, students invite friends and family to join for a day of climbing and snacking in a culminating finale.

If that day was any indication, friends, family, and guides have a lot to look forward to in March, when the event takes place. The students of Animo consistently impressed us guides with how eager and engaged they were for the day’s activities.

After arriving at the park, we hiked over a mile to get to the Planet of the Apes Wall. The trail was muddy from all the recent rain in the area, and though we were careful to watch where we stepped, it didn’t stop us from admiring the view and snapping photos.

When we arrived at the wall, we met adventure guides Christian Boewe and Jacob Johnson; while they finished setting up, Cameron “Kiwi” Wu led the students through some warm-ups and get-to-know-you games.

Then it was time to climb.

First Time Rock Climbing

Many students expressed that they felt nervous, but I would never have guessed it from watching them. Most scaled the wall with apparent ease, stopping only when they felt tired or unsure of how to proceed. All the while their companions on the ground cheered them on, offered advice about the climb, and took victory pics of the climber before they came down.

Too quickly, our time was up at Malibu Creek.

We regrouped and Cameron asked the students for brief hashtags they’d use to describe their day and why.

“#we did that,” one student said.

“#proud,” said another. Most had some variation on these; they agreed that they were happy they’d pushed themselves out of their comfort zones, and everyone found something to take away from the experience.

Before hiking out, Cameron offered the students an apt metaphor to ponder.

“Carabiners are weaker when they’re open,” he said, describing a key piece of climbing equipment that (among other things) clips gear together. “Like people. We’re weaker when we’re open. But we have to be open to connect to others, just like a carabiner needs to open to connect to a harness when we belay a climber.”

The students looked impressed. I felt like my mind was a little blown. When we got back to the van, it seemed we’d be taking more home with us than soreness in our fingers and mud on our shoes.

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arc Adventure celebrates another successful year with Claremont McKenna College and Occidental College. Just last month, both colleges introduced their incoming freshmen with better college orientations by adding an adventure twist. During these orientations, upperclassman offered advice to students on how to get acclimated to their new surroundings… But most importantly, new students got to bond and familiarize themselves with the support available at college. What better way to enhance the orientation experience than by showcasing the wonderful views and activities right on along California’s shores! arc Adventure provided access and activities to our 4 favorite locations: Emma Woods in Ventura, Crystal Cove in Laguna Beach, El Capitan Beach in Santa Barbara, and Sycamore Canyon in Malibu. A few days spent in these idyllic locations made lasting memories and friendships.

Two Colleges, Four Outdoor Adventures

Claremont McKenna College

CMC students going to Emma Woods and Crystal Cove started their adventure at Tower 6 on Santa Monica Beach with surfing, led by Marion of the Surf Bus Foundation. Marion and her team of surf guides taught CMC to surf, boogie board, hand plane, and details of the ocean only a marine biologist, or a pro surfer like Marion, would know. Simultaneously, the CMC students going to Sycamore Canyon began their trip at the historic Stoney Point where Cameron “Kiwi” Wu setup 3 easy but challenging 5.5-5.8 routes on the shaded Mozart Wall.

Senior Adventure Guide Temo Helenes and his 2 Support Guides Ryan Virgil and Anai Loera led their 23 CMC students to Emma Woods in Ventura, where they camped and bonded on the beach. The students enjoyed a relaxing bike ride on the path to Ojai and hiking to the enchanting Rose Valley Falls. One camper described the trip as “Xanadu”! We could not agree more as we scouted this amazing place of magnificent beauty. A special shout out to Anai Loera who got the most shout outs from all the trips. Your support, foresight, and friendly disposition made you #1 in Claremont’s book.

Senior Adventure Guide Nelson Prieto and his 2 Support Guides Chris Maes and Zhareen Bulalacao led their 23 CMC students to Crystal Cove in Laguna Beach. The students enjoyed snorkeling with bright orange Garibaldis in the clear waters of Shaw’s Cove, hiking to the historic Dripping Caves of Aliso Woods Canyon, exploring the winding Crystal Cove campgrounds at night, catching a few rays of sunshine on the beaches of Salt Creek, and wrapping the adventure in a bow by eating ice cream sandwiches at the “Top of the World.”  The students loved the Crystal Cove adventure describing it as “exhilarating,” “intimate,” and “zealous.” The arc Adventure team packed quality camping meals that would make a 5-star restaurant look dull. Have you ever had an orange brownie made in a makeshift oven by Nelson?

Lead Adventure Guide Drew Preedeedilok and his 2 Support Guides Cameron “Kiwi” Wu and Carlos Moreno lead their 23 CMC students to Sycamore Canyon. After their trip to the legendary Stoney Point, the climbers called Sycamore Canyon home. The arc Adventure team led CMC students on a mountain biking expedition into the Santa Monica Mountains, hiked adventurous sections of the Backbone Trail, enjoyed their time relaxing on the coastline, sliding down the sand dunes in Malibu, and bonding over campfires stories. According to their campers, the trip was “awesome!” And we don’t doubt it! A never before feat was succeeded, as talks of a three-tiered hammock surfaces. Truth or Fiction? We need pictures to prove it.

Occidental College

Adventure Guide/LEAD Assistant Director Brenna Johnston-Kosher and her 2 Support Guides Andrea Alvarez and Robert Hall lead their 26 Occidental students to the mountains of Santa Barbara where they went rock climbing at the notorious Playground. One camper described the trips as “Campalicious!” Rave reviews came back for the team of Brenna, Andrea, and Robert as they showed Occidental the best of what arc Adventure has to offer.

