My daughter started an outdoor club at her school (forming clubs is highly encouraged at this school). She and her BFF want to include a trip to a ski/snowboard resort. Luckily, the principal used to run the ski club and team at his previous school so they have administrative support to plan a midweek day trip. (How cool?!)
She asked for my help and being the end of soccer season, Halloween, parent-teacher conferences, family birthday celebrations and whatnot, we were both coming in to the first club meeting as hot messes.
So I quickly hand drew up some forms to get the club members started on a productive conversation about which resort they’d like to plan to attend. Thankfully they were receptive to this old school approach.
They broke into 4 groups of 2 students each and used the forms to peruse the websites and record information.
The pink set of forms had mostly to do with the logistics because we’re planning a day trip. The first question to answer (in my mind at least) is: What time do we have to get up and on the road in order to be dressed and ready for the first lesson start time? The second question is: What is the cost?
The green set of forms was about the trails, the snow, the terrain.
I typed everything up and put it into a Word table. Next, I printed out trail maps. The results are interesting.
Once they considered the goal for the club, the make up members (some have never skied before) and the transportation options we have (most likely volunteer parents), the best choice (at this point in time) is App Ski Mountain.
The students have set a date for the outing. They have a general idea of what the day trip will cost each student. The next steps are designing a path to use club meetings to help each other plan to buy, borrow or rent clothing and gear while simultaneously figuring out transportation. The Principal said he’d handle group reservations (nice!).
Calling around and speaking to the 4 resorts has been very fun for me. They have all been really nice and welcoming. It’s the very start to their season and they are not yet slammed with patrons.
The more I research the topic of introducing winter sports, the more I am learning that the true mark of success for this club will be multiple trips with repeat participants. I am a willing parent volunteer for trips 2, 3 and 4!
