From a Ryan Brady Photo

Northland College Winter Block: A Legacy of Volunteering

This piece is slated for publication in the Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center Newsletter

Northland College Winter Block student, Loren Cognetti (R.), partnered with a B.O.E.C. participant.

Over the past 15 years, the Northland College Outdoor Education program from Ashland, WI has engaged in a cooperative arrangement with the BOEC. This arrangement was started in 1989 when a former BOEC employee, Cindy Dillenschneider, was hired to teach in the Outdoor Education program at Northland College. As part of the academic curriculum students in the Outdoor Educator Professional Development Winter Block spend eight days with the BOEC adaptive ski program as volunteer instructors. Prior to their arrival, the Northland students engage in 7 weeks of training with adaptive equipment and learning the PSIA model for teaching skiing for two-track and all adaptive disciplines.

Each year Northland College collaborates with the BOEC to provide additional volunteer instructor support during the annual visit from St. David’s Wheelchair Fitness Center from Austin, Texas. The Northland students represent majors in Outdoor Education/ Adventure Education and Outdoor Education/ Therapeutic and Universal Design. Over the past fifteen years, 151 students have volunteered for 1208 days of lessons at the BOEC. Additionally, the BOEC currently employs 2 graduates of the Northland program through the adaptive ski and wilderness programs and one of the BOEC winter interns is a Northland College graduate.

The goals for this experience are to:
Introduce Northland students to the philosophy, mission and operations of the BOEC as one of the premier outdoor programs serving populations with disabilities or special needs

Advance the teaching skills of juniors and seniors majoring in Outdoor Education

Expose students to the opportunity to observe and work with professional outdoor educators and with a professional organization

Immerse the students in an environment that pointedly demonstrates the capabilities of persons with disabilities in order to help Northland Outdoor Education students transform their attitudes about persons with disabilities in our society

The 2004, Winter Block crew from left to right: Megan Florey, Angela Elia, Jami Turner, Robert Childers, Loren Cognetti.

Gain understanding of the possibilities in adapting outdoor education programs to accommodate the range of human ability

Teach students the value of giving of self through volunteerism

The students who are volunteering this year include:

Robert Childers

Angela Elia

Jami Turner

Loren Cognetti

Megan Florey

Their instructor is Cindy Dillenschneider, professor and coordinator of Outdoor Education at Northland College in Ashland, WI. The web site for the OE program is http://www.northland.edu/oe.