NOLS and Newark, New Jersey

Today started out with a visit with Rick Hunt and Bob Silverman of SharedBook. SharedBook is a cool web-based company that allows people to collaborate and create “memory books”. Among current clients are Little League Baseball and Yosemite National Park.Individuals or teams can go online and, using a template that contains some of the book’s content, create a book that also includes their photos and prose. It is a very neat product and could be a great thing for each NOLS course. The course could collaborate with their best photos, journal entries, maps and other mementos that they want to share to keep their NOLS course alive after they return home. I’m looking forward to working further with Bob to see if we want to pursue this. Rick and I met each other through BzzAgent and had a quick opportunity to say, “Hi!” at the Word of Mouth Basic Training conference last month.

Rivendell Scholars Program

This afternoon I headed over to Newark, New Jersey for the 12th annual Rivendell Scholars presentation. Since 1994 the Rivendell Foundation has been sponsoring teachers and other youth leaders on NOLS courses. There are now about 40 NOLS/Rivendell graduates working with youth in Newark as a result of this scholarship.

Two-time NOLS graduate Ken Goldman is a Rivendell Foundation trustee and was the one who came up with the scholarship concept originally. He is an active proponent of NOLS and each year carves time out of his busy schedule to personally recruit candidates for the scholarship. As always, Barbara Grreenberg of the Rivendell Foundation did a fantastic job making arrangements for the event and following-up on things and was a gracious MC for today’s presentation.

We had a nice turnout for today’s event with about 20 people in attendance. Bryan Lee, with the Greater Newark Conservancy, brought six of his high school interns along as well. It was great seeing that our work with teachers is also getting to the students and getting them turned on to NOLS as well. Many thanks go to Robin at the Conservancy for her efforts to get the NOLS word out in the schools.

One of my favorite elements of our yearly sojourn to Newark is getting to hear from our NOLS/Rivendell Scholars. This year we had four graduates attend. It always great to hear their stories about their courses and how it applies to their work in Newark.

This year’s event was bittersweet. Since 1994 we have always been able to count on seeing Phil Costello from Project U.S.E. While not a NOLS grad, Phil has always been an articulate spokesperson for the power of outdoor education. Through Project USE he has been a tremendous support for our Rivendell grads once they got back to Newark. Phil recently passed away after a tough battle with cancer. I really missed seeing his smiling face and supportive words today. Phil was a great man and a legend in New Jersey’s outdoor community.

I can’t wait to see the applications from this years candidates for a Rivendell Scholarship. This program is truly one of the great outreach programs that NOLS is involved with.

Tomorrow I head home after a bit more than a week spreading the NOLS gospel. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone in Lan Diego. ‘Til Thursday!

Bruce Palmer, NOLS marketing director