Twelve volunteer outing leaders spent two days together at our second Training-for-Trainers at NatureBridge in Sausalito, CA. The 2015 Training Cohort hailed from California, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Washington, and Wisconsin and represented the vast variety of outings programs Sierra Club has to offer. Eric, Chris, Laura, Paget, Marcia, Roleigh, Holly and Jim brought their trip leading experience from their Local Chapter and Group Outdoors programs; Rocky and Joey proudly represented their Inspiring Connections Outdoors groups; and Jennifer and Donna represented the Military Outdoors and National Outings programs respectively.
Eric Uram (WI), Sascha Paris (CA) Donna Weathers (GA), Jennifer Walters (WA), Chris Applegate (CO)
Laura Skehan (WA), Mel Mac Innis (CA)Joey Shadowen (KY), Paget Valentzes (CA), Roleigh Martin (CA), Marcia Rassmussen (CA), Holly Coughlin (CA), Rocky Milburn (FL) and Jim Call (CA)
Friday evening we spent practicing creating a safe and welcoming learning space for this training – and discussing the importance of consciously doing so in order to welcome in the next generation of leaders from the diverse communities trainers are from. Saturday, trainees worked together in teams to deliver the Outing Leadership Training 201 (OLT) sessions to the rest of the cohort, receiving feedback on their presentation and facilitation skills after each session. As the day progressed, trainees discussed new strategies to more effectively train each of the sessions building on their own creativity and better meeting their trainee needs. Sunday, training teams instructed a very hands-on (and more relevant) Basic First Aid Class so that they can provide this valuable training more cost effectively to groups in their regions.
These twelve join the 2014 Trainer Cohort in planning at least two OLT and Basic First Aid trainings in their region each year for two years – helping those chapters and groups needing training to grow the ranks of the next generation of Sierra Club Outing Leaders. Check out the trainings that they are offering on the Training Calendar – and come Mid April – check out their bios on the Our Team page.
Dan Shoemaker (CO), Desiree Favre (MD), Liz Guertin (DC), Mel Mac Innis (CA), Sascha Paris (CA), Mark Walters (FL), Morgan Dixon (CT), Nicole Veltre (MD), Scott Breen (IN)
Kelly Miezkalski (NC), Karen Kerr (FL), Vanessa Garrison (NY), Starr Hazard (SC) and Russel Puryear (GA).