Name: Nathaniel Johnson

Semester to which these hours will apply:

   Fall _____       Spring __X__        Other: ____________

Total number of hours sought:  ­­­               ___50_____

Sponsoring Agency: GCSU

Agency phone:

Agency Contact: Jeff Turner

Contact phone:

Please describe the proposed program, the client group, and the setting:

Program: GCSU Technical Cohort, Water Based Pursuits.

Participants: 10 college age students, mixed gender.

Setting: GCSU and Dillsboro, North Carolina.  

Please describe the leadership role and responsibilities you have negotiated for this program:

 Assist teaching water pursuits classes at GCSU. Be available to answer questions, assist with 1 on 1 instruction sessions, teach segments of the classes, and administer skills testing.  

Program dates:

 Spring ‘06

Program times:

9am-3pm Monday and Wednesday

plus 4 day trip

Please describe the program that was actually implemented: 

 Assisted with the technical cohort for 6 instructional sessions of 6 hours each and a 5 day trip. I helped to teach canoeing and kayaking strokes and other water based topics. I went on the white water canoeing and swift water rescue trip and assisted as necessary.  

Please list the planning tasks you completed for this program: 

Planning for skills instruction segments.

Assisting with logistics of trip preparation for WW/SWR trip. 

Please list two things you learned about facilitating this type of program:

1. Group management is a big issue when on the water- trying to keep everyone close enough for instruction. 

2. Participants have VERY different skill levels coming into water pursuits, and very different goals and desires. Finding a good way to implement challenge by choice is extremely important. 

Please list two things you learned about yourself as a facilitator:

1. I had my first real experience implementing challenge by choice with one of the participants who was nervous about paddling- and I learned how powerful it is.

2. I have difficulty integrating myself into the group as a facilitator unless I have a specific role or task to fill.  

Name: Nathaniel Johnson

Semester to which these hours will apply:

   Fall _____       Spring __X__        Other: __________

Total number of hours sought:  ­­­               ___14____

Sponsoring Agency: Venture Out

Agency phone:

Agency Contact: Daniel Diddlemeyer

Contact phone:

Please describe the proposed program, the client group, and the setting:

 The program is a Venture out trip to Homosassa and Ichatucknee Florida. The first day of the trip will include a visit to a manatee rehabilitation center and to an area manatees are known to frequent. The second day of the trip will be to a nearby flat-water river for a 6 mile paddle. The group will camp in-between the two days. There will be approximately 10 college-age participants. This program is primarily recreational in nature, although will be an educational component associated with the Manatee viewing.  

Please describe the leadership role and responsibilities you have negotiated for this program:

I will be the primary facilitator on this trip, assisted by Venture Out staff members. I will be responsible for driving the van to and from the site, and will be responsible for implementation of the overall program plan.  I will prepare brief presentations about Manatees and the unique geology of the area we are visiting. 

Program dates:  1/26/07 – 1/28/07 

Program times: 4:00pm 1/26 – 8:00pm 1/28

Please describe the program that was actually implemented:

 The program was implemented as described above, except that a Venture Out staff member was the lead facilitator the first day, while I was still the lead facilitator on the second day. 

Please list the planning tasks you completed for this program:

Research about Manatees

Research about the Geology of Florida

Research about the state park where the paddling section took place

Route planning for the paddling section of the trip

Menu planning/Shopping for groceries

Assisted with pre-trip meeting

Helped retrieve and prepare program and loaner gear

Helped with renting and shuttling vans

Please list two things you learned about facilitating this type of program:

1. Everything takes longer with a recreational trip. This type of participant has only a basic knowledge of camping skills and needs additional supervision when setting up or taking down camp.

2. This type of program is best led with a carefully thought out autocratic leadership style. Decocracy does not provide any great benefits when participants do not have the knowledge to be able to make decisions about what they want to do. 

Please list two things you learned about yourself as a facilitator:

1. I have a strong drive to make sure that all participants are having a good time. This is generally good except that sometimes I try to give participants too much choice about what to do. 

2. Despite my desire to facilitate informal conversations that everyone can be involved in, I still get drawn into conversations with dominant group members that sometimes exclude quieter group members unintentionally.

Name: Nathaniel Johnson

Semester to which these hours will apply:

   Fall _____       Spring __X___        Other: ____________

Total number of hours sought:  ­­­               ___17_____

Sponsoring Agency: Venture Out

Agency phone:

Agency Contact: Daniel Diddlemeyer

Contact phone:

Please describe the proposed program, the client group, and the setting:

The proposed program is a Venture Out weekend backpacking trip Friday afternoon- Sunday night. It is intended for approximately 10 GCSU art students. The trip will be to the scenic North Carolina Pisgah National Forest (Shining Rock area). There will be opportunities for participants to journal and sketch during the trip. The main focus of this trip will be recreational, with time for individual reflection.  

Please describe the leadership role and responsibilities you have negotiated for this program:

 I will co-facilitate this trip with Leigh Anne Beaudreau. I will assist with the planning and logistics for this trip. On the trip I will be the primary leader on Sunday, on Friday and Saturday I will assist Leigh Anne. 

Program dates: 2/23/07-2/25/07  

Program times: 4 pm 2/23/07 – 9pm 2/25/07

Please describe the program that was actually implemented:

The participants were not art students as originally conceived, but from the general GCSU student body. The route plan had to be changed at the last minute because of seasonal closure of the Blue Ridge Parkway, the new route plan was significantly more demanding (uphill) than the original. We stayed with the revised route plan until Sunday morning when after a full night of sleet/rain, we decided that with the deteriorating conditions, it was better to leave via the fastest route.  

Please list the planning tasks you completed for this program:

-design of overall program

-route planning

-safety and emergency (emergency contact information) 

-pre-trip briefing 

Please list two things you learned about facilitating this type of program:

1. Never overestimate the abilities of participants- especially on a recreational trip.  

2. Participants do not always know how to take care of their physical needs- and sometimes are also unwilling or unable to share those needs with facilitators- even when asked directly.

Please list two things you learned about yourself as a facilitator:

1. I need to be more proactive about helping participants, even if it seems like someone else is already helping it never hurts to double check and make sure the issue is fully resolved. 

  2. When I do engage with participants, I am generally effective in my ability to teach them necessary basic information using a teachable moments-style approach.