« The State of The Industry Symposium | Main | Parental Choice »
Collaborative Efforts
By Rick McClintock | November 10, 2008
The 15th Annual NATWC Training Conference has created a buzz. Held in Jekyll Island, Georgia, at the end of Summer 2008, the conference took a new and exciting focus. Not only did NATWC conduct the usual training sessions designed for front line outdoor staff, but a Symposium regarding industry issues pertinent to outdoor programming was the feature!
Titled “The State of the Industry Symposium,” NATWC invited several well known individuals with wide experiences to participate. The panel included Sharon Laney, President of the National Association of Schools and Programs (NATSAP) and Administrator Rosemary Tippett, Rob Meltzer, CEP, educational consultant and founder of Northlight Family Services, Lon Woodbury, CEP, Educational consultant and publisher of Woodbury Reports; Leonard Buccellato, Ph.D., Founder of Hidden Lake Academy and Ridge Creek Wilderness; Jude Hirsch, Ed.D., Chair of the Association for Experiential Education (AEE) Accreditation council, and Rick “Tick” McClintock, MA, Executive Director of the National Association of Therapeutic Wilderness Camping (NATWC).
It is often considered a risk to convene a 3 hour discussion at a conference setting, but this format, its timeliness, and its intent to create a collaborative platform for multi-organizational perspectives was a hit!
The topics were kicked off by discussing the proposed legislation by Congressman George Miller, which passed the House of Representatives earlier this year. Rose Mary Tippett, NATSAP, described the legislation, and the current efforts being undertaken to ensure that legislation would be for the enhancement of safety and quality of services in the outdoor treatment and education industry, and not just to shut programs down. Rose Mary enlightened the crowd on how to assist in a positive process for overall “Best Practice”.
“Tick” McClintock emphasized that NATWC’s establishment and growth of their Wilderness Counselor Certification is one of the organization’s primary contribution toward increasing standards and establishing best practices in the wilderness industry.
Conference participants emphasized that as professionals the need to work to continually improve the quality of our services and increase our ethical standards is a priority. Marketing successes as well as encouraging parents of alumnae to step forward to tell their story is critical to aid in defining the positive outcomes in an often misunderstood treatment modality.
Issue # 1: The Economy, with its’ impact on the industry took a positive and collaborative spin in the Symposium, as programs described how they were responding. Ways of keeping costs down, such as identifying and eliminating small unnecessary items which often add up to significant expenses, as well as thorough examination on how to better serve the needs of families to enhance “added value” for those we serve, were focus points.
Another noteworthy discussion was the evolution of outdoor programming, with early programs being almost exclusively wilderness or outdoor oriented. Simple camping out or wilderness survival basics have evolved to added clinical and educational components to enhance overall outcomes. The dialog of the future of outdoor programming will most suredly continue as regional perspectives, and historical philosophies play a major role in how to more successfully integrate wilderness and therapy.
With continued collaboration as we witnessed at this year’s NATWC conference, we, as outdoor therapists and educators, can look forward to a State of the Industry that is indeed good.
Next year’s NATWC Annual Training Conference will again be held on beautiful Jekyll Island, Georgia, September 20-22, 2009, as conference participants vocalized their enjoyment at spending some time networking, training and playing at the beach! Hope to see you there!
Topics: Conference, NATWC News | No Comments »