Just across the way, Lead Guide Venisha Jeff and her 3 Support Guides Tanya Beatty, Matthew Kelly, and Rosendo Ortega lead their 26 Occidental Students on a neighboring trip to the beautiful beaches of Santa Barbara. They enjoyed 2-day trip kayaking on the blue Santa Barbara Harbor and basking in the warm sunshine. Both camps joined together to enjoy a bountiful dinner and bonded while the sun set on the ethereal horizon. Occidental ended their night sharing scary stories over a campfire, eating s’mores at El Capitan Campground, and then sleeping soundly under the starry California sky.

Our Staff Go The Extra Mile

A special shout out to our Adventure Guide of all Guides, the woman behind the curtain, arc Adventure Assistant Director, Naomi Sanchez-Prazak! It is an ambitious task to run 5 multi-day/multi-sport camping trips in the same week. She pulled off a logistical miracle without major hitches as she supported all 5 trips in some form or fashion. Need kayaking for one day and biking the next, Naomi delivered. She actually delivered a camp stove at 3:00am to one site after theirs malfunctioned so that the unknowing students would be guaranteed warm pancakes (gluten free, we have that option) and bacon (turkey bacon, we have that option, too)! Thanks Naomi, for all your hard work and taking care of the minor and major details only your unique experience can identify. It definitely provided better college orientations for these two schools.

Thanks to all the Adventure Guides for all the hard work. There were many great reviews from the colleges about their professionalism, knowledge, and excitement for what they do. We are proud to have such an elite team of individuals to represent the Leave No Trace cause and the arc Adventure mission. Here’s to many more trips to come!

Are you interested in have a better college orientation? See all of our adventure options and contact us to plan your trip!

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Summer for our adventure team is consistently busy with new and returning clients. Already, we’ve gone on a mountain biking and rock climbing trip with MBX. Bright Star Secondary Charter Academy went on a camping trip to Yosemite where they rode rafts down the Merced River and sped on mountain bikes alongside picturesque peaks.

With all of the scheduled programming, we’ve needed to hire some new summer camp staff! We have 5 new enthusiastic Adventure Guides, 1 new LEAD Coordinator and promoted 2 Senior Guides! With their unique backgrounds and skill sets, they are sure to bolster our overall programs.

Zhareen Bulalacao (our very own environmental guru) is the new LEAD Coordinator! She is implementing nature lessons during programs and is already a familiar face around the Home Office in Torrance.

Temo Helenes and Nelson Prieto were recently promoted to full time Senior Guides! They are tasked with ensuring our adventure programs receive higher quality ratings and that all adventure guides are thoroughly trained. They are leading trainings on kayaking, rock climbing, rock wall, mountain biking and trailer driving.

Additionally, we trained 5 skilled new adventure team hires during our summer programs. These guides are:

• • Matthew Kelly – yoga master and easy going guy
  • Chris Maes – Marine vet and native plants genius
  • Ryan Vigil – a born lifeguard
  • Robert Hall – backpacker extraordinaire)
  • Adam Debross – triathlete and Ironman competitor

Check out the rest of our incredible team.

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Healthy lifestyle choices were put into action this past weekend at our 8th Annual Teen Adventure Challenge!

The Teen Adventure Challenge is an exciting adventure race for youth. Groups of high school and middle school students of all physical fitness levels take on team building and adventure challenges that require the whole team to participate in order to succeed. All teams are from schools located all throughout the Southern California area, from Los Angeles to San Diego.

Trail running, rock climbing, kayaking, and mountain biking along with music, food, and fun were on the agenda for the day.

In celebrating Women’s History Month, we focused on female empowerment and strength by bringing in Diana Prazak, Marion Clark, and Audrey Duffy as our guest speakers this year. They shared their inspiring stories of how they defied the odds to find success as women athletes in their fields.

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Last month, we ran a rock wall to promote the college adventure programs happening at Loyola Marymount University. Over 60 students conquered the rock wall and signed up for our upcoming kayaking, mountain biking, and snowboard/skiing trips. This is the first round of adventure programs (of hopefully many!) that arc Adventure is running with FitWell at LMU.

Trips at the college level allow students to learn and practice critical leadership and life skills, while getting to make new friends.

The post Adventure Programs Ahead for LMU-Loyola Marymount University appeared first on Arc Adventure.

Housed in the Center for Research on Educational Equity, Assessment and Teaching Excellence (CREATE) at UC San Diego, MfA SD works closely with county school districts to develop and deliver high quality, mathematics teaching and learning programs to mathematics teachers and students. MfA SD, in conjunction with UC San Diego’s CREATE STEM Success Initiative, focused the summer work on helping students regain their enthusiasm for mathematics while enjoying some outdoor activities.

In past summers, MfA SD held mornings-only math academies. This year, the program wanted to expand to an all-day camp experience combining mathematics learning with more traditional summer camp activities.

“With a big assist from Brenda Hall, director of the North County Professional Development Federation, we were able to connect with Brad Lupien, co-founder and co-president of arc,” said Barbara Edwards, executive director of MfA SD. “Brad and his team designed the ‘plus Leadership’ part of the camp. We were delighted to integrate arc’s teamwork and leadership building program, including exciting, off-campus field trips, into the afternoon portion of the camp.”

Source: UCSD CREATE

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