Florence program finds no obstacles to learning

Project Adventure utilizes school equipment for new educational purposes

By: Cara Latham
   FLORENCE — Running through a tire drill, pulling oneself up a wall using a pulley and balancing alongside a group of 12 to 13 other students on a balance beam, while trying to line up in order of age without falling off, may seem like a lot of physical activity.
   But school officials in the Florence Township School District are hoping that a revival of the school’s Project Adventure also will evoke emotional lessons in teamwork and help students get a better grasp of the curriculum.
   According to District Supervisor of Instruction Lee Viggiano, the program was resurrected this past year, as school officials began looking at the outside obstacle course at the Florence Middle Township Middle School, the site of the previous high school. The course was built about five years ago as a character-building piece of the physical education and health program.
   At the time, a few gym teachers had been trained and certified to implement the program with their students, but it had become "really mostly dormant," she said.
   While looking outside at the obstacle course one day last year, Ms. Viggiano said, she wondered about its purpose and why she had to allot money for maintenance fees for the obstacle course each year when no one was using it. So, she sent an inquiry around to find out if teachers might be interested in getting trained to incorporate the program into their classroom lessons, regardless of the subjects they teach.
   A total of 12 teachers signed on and received a vigorous, two-week training during the summer to become certified to use the obstacle course, designed by Northeast Adventure, LLC.
   Florence Township School District Superintendent Louis Talarico said, "We were very happy and very impressed over the fact that we had a dozen teachers that were trained on it," as he also is looking forward to resurrecting the program.
   Dr. Talarico and Ms. Viggiano both said the program also would greatly benefit the Ninth Grade Project, which presents students coming into the high school with skills like interviewing and finding careers, especially since studies have shown that students who are at risk of dropping out contemplate doing so before entering ninth grade.
   The actual obstacle course itself has a big wall, high wires, hooks, pulley, harnesses, rings and more, Dr. Talarico said.
   The course combines cooperative games, trust activities and character building pieces into curriculums for all subjects, including mathematics, art, language arts and social studies.
   "It’s always been involved in programs…but now it’s becoming recognized as something we need to put into our mainstream program," said Ms. Viggiano. "Experiential learning is really kind of shifting into the traditional classroom now."
   The program will especially benefit those students who might feel they don’t fit in, whether academically or with regard to athletics. This would help them, as well as other students, learn to work together as a team, said Ms. Viggiano, adding that it is safe because of the way it is structured and because the teachers have to be certified to use the obstacle course.
   "It’s not competitive. It’s collaborative, and that’s a big thing, especially in the middle school level," she said.
   Barbara Jiras, a fourth- and fifth-grade basic skills math teacher at the Marcella L. Duffy Elementary School who attended the weeklong vigorous training, said the teachers actually had to go through the program on the obstacle course — first participating in activities that didn’t involve the apparatus and working their way up to high sections in it.
   Thinking that since the teachers were adults, they would not have any conflicts, she was surprised when the course challenged them and the group had to have discussions to figure out how to finish the activity.
   "We were even put in time out," she said. But, "just the things that it taught us to do…I saw the connection of how it would truly work with a bunch of boys and girls who will have problems socially."
   The curriculum, which is still being developed by teachers, will be for all age levels, and will be adaptable because "the concepts are the same that we’re trying to develop," said Ms. Viggiano.
   Teachers of all subjects could use the obstacle course to reinforce the lessons. For example, a history teacher might use the obstacle course to re-enact a historical event, or a math teacher could use the obstacle course to work through problems dealing with angles. A literature teacher could illustrate character flaws in a novel the class is learning.
   "You talk about the activity and then debrief afterwards," she said. "The debriefing is a critical part of it. We want the students to not just do the activity, but the real lesson is to plan, talk about it beforehand, process what has happened to them, debrief afterward, and reflect," she said, adding that there is a writing component to the curriculum.
   Dr. Talarico said, "We’ve put in a good investment and are extremely pleased" with how enthusiastic and excited the teachers are in moving forward with the program.
   Rick Lee, a fourth-grade teacher at the Marcella L. Duffy Elementary School who also received the vigorous training over the summer, said the program is a lot of fun and is an "awesome addition to the curriculum."
   "There’s not a finish line, and you try to get all those activities completed, but you’re trying to push yourself a little further," he said. The students "get to set limits for themselves, and there’s a variety of things that you could do."
   For example, many of the traditional rope course elements are similar to what was used by the Native American tribes, he said. Also, the obstacle course could be used as a stage for a play, where students could re-enact elements from the plot.
   In addition, students with strong personalities can learn that they can’t always be leaders in certain situations, and all can learn positive experiences of team-building.
   "There’s a huge emotional component, and that’s what we hope the community realizes — when they drive by, they don’t just see ropes, they see the emotional experience," he said.