Ten Questions--with Alli Powers
Q: Tell our audience a little about you?
A: I grew up in Washington State, Spokane; I went to high school there. I wanted to experience the east coast, and so went to Georgetown University (Washington DC).I spent three and a half years in D.C. and during my time there spent a year studying abroad in Paris, France. I completed my senior year at Georgetown and then headed to Sun Valley, Idaho to nanny for a family and, of course, to ski. Also, I wanted to be closer to my family. Four winters later…while I worked and played, my parents took a sea-kayaking trip in Johnstone Strait that would prove to change my life. While working at my dad’s office in the summer—I found the experience working indoors less thrilling—my parents talked about their kayaking guide Lisa Pye, a COLT graduate. I contacted her. She wrote me a lengthy letter detailing her experience with the program—what impressed me was that she would take the time to write to someone she did not know about the COLT program. She clearly cared and wanted to share her impressions.
Consequently, I enrolled in the program in the spring of 2003. The fall practicum followed that fall. I worked under Zak Cross and then Greg Johnson, the Chief Instructors. After my climbing accident I worked on and off, but spent a significant time recuperating in 2005. Last year (2006) I was hired as Chief Instructor-Educational, and here we are in my second year in that role.
Q: I know you have had some life defining moments? Would you share these with us? How did these affect you and your approach to life?
A: Almost three years ago I had a severe mountaineering accident.
My accident does not define me, but it helped me get a different perspective on what we do and how much I appreciate physical health and activity—something we may take for granted.
Most people in outdoor education are independent people and losing my independence was tough. I was totally dependent during the early part of my recovery. I missed my active lifestyle. The accident had taken my freedom and what I could do. Losing my physical capacities affected how I defined myself—which was based too much on what I could do as opposed to who I was.
Q: What is more important?
A: Recently, a health practitioner captured this by asking me: “Are you a human doing or a human being? An intriguing question I never considered before. I was doing things all the time, and I suspect I took this to be who I was. Don’t get me wrong, doing is good, it is important, but…you don’t want to lose yourself in that. While doing, you don’t want to lose the being. If you focus rather on just being, you will enjoy doing whatever you choose. The being is the key, not the doing.
Q: As a chief instructor, you are primarily tasked with the educational aspect of SPL programs, the soft skills if you will. What do you hope to accomplish in this role?
A: Outdoor education is fun, but is also about being active, learning to work as team, gaining self-confidence. I try to bring and other principles into focus in our programs, and do it in a way that is engaging, that creates the space and opportunity for these qualities to emerge, and for students to grow here. I hope I can further strengthen these well established principles, the educational foundation of the programs. Both the hard skills and soft skills play a vital part in our program. Through the hard skills we can teach the soft skills and with the soft skills we can teach the hard I see both aspects as critical to deliver the educational outcomes we seek here.
Q: What do you see as the main challenges to accomplishing these goals?
A: Meeting my lofty goals and the time needed to ensure that programs function smoothly—logistics really. The work is hard—and great. Thinking and talking about the soft skills, simplifying them into practical ways we can teach, is a challenge. It is also a challenge for us to find the balance between work, professional development, and play, and let’s not forget rest…
Q: What do you find most inspiring in your work with instructors/ leaders?
A: the instructional staff are so impressive; the way they meet challenges with excitement, curiosity and determination; the different ideas they come up with to reach a group. They [leaders] are always thinking, adapting, not falling into ruts…to keep learning and deliver the best program possible.
Q: Your partner works closely with you—he is the chief instructor-technical…..Living and working together a large portion of your life, how did you find it? What are the benefits, the challenges?
A: It‘s good. The hardest part is asking for time off together. We work in a team of four, and having two of us away from that team leaves a void. We are able to get time off (together) but sometimes it is difficult. In some ways we see each other all the time, but a lot of the time we are working. It is good for us to spend time together not just working together. Away from work we go paddling or climbing. It is fun to go out and play together. Another hard part about working together is seeing the other person deal with frustration—and you not take it on. This has been a good learning experience for us as a couple—and professionally.
Q: Would you share your most rewarding moments—three?—here at the Lodge?
A: Hmm…my first season instructing. There was boy in one of my groups, who was timid and seemed to suffer from anxiety whenever success was an issue—his siblings were all successful athletes. Fear of failure seemed to loom large for this boy. We talked for a while prior to his attempt at the zip-line activity, and he ended up zipping off the platform. They—his group— was really supportive and understanding.
