Member Profiles
Organizational Member Profile
Individual Member Profiles
Pinnacle Pursuits
Organizational Member
Vanouver, British Columbia, Canada
Pinnacle Pursuits' Bio
Jonathan Willcocks founded Pinnacle Pursuits in 1997 in Vancouver, Canada, where the company has thrived. For the first two years, he was the director and sole employee, servicing about 400 locals per year. Today, Pinnacle Pursuits has a regular staff of eight to 15 (depending on the season) that works with youth, school groups, corporations and community organizations to provide innovative, action-based group learning experiences that enhance individual potential and build effective teams. "It's not just education and it's not just recreation. We merge learning with activity," explains Jonathan.
The Pinnacle Pursuits staff gather together before a program.
Merging Backgrounds
Co-owners and husband-and-wife team Jonathan and Cheryl Willcocks bring diverse backgrounds to the leadership of Pinnacle Pursuits. Influenced by his father's involvement in Outward Bound's early days, Jonathan's commitment to experiential education was cemented while working with young offenders at a wilderness boot camp. Rather than buy into promoting a "fear factor response", Jonathan says, "I chose to be a real person and build relationships with these kids around communication, compassion and understanding."
Cheryl brings the business development side, having worked in fundraising and as a strategic philanthropy consultant. She and Jonathan crossed paths in 1998 while working on her master's degree in Jungian psychotherapy. Inspired by his work, she "did a 180 and jumped right into experiential education" incorporating its philosophy into her master's thesis and attending AEE conferences.
In 1999 the duo partnered up to take Pinnacle Pursuits to a new level and in 2000 were married. Today their company reaches 5,000-6,000 people annually in Canada, the U.S., U.K., Ireland, New Zealand and Thailand. For some of their larger events, they hire and train over 110 staff!
Creating Life-Long Memories
Pinnacle Pursuits tailors their packages to meet clients' needs based on the question, "How can we create life-long memories and unique learning experiences?" This summer one of their weeklong programs will service 350 kids and teens from around the world. The 150 teenagers will participate in a one-day adventure race that interweaves rafting, woodland adventures, geo-caching with GPS's, and teambuilding challenges. As not all learning can take place in such natural environments, they acknowledge the importance of validating the experience regardless of the location. Whether leading a multi-adventure excursion, teaching orienteering skills in the city or facilitating a corporate training in a boardroom, Cheryl explains, "It's very important to feel passionate about the environment you're working in."
Benefits of Their AEE Membership
Jonathan considers AEE to be the international umbrella for experiential education. "As we develop our own focus, it keeps us in tune with others in the industry," he reflects. It's also a great way to meet prospective employees. Jonathan and Cheryl met their Corporate Programs Manager, Sophie, at an AEE conference. Sophie was finishing her degree and volunteered as Service Crew to help pay for her conference registration. They originally hired her for a six-month internship. That was two years ago! In addition, they appreciate how AEE contributes to an ongoing, professional dialogue about experiential education. "We can take new ideas and questions old ideas," explains Cheryl. "There are no topics that are off limits in AEE. It is the epitome of a true learning community."
Congratulations to Pinnacle Pursuits! They received the
2006 AEE Organizational Member Award for the Northwest
Region: "For excellence in developing innovative and
maintaining outstanding programming at consistently high standards."
For More Information
Visit their website at http://www.pinnaclepursuits.com/
Jonas Bean
Individual Member
Bellevue, Washington
Biography
Jonas Bean graduated from Prescott College with a degree in wilderness leadership. With 10 years as an experiential educator under his belt, he is currently an Outdoor Program faculty member at Forest Ridge High School in Bellevue, Washington. Forest Ridge is an all-girls school and Jonas has shifted his focus to gender-based education. “The main focus for the Outdoor Program has been to integrate outdoor education experiences into their existing curriculum,” Jonas explains. “Our goal is to create a female-based outdoor education model rather than building upon existing male-based models.”
Inspired by Student-Centered Education
Jonas’ dedication to experiential education is inspired by the excitement of his students. “Their enthusiasm for learning is made possible because experiential education is student focused, rather than teacher focused,” Jonas explains. “It puts the student in charge of her learning.” In February he will co-lead a one-week student trip to Mexico where the students will learn about marine biology in conjunction with adventure education activities such as snorkeling and hiking. In April he will co-lead another student trip through five Western states for nine days. Participants will learn about on sustainable energy, agriculture, and land management practices while rock climbing.
Connecting with AEE Members
Jonas has been an Individual Member of AEE for the past three years. He appreciates AEE’s ability to establish common ground among the different areas of experiential education and provide connections to others in his field. “We’re not in competition with each other. We’re all on the same team and it’s okay to share information.” Jonas refers to this as a “join forces and team-up” mentality that keeps him growing in his field. He is also a big fan of the AEE Annual International Conference. “The annual conference serves as a motivator for me,” Jonas comments. “After a conference, my educational fire is refueled.”
Marketing His Field
“My biggest challenge is getting colleagues to understand that learning can happen outside of the classroom,” Jonas tells us. Through the professional development and networking opportunities AEE offers its members, Jonas believes he is getting better at “selling” adventure education to the people with whom he works. “I have learned how to talk about adventure education in terms of making it more educational for others,” he explains.
Photo caption: Jonas assisting one of his students. The photographer, Sunny S., is being belayed on the climbing wall by Annalisa T.
Tom Gardner
Individual Member
Liverpool, New York
Tom’s Bio
As an experiential educator, Tom wears many hats. He teaches middle school science, facilitates a public school challenge course and manages a part-time business called Team Adventure. Tom was recently chosen as director of the Adventure Center, a new indoor leadership center that offers experiential workshops during the winter months for the Liverpool community.
Tom’s Introduction to Experiential Education
In 1990, after eighteen years as a middle school science teacher, Tom was introduced to adventure education techniques during a full-week training led by a special education teacher in his school district. He had already been taking students hiking and camping in the Adirondack Mountains, but felt “there was a piece missing in these experiences.” The training shed invaluable light on what that missing link was—processing and reflection. He began to sit down with his students and together talk about what they had learned from their adventure experiences and how they could relate that knowledge to their everyday lives. “It saved my education career, because I was feeling burned out and it revitalized my thinking about education,” Tom explains. “It was revolutionary.”
Bringing Experiential Education Into the Public School System
Besides incorporating Adventure in his classroom, Tom and a colleague teach three in-service trainings each year for classroom-based teachers in his school district, focusing on adventure education. “Adventure education hasn’t been tapped where I live, so I feel my work is on the cutting edge,” explains Tom. He is proud that his grassroots efforts are making a difference, as his large class sizes demonstrate.
Discovering New Opportunities as a Member of AEE
As an Individual Member of AEE for the past four years, he has attended the last four annual conferences and co-presented a workshop on emotional intelligence at two of these. “What I most appreciate about the AEE conferences is the opportunity to network with other individuals with kindred adventure spirits and discover new ideas to share with others in my community.” Tom also values the Journal of Experiential Education (JEE), which provides him with excellent research. He says he’ll count on the JEE to keep him abreast of new information as he transitions from 34 years in the public school system to his part-time business and new role at the Adventure Center.
