2008 Mid-Atlantic Region Award Winners
Rising Star Award
Educator / Practitioner Award
Veteran Award
Phil Costello Award
Rising Star Award
Brian Rupp had his introduction to experiential education in the KIN 101 Introduction to Adventure Education course at West Chester University. A student in the Teacher Certification Program, it was this course that sparked a curiosity that has led to him being an advocate of experiential / outdoor education. After that introduction course, Brian volunteered as a student assistant for the next group of students taking the course. He attended his first Mid-Atlantic Region conference in 2003 as a college student & with that experience he found himself involved in workshop presentations by West Chester Univ. students at succeeding conferences.
Upon graduation Brian took a position as an elementary physical education school teacher for the Cumberland Valley School Dist. back in his home area. There he as infused cooperative games & activities along with a form of "magnetic" rock climbing into the school's curriculum. Brian has also kept his hand into workshop presentations at the region's conferences. He has been a co-presenter at this & the past two conferences & also this year is going solo with a workshop of his own. Brian has also stepped up & is working as part of the host committee for the 2008 Mid-Atlantic conference. In addition, Brian is on the verge of one of those grand experiential journeys, marriage, this upcoming fall. We wish Brian luck & hope for his continued support of experiential education & AEE.
Educator / Practitioner Award
Cyndi Kline began her career as an experiential educator more than 25 years ago working as an adventure based, experiential educator for many programs in the Mid-Atlantic region. She has worked for the Wilderness Challenge, Cradlerock, Project Use, and several schools and universities. She has served on the AEE Mid-Atlantic board in several capacities including accreditation review team member. In the early "90's" she founded Collaborations, an experiential training and development company, serving major contracts from both the public and private sector. She also developed and initiated programs for public and private schools on environmental education, leadership, team and community building within central Pennsylvania. As an instructor of experiential education within the Pennsylvania State University's Kinesiology Department she helped to usher in a M.A. in Outdoor Experiential Education. While there, she acted as director for the Penn State Outdoor Club, the second largest outdoor club in the world.
In her spare time Kline, an accomplished musician, plays fiddle and claw hammer banjo and continues to participate in the many sports her husband Wes, her daughter Zammany and she love.
Currently working in public education as a special education educator for the Lower Cape May Regional School District in Cape May, New Jersey, Kline is focused on completing her Ph.D. in Education from Walden University. Her studies center on the brain's role in moral development.
Veteran Award
Fred Pierson is the director of the RCPT Experiential Learning Lab, which is part of the Department of Recreation, Parks & Tourism at Radford University. The number one attribute about Fred is his natural abilities for teaching. He has great skill in working with a variety of populations always instructing at the participants level with an air of confidence, excitement, and play that spreads throughout the participants and instructors alike.
As Fred's years in the experiential learning field have grown in number so too has his growth as an administrator. His programs are rooted in theory, academic, yet never forgetting the power of the experience. His students and student instructors view him more as a mentor within the profession than their professor or supervisor.
Most recently Fred has been involved in the creation of another innovative program called "Gone Fishing" for people with disabilities. Actually, what's probably most exciting for Fred concerning this program is all the new gear and boats needed for the program…Fred is a gear head with an enthusiasm for new toys that never diminishes.
Fred embodies the very best of the AEE! He has a great passion for teaching, cares about each and every participant, and has a never-ending enthusiasm for the field of experiential education.
Phil Costello Award
Experiential education & AEE has been a part of Bob Callahan's life for over 30 years. He's always had a love of adventure & outdoor experiences & Encompass Adventure Programs is an extension of that love. Bob has had worked over the years in juvenile justice, social services, mental health & each of these are served by Encompass Adventures. He remembering his first AEE conference those 30 years or so ago where he met life long friends & spirits that moved him to introduce experiential methods to the juvenile justice system that was later transformed into "Wilderness Probation". Bob says his life hasn't been the same since.
The experience led to raising his son, Shawn with all the adventure activities he loved. Spending vacations & holidays in the wilderness with Shawn skiing, hiking, paddling, sea kayaking & rock climbing are memories they both share & cherish. Shawn & Bob do adventure racing together to this day. Life without the opportunities to sleep on the ground, waking to a sun rising over the ocean or beside the mountains, to smell the fresh air on a winter morning inside a sleeping bag are things the father & son find unimaginable. They look at problems in life & work as an opportunity to find creative & interactive solutions, to look beyond the envelope.
With their many connections with juvenile justice, social services, schools & mental health groups this gives Encompass Adventure opportunities to share the outdoors & the adventures of a life time to kids. Bob says as father he is proud that Shawn is making his mark in experiential education. Through their organization he is doing creative & interactive teambuilding along with directing a regional orienteering club. Bob & Shawn Callahan exemplify the spirit of Phil Costello & we recognize them for the advocacy of experiential education.
