Adventure counseling with at risk students: a manual for C.A.R.E.S. program component of "Beyond the Limits"

Abstract

For my undergraduate honor's thesis I will create a manual for implementing an Adventure Counseling Program with at-risk adolescents. This guide will primarily be for use with Wicomico County's "Beyond the Limits" program. This is a cooperative learning program with an adventure counseling base which includes a ropes course experience. The focus of ''Beyond the Limits" is on improving socialization skills and self-esteem. (Wicomico County Board of Education, 1996) This program serves many students throughout the county, especially those at the middle school level. One group in particular that it serves is those middle school students who have been identified as educationally and socially at-risk. One component of ''Beyond the Limits" incorporates the Children At Risk Emotionally and Socially (C.A.R.E.S.) program. ''The goal [of C.A.R.E.S.] is to assist students at the middle school level who are at risk of dropping out [of school] or becoming involved in personally debilitating behavior. The purpose is to assist development of a more positive attitude toward school and to improve school achievement"(Matlack, 1994). Participants in the C.A.R.E.S. program can be referred to the ''Beyond the Limits" program for additional intervention. This component of''Beyond the Limits" is organized and facilitated by a Salisbury State University social work intern with the help of the ''Beyond the Limits" directors. This manual is to be used as a guide by future social work interns with the ''Beyond the Limits" program. It is intended to be a "working manual" in that it can, and should, be updated yearly as more information, suggestions, and ideas are created and obtained. It is not intended to be a strict, step-by-step list of instructions to be followed. The success of this program is based upon creativity and ingenuity. This manual is only to be used as a starting point. The manual will consist of a number of different sections, including an introduction to the program, reference materials, suggestions based upon my personal experience as a Salisbury State intern with "Beyond the Limits" and information from my research with the program. Specifically, the introduction will include a brief history of adventure counseling, the theory behind adventure counseling, the history of "Beyond the Limits," and the history of the C.A.R.E.S. program. The body of the manual will include examples of activity worksheets, permission slips and resources used with the program in the past. It will incorporate information on how to select the participants and form groups, including a listing of the participants from the 1996-97 school year for follow-up. The guide will also include information about the point system. Because this program involves the use of a ropes course, information on how to tie a Studebaker wrap and information about the high elements will also be included. A copy of my research paper and the curriculum I used throughout the program will be included, as well. Finally, the manual will conclude with a qualitative analysis of the program's effectiveness in the past, as well as suggestions for improvements in the future.