Highland Community College Names Softball Coaches for the 2021-22 Season
Highland Community College is pleased to announce that Gregory Cary has been named the new Head... Read More
Highland to Create Ropes Course on Klinefelter Farm
published April 3, 2012Highland to Create Ropes Course on Klinefelter Farm
Brad Dixon, Coordinator of Student Life at Highland Community College, recently completed his Level I Certification as a facilitator of challenge courses. Dixon’s certification is part of a plan to create a low ropes challenge course on the John and Maree Klinefelter Farm property that is now part of the College. The initial use of that course will be by the Student Leaders at the College who have been traveling to camp in Stewartsville, MO for the team-building exercises provided by these facilities.
Dixon completed the training in El Dorado over a five day period. The training was provided by Adventure Experiences Incorporated. Eight other people from Kansas and New Mexico also completed the training, which provides participants with the basics of how to conduct a ropes challenge course.
Ropes challenge courses get their name from the ropes that are used in team-building exercises. There are low ropes courses and high ropes courses. High ropes courses are a series of single hanging ropes, rope ladders, and rope bridges attached to trees or towers, and participants must figure out how to get all members of their teams from point A to point B. Participants in low ropes courses complete exercises from the ground, and are challenged to get all members of their teams to complete an assigned task.
Ropes courses have proven to be an effective way of forming a group of individuals into a team. Coordinated by Dr. Cheryl Rasmussen, Vice President for Student Services, Student Leaders at the College – Ambassadors, Foundation Scholars, RA’s, and tutors – have spent a weekend each August at Camp Farwesta in Stewartsville, MO to utilize the low ropes course there. This year, the Student Leaders will be able to take advantage of their own course. Dixon and Wendell Ganstrom, Project Director at the Klinefelter Farm, will be building the course starting in April, with a completion date of early August to accommodate the Student Leaders.
