2007 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Phil Costello Award: JoAnna Allen
Veteran Award: Richard M. Curtis
Rising Star: Matt Larsen
Educator/Practitioner Award: Frank Fry
Organization Award: Genesee Valley
Phil Costello Award: JoAnna Allen
JoAnna has expressed her entrepreneurship through the development and implementation of in-service courses for teachers in her public school system of Baltimore County. From 1988 to 1992 she taught Introduction to Experiential Education and Marine Biology in Maine, taking teachers to the Yurt Foundation for a "Back to the Land, Back to Our Hands" experience in simple living. For the last five years she has offered "Renewing the Passion for Teaching" based on the work of Parker Palmer using experiential education principles and activities. This course works on the inner spiritual life of teachers who are in need of reenergizing. With her plans to retire, she is delighted that some of the teachers who have taken the course will be carrying it on. It required approval at the state education department level and she reports it taught her persistence and courage in the push back against bureaucracy.
As a relative new-comer to outdoor experiential education, she discovered the field through her children's day camp, immediately attended her first AEE conference in 1986 in Moodus, Connecticut and proceeded to pursue a PhD through Union Institute (1992). She found that her philosophy of educating has been that of experiential learning right from her Peace Corps days, but she has stayed in the public school system. As a science and math teacher of medically ill and expelled students, she sometimes takes people aback when she explains her work is teaching over the phone and by computer.
This experience has led to a deeper understanding of what experiential learning really is. Her favorite saying is "Where there is teaching, there is not always learning; where there is learning, there is not always teaching."
JoAnna served as co-chair of the Schools and Colleges group from 1992 to 1994. She was the recipient of the Michael Stratton Practitioner award in 1995 at Lake Geneva and feels fortunate to have met Big Strats and his family at Moodus (in a hot tub). One of her favorite endeavors has been mentoring graduate students in alternative programs. A networker and behind-the-scenes operator by choice, she has hosted numerous round table think tank experiential Asian firepot meals at her home to bring together various experiential educators she encounters along the way. Her recent involvements have included the hosting of AFS exchange teachers from China in support of their own experiential learning in the USA, and the leadership of her local Returned Peace Corps Volunteer group. Future plans will surely involve a return to working abroad in some form of experiential education in the promotion of global harmony and spiritual development.
Veteran Award: Richard M. Curtis
Rick Curtis graduated from Princeton University and has dedicated his entire professional career to developing one of the finest university experiential programs in the world. Princeton's Outdoor Action (OA) Program has in many ways embodied Rick's vision over the past 25 years. The program that he has developed and runs so well each year is really the one conscious leadership development program at this world class institution. There are countless OA leaders whose lives and careers have been profoundly impacted by Rick's teaching, example and the experiences he provides. OA and Rick have served as a role model, mentor and consultant for a number of other college outdoor programs. One of the best stories about Rick is that he came to Princeton as a Baltimore City kid having really no outdoor experience and decided to go on one of the early frosh trips. Now all these years later he is successfully responsible for an amazing Freshmen experience for more than 800 people, freshman and leaders.
In addition, Rick has given so much to the field at large through the college network, the risk management areas and through AEE. His creation, OutdoorEd.com is considered the best job and information site for experiential education in the USA. With his considerable computer skills, Rick also has helped set up and maintains such great "lists" as the EElist and the OFA group. There are certainly countless other examples of how Rick has helped many of us more capably utilize the E-world in our efforts. Rick was awarded a few years back the Servant Leader award by AEE and the Josh Miner Experiential Ed award from Princeton, both richly deserved.
Matt Larsen is finishing his degree in Physical Education and Outdoor Education at Salisbury University in Salisbury, MD. After graduating in 1997 from Southold High School in New York, Matt spent two years year chasing his dream of being a professional NASCAR driver (quite the experiential "high risk" endeavor). Subsequently, he served our country as Machinery Technician in the Coast Guard. In that position, he had the opportunity to be a trainer and health teacher, which led him to pursue a teaching career. During that time he traveled throughout the US and also had a tour of duty in Iran. He came to Salisbury at the end of 2002 and entered the Physical Education Program. During the last few years he found his love for the outdoors, has helped lead the Salisbury University outdoor leadership class for the past three semesters, and has been a stellar intern working with the Beyond the Limits Adventure Education Program. Matt plans on studying experiential education and making it a key part of his pedagogy after graduation.
Educator/Practitioner Award: Frank Fry
Frank Fry was raised in Delaware. He graduated from West Chester University of Pennsylvania
in 1972. He got a masters degree at the University of Colorado and a doctorate at Springfield College in Massachusetts. Frank taught first at the elementary school level, and later at the University of Limerick in Ireland and Wellesley College. He has been a professor at the West Chester University College of Health Sciences, Department of Kinesiology, for about 15 years, where he oversees the adventure program. He is an inspirational teacher who has taught experiential education to thousands of students and helped them become the best teachers they can be.
In the summers Frank co-directs the Rising Juniors Program, a developmental, adventurebased program for inner-city high school students from Philadelphia. He’s the adviser for the Physical Education Honor Society, Phi Epsilon Kappa. He serves as Treasurer and Delaware representative for the Mid-Atlantic Regional AEE.
Frank won the outstanding professional award from the Eastern District Association (EDA) of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. He coauthored a book, “Interdisciplinary Teaching through Games and Activities,” with John Helion, has written articles for newsletters and journals, and has given numerous presentations at EDA and AEE regional and international conferences.
Frank and his family live in Wilmington, Delaware. He has been married for nearly 20 years. His wife is an elementary school teacher, his older son is a freshman at York College, and his younger son is a high school junior.
Organization Award: Genesee Valley
Forty-four years ago, when experiential education as a term was virtually unknown, Genesee Valley (GV) supporters already understood the power of learning by doing, and were doing something about it. Although the premise behind starting a facility for hands- on learning was to enhance the PE curriculum of a private boys’ school, it quickly grew out of control. From 1963 to 1981 GV was predominately used as a place for physical education enhancement, sports teams’ team building, and only by a handful of other Baltimore area schools. In 1981 the success of the “ropes course” spread throughout friends and eventually grew to the point that Tom LaMonica and David Pines incorporated Genesee Valley in the spring of 1981 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. GV took a leap into the EE world. From 1981 to 1987 GV was very small and family oriented, staff lived onsite, and ate dinners with Tom and his family in their house. GV saw lots of dedicated, hardworking and self-directed staff members like Craig Dobkin, Rita Yerkes and Paul Stephenson. In 1987 GV was indeed small, serving less than 7,000 participants per season with a staff of five. The explosion was just beginning. In 1993 they had 28 staff members and were serving 20,000 participants. In the here and now, GV boasts 30 staff members annually and with their participants served every year reaching 50,000, they are indeed a leader in our small industry. The program consists of 7 zip lines, with over 40 high elements and over 60 low elements, three separate ropes courses, 350-acres of lush forest, a working farm and an EE summer camp that sees 2,000 kids in just 10 weeks with an extensive trip program. In its 44 years (and counting), GV is a breeding ground for fantastic facilitators.
These facilitators, all having the same training, have gone on to do great things. One facilitator owns his own company and has Norwegian Cruise Lines as a client, and countless others have moved on to collegiate careers. With its over one-million satisfied clients, GV is a true leader in our industry!
