Don Gentle, Liz Walker, Will Leverette, and Sam Sommers at Adventure Education Conference

I just got back form Brevard College’s Adventure Education Conference.  Each year BC along with Western, Montreat, and Warren Wilson rotate to host a small conference in the fall focusing on adventure programming and outdoor experiences.  They target a number of small area colleges and universities.  Students from Warren Wilson, Western Carolina, Mars Hill, Montreat, Southwestern Community College were in attendance.

Camp High Rocks’ own Will Leverette was the opening keynote speaker.  Will did a presentation on his new book, The History of Whitewater Paddling in Western North Carolina.  For those of you who do not know it, Will is a family member of High Rocks.  His Aunt and Uncle started Camp High Rocks and his grandfather started Camp Mondamin.  He spent many years growing up and working at camp, mostly the paddling program. 

Of course, Camp High Rocks, along with Mondamin, Green Cove, and Camp Merrie-Woode were the pioneers of organized paddling on many of our area rivers, including The Nantahala and the Chatooga River.  It was great to here Camp High Rocks come up so often during this presentation.  I felt part of something larger than myself and proud to be part of the paddling history here at camp.

Liz Walker, who was our Assistant Head of Mountain Biking for the summer of 2009, was also a presenter at the conference.  Liz is a senior at Brevard College and presented a session on “Sustainability in Outdoor Programs.”

Finally, Sam Sommers just happened to be in town for a couple days and decided to come over and see Will’s presentation.  Sam is currently living in Rochester, NY and was looking into the possibility of an outdoor job down here in Western North Carolina.  Sam has over 10 years at High Rocks, both as a camper and staff. His tenure spanned the late seventies, through the nineties.  He was an avid paddler when he was here, so he was very excited to see Will’s presentation.

It was great to have such a wonderful High Rocks representation at this small conference.  I enjoyed meeting several students who may be interested in working at camp for the 2010 summer season.  What a great way to spend my Friday!

take care,

Don

Rafting on the Nantahala River!!!

Our last program of the 2009 camping season just left on Friday, Oct 23^rd.  Camp High Rocks hosted ten different middle and upper school programs during its spring and fall LEAP seasons this year.  We host some of the best private and charter schools from throughout the southeast!  School programs this year included:

• Ravenscroft School, Raleigh, NC, 8^th Grade
• KIPP WAYS Academy, Atlanta, GA, 6^th Grade
• KIPP Believe, New Orleans, LA, 6^th Grade
• Pace Academy, Atlanta, GA, 9^th Grade
• Trinity Prep, Winterpark, FL, 9^th Grade
• Durham Academy, Durham, NC, 10^th Grade
• The Summit School, Winston-Salem, NC, 9^th Grade
• St. Andrews School, Savannah, GA, 12^th Grade
• The O’Neal School, Southern Pines, NC, 7^th Grade
• Ashley Academy, Johnson City, TN, Grades 5-8
• Tampa Prep, Tampa, FL, 6^th Grade

Each school participates in its own custom designed program that focuses on particular goals and outcomes based on our own philosophy and the needs of the school.  Activities include backpacking, rock climbing, canoeing, whitewater rafting, high and low adventure course, stream ecology, and a number of other fun events.  We use our 110-acre facility along with nearby Pisgah National Forest, and beautiful Dupont State Forest.

 The 2009 season was an amazing group of programs and an incredible staff of caring adults!  We look forward to next spring when we will start it all over again!  For more information about the High Rocks LEAP program, visit http://leap.highrocks.com.

Don Gentle

don@highrocks.com