The second moment, the Backcountry Classic (WYLD) trip with Bill Phipps, my c-o-leader. This trip was with a small group we paddled down the lake to Phillips Creek trying to hike up to Marble Meadows, then summit Mt. McBride. We had set out from the Lodge with a goal a goal in mind, accomplished it, and then played all the way back on our return trip. This was a really rewarding experience for me and the group.
The third moment,what has gratified me this year already has been the number of instructors who returned to SPL. I hope this reflects in some small way our efforts of last year. Last year was our first season as Chief Instructors, the both of us. Throughout the season we went through a steep learning curve; we felt confident we could do justice to these jobs, although there is always uncertainty when doing something new. In the end–I think—the season went very well.
Q: Laura Kittle has—with your support—begun asking for input about one of our core values “More with Less”. What might be next?
A: Actually, Christine Clarke,one of our Executive Directors, approached us—the Program Dept—with a view to incorporate core values with the first being: “More with less”. We then brainstormed ways to put this into practice. From this we sketched out a curriculum to give instructors a way to integrate—and focus—on this first core value. An open space was created—a space for ideas, suggestions on how to integrate “More with less”; we felt instructor input was crucial. This included the opportunity for community members—other than instructional staff to contribute as well(Ed note: a number of schools have begun using SPL’s core values as part of their curriculum delivery (More on that in a later post).
Q: What are your plans for the off-season?
A: To regenerate we play. Last year we spent time in Asia—quite unplanned and flexible. This off-season will be skiing, skiing, and…a little more skiing.
Q: Plans for the future, ambitions?
A: I have an undergraduate degree in Psychology, but now I think that I would like to train to be a physiotherapist. Having experienced an intense recovery myself, I saw the value these professionals had. I want to help others who have been through an accident not only with their physical recovery, but also with the mental, emotional, and physical connection that plays out after such an experience.
Q: What do you hope to give to those you teach and work with?
A: I hope to give instructors the tools to work effectively with groups; to continue to improve in that area. At the same time, I hope to pass on to leaders the importance of letting their passion, their playfulness shine through. When we were in Thailand one of our guides on an excursion was very playful. It was really interesting to see how he related to his environment, and this really added to the whole experience.
I hope to encourage this in our instructors as well; that is to encourage them to find aspects of their job they find enjoyable and interesting in their teaching and pas that enjoyment onto those they work with.
Alli,thank you for your time and thoughts.
A: I grew up in Washington State, Spokane; I went to high school there. I wanted to experience the east coast, and so went to Georgetown University (Washington DC).I spent three and a half years in D.C. and during my time there spent a year studying abroad in Paris, France. I completed my senior year at Georgetown and then headed to Sun Valley, Idaho to nanny for a family and, of course, to ski. Also, I wanted to be closer to my family. Four winters later…while I worked and played, my parents took a sea-kayaking trip in Johnstone Strait that would prove to change my life. While working at my dad’s office in the summer—I found the experience working indoors less thrilling—my parents talked about their kayaking guide Lisa Pye, a COLT graduate. I contacted her. She wrote me a lengthy letter detailing her experience with the program—what impressed me was that she would take the time to write to someone she did not know about the COLT program. She clearly cared and wanted to share her impressions.
Consequently, I enrolled in the program in the spring of 2003. The fall practicum followed that fall. I worked under Zak Cross and then Greg Johnson, the Chief Instructors. After my climbing accident I worked on and off, but spent a significant time recuperating in 2005. Last year (2006) I was hired as Chief Instructor-Educational, and here we are in my second year in that role.
Q: I know you have had some life defining moments? Would you share these with us? How did these affect you and your approach to life?
A: Almost three years ago I had a severe mountaineering accident.
My accident does not define me, but it helped me get a different perspective on what we do and how much I appreciate physical health and activity—something we may take for granted.
Most people in outdoor education are independent people and losing my independence was tough. I was totally dependent during the early part of my recovery. I missed my active lifestyle. The accident had taken my freedom and what I could do. Losing my physical capacities affected how I defined myself—which was based too much on what I could do as opposed to who I was.
Q: What is more important?
A: Recently, a health practitioner captured this by asking me: “Are you a human doing or a human being? An intriguing question I never considered before. I was doing things all the time, and I suspect I took this to be who I was. Don’t get me wrong, doing is good, it is important, but…you don’t want to lose yourself in that. While doing, you don’t want to lose the being. If you focus rather on just being, you will enjoy doing whatever you choose. The being is the key, not the doing.
