Article On Fort Miley, Written By San Jose Murcury News

Published Friday, Nov. 24, 2000, in the San Jose Mercury News

Adventures in the outdoors give
students new strength,
confidence

TEAMWORK, COMMUNICATION KEY
AS PEERS LEAN ON EACH OTHER
IN LESSONS THAT TEACH SUCCESS

BY MICHAEL BAZELEY
Mercury News

You'll have to excuse Jonathan ``J.R.'' Helem for being nervous
Tuesday morning. It seems no one ever mentioned that being a
10-year-old fourth-grader would someday mean climbing a 15-foot
ladder and jumping off into thin air.

During a cold, drizzly rain.

With all your classmates watching.

``I'm scared,'' Jonathan said to anyone who would listen as he clung for
dear life to a rung on the ladder. ``I'm scared.''

Cheered on by classmates, Jonathan finally jumped and became the
first in his class from Daniel Webster Elementary to try out the Fort
Miley Adventure Ropes Course, a nerve-tingling collection of steel
cables strung high above the ground in a stand of evergreen trees.

Teacher Jackie Stanton brought her students to the ropes course
because they had trouble getting along this year. Stanton thought that a
day out of the classroom practicing teamwork and testing personal
limits might do the trick.

But another group of San Francisco students benefited from the visit as
well. On the ground, manning the safety ropes that kept the elementary
kids from crashing to the ground, was a group of Galileo High School
students enrolled in a special outdoors program. Called GOAPe (for
Galileo Outdoor Adventure Program), the class is aimed at students
with chronic attendance or motivation problems.

``You're seeing the profile of a kid dropping out,'' said Galileo teacher
Steve Hagler. ``The idea is that it's a structured program for kids falling
through the cracks.''

Much of the teaching takes place outdoors -- on camping trips, swim
trips and the ropes course, in which the students act as hosts and
instructors.

``Outdoors and adventure is a good leveling of the playing field,'' Hagler
said. ``Mother Nature doesn't care if you're an A student or an F
student. It allows kids to excel who don't have much confidence.''

Keeping Jonathan suspended in the air while he jumped off the ladder
was 17-year-old Dennis Noller, a Galileo senior. By his own admission,
Dennis ``wasn't doing well'' at Galileo, cutting classes and avoiding
schoolwork.

``I haven't cut since I joined this program,'' he said. ``I'm more
motivated to learn. You're outside and doing things.''

About 18,000 Bay Area residents have used the Fort Miley course
since it opened in 1980. San Francisco State University's recreation and
leisure studies department operates the course, and lets groups such as
GOAPe use it during the year.

When they're there, Hagler's high school students do as much of the
training as possible, everything from leading the warm-up games to
helping users get unstuck from precarious positions 30 feet above the
ground.

Hagler said his students have worked with everybody from corporate
executives to school district teachers.

Marlo Aleman, 18, graduated from the GOAPe class last year.
Tuesday, he was back at the ropes course, helping the fourth-graders
climb the ``Giants Ladder,'' a series of oversize rungs suspended
between two cables.

``I was always in the back of class, making jokes, the class clown,'' said
Aleman, who now leads tours of Fort Miley. ``This class really helped
me build my self-confidence. A lot of what I do now is directly related
to GOAPe, going out and talking to people.''

Most of the fourth-graders from the Potrero Hill school had no idea
their instructors were high school students struggling to find their way in
life. What mattered most was the fear factor.

``Oh, Lord, oh, Lord, I'm shaking,'' said one boy. ``That's scary,'' said a
few others. ``I'm scared,'' said nearly every kid at least once during the
morning.

Part of the day's activities involved teaching the kids how to work
together and rely on each other for help. While one kid walked
nervously across a cable bridge 20 feet in the air, a classmate held the
rope that kept him from landing face-first in the dirt.

``We thought this would be an integral way of helping them bond,''
Stanton said. ``I feel like they need a lot of experiences outside the
classroom. You can change what you teach in the classroom. But you
can't really change the classroom itself.''

Indeed, several hours into the morning, Jonathan's worldview had
completely changed. He had begun to shed his nervousness and was
excitedly running from station to station, looking for a new adventure.

``It's fun,'' he said. ``I'm not that scared anymore. I want to try them all
now.''


Contact Michael Bazeley at mbazeley@sjmercury.com or (415)
434-1018.