Training Log Archive: barb

Yesterday we found out that the high school will pay for a head orienteering coach, and for an aide (who will also coach one of the middle school teams). The cross-country coach chatted with us and was SO supportive. The athletic director addressed the team and was SO supportive. The trainer was really kind and agreed to show us around the training room later this week. Wow.

Let's just pause and celebrate, shall we?

C • celebrate 12

Drum roll

15 kids came to team introductory meeting.

C • Which school(s) 3

To work, to school

Fun - brown course at Pawtuckaway (time is approximate). Lots of logging happened.

I am advocating creating a VP Youth at OUSA.
I'd like to switch from Secretary to that role.
Youth VP would have EC-level access to OUSA leadership, to support coordinating different workgroups (scouts, JROTC, club programs, school programs, school competition, safety, etc); synergize with other areas (such as JTESC under VP Competition); grow youth participation in the USA.

This past year I feel good about my contributions to the financial analysis (showing steady $40k loss of operating assets/year and little support for teams and clubs due to unaffordable ED in a stagnant period of growth). I feel good about managing World Orienteering Day and helping clubs make new contacts to schools and youth groups. I feel good about taking board meeting minutes, working with the EC (eg transitioning ED's work onto volunteers), and watching others on the Board take on new initiatives in creative ways given our desire to minimize spend. (eg Boris & Alli's newsletter is awesome. eg SF is doing a great job handling mail, including connections with dozens of national and local organizations that our ED was in communication with.)

But this coming year, I'd like other people to continue to focus on improving various parts of the organization and i'd like to focus on growing our youth programs.

I just finished a very exciting phone call with Amanda at Lincoln-Sudbury high school.

Ed Despard made a map of the school that she'll use.

Amanda has already begun teaching her Adventure Fitness class. They have talked about the map and how to orient it.

We will prepare a list of activities and progression of O skills for her.

There are THREE classes that we will work with. Amanda teaches two of them, and her co-teacher is Chris.

Ethan, Violeta and/or Juanma would come out there twice.
On one of those days, they would talk in some depth about their experience as an orienteering athlete: talk about some competitions (maybe show GPS tracking), and training.


On one of those days, we would also give a 1-hour professional development seminar to teachers. This would probably include me talking about the curriculum with middle schools; Violeta/Juanma/Ethan talking about being an athlete; Violeta/Juanma/Ethan talking about coaching; us talking about the LIFE SKILLS that kids can get from learning orienteering. I told her that I see the high school potentially using orienteering in 3 ways: (1) as they are now in focused class, (2) develop a school team that competes, (3) team-building for other groups or classes as we do with the middle schools.

Amanda told me she is being encouraged by her administration to develop a full 20-hour course on orienteering or navigation more generally. It takes about a year for the course to get approval, so she would submit it for approval in 2018 with the expectation of having it approved by the school board and then start teaching in 2019.

We both want to document what we do this fall. I told her I'd like to publish it in ONA and on OUSA website as a model for others. She needs to present it in other contexts.

She was very excited to get the map. She is thinking of sending the kids out this coming week on the old map that they have, to find the old markers on trees, because the contrast with the new map will be educational.

C • I know Sam's taught oriente... 4