Q: As a chief instructor, you are primarily tasked with the educational aspect of SPL programs, the soft skills if you will. What do you hope to accomplish in this role?
A: Outdoor education is fun, but is also about being active, learning to work as team, gaining self-confidence. I try to bring and other principles into focus in our programs, and do it in a way that is engaging, that creates the space and opportunity for these qualities to emerge, and for students to grow here. I hope I can further strengthen these well established principles, the educational foundation of the programs. Both the hard skills and soft skills play a vital part in our program. Through the hard skills we can teach the soft skills and with the soft skills we can teach the hard I see both aspects as critical to deliver the educational outcomes we seek here.
Q: What do you see as the main challenges to accomplishing these goals?
A: Meeting my lofty goals and the time needed to ensure that programs function smoothly—logistics really. The work is hard—and great. Thinking and talking about the soft skills, simplifying them into practical ways we can teach, is a challenge. It is also a challenge for us to find the balance between work, professional development, and play, and let’s not forget rest…
Q: What do you find most inspiring in your work with instructors/ leaders?
A: the instructional staff are so impressive; the way they meet challenges with excitement, curiosity and determination; the different ideas they come up with to reach a group. They [leaders] are always thinking, adapting, not falling into ruts…to keep learning and deliver the best program possible.
Q: Your partner works closely with you—he is the chief instructor-technical…..Living and working together a large portion of your life, how did you find it? What are the benefits, the challenges?
A: It‘s good. The hardest part is asking for time off together. We work in a team of four, and having two of us away from that team leaves a void. We are able to get time off (together) but sometimes it is difficult. In some ways we see each other all the time, but a lot of the time we are working. It is good for us to spend time together not just working together. Away from work we go paddling or climbing. It is fun to go out and play together. Another hard part about working together is seeing the other person deal with frustration—and you not take it on. This has been a good learning experience for us as a couple—and professionally.
Q: Would you share your most rewarding moments—three?—here at the Lodge?
A: Hmm…my first season instructing. There was boy in one of my groups, who was timid and seemed to suffer from anxiety whenever success was an issue—his siblings were all successful athletes. Fear of failure seemed to loom large for this boy. We talked for a while prior to his attempt at the zip-line activity, and he ended up zipping off the platform. They—his group— was really supportive and understanding.
The second moment, the Backcountry Classic (WYLD) trip with Bill Phipps, my c-o-leader. This trip was with a small group we paddled down the lake to Phillips Creek trying to hike up to Marble Meadows, then summit Mt. McBride. We had set out from the Lodge with a goal a goal in mind, accomplished it, and then played all the way back on our return trip. This was a really rewarding experience for me and the group.
The third moment,what has gratified me this year already has been the number of instructors who returned to SPL. I hope this reflects in some small way our efforts of last year. Last year was our first season as Chief Instructors, the both of us. Throughout the season we went through a steep learning curve; we felt confident we could do justice to these jobs, although there is always uncertainty when doing something new. In the end–I think—the season went very well.
Q: Laura Kittle has—with your support—begun asking for input about one of our core values “More with Less”. What might be next?
A: Actually, Christine Clarke,one of our Executive Directors, approached us—the Program Dept—with a view to incorporate core values with the first being: “More with less”. We then brainstormed ways to put this into practice. From this we sketched out a curriculum to give instructors a way to integrate—and focus—on this first core value. An open space was created—a space for ideas, suggestions on how to integrate “More with less”; we felt instructor input was crucial. This included the opportunity for community members—other than instructional staff to contribute as well(Ed note: a number of schools have begun using SPL’s core values as part of their curriculum delivery (More on that in a later post).
Q: What are your plans for the off-season?
A: To regenerate we play. Last year we spent time in Asia—quite unplanned and flexible. This off-season will be skiing, skiing, and…a little more skiing.
Q: Plans for the future, ambitions?
A: I have an undergraduate degree in Psychology, but now I think that I would like to train to be a physiotherapist. Having experienced an intense recovery myself, I saw the value these professionals had. I want to help others who have been through an accident not only with their physical recovery, but also with the mental, emotional, and physical connection that plays out after such an experience.
Q: What do you hope to give to those you teach and work with?
A: I hope to give instructors the tools to work effectively with groups; to continue to improve in that area. At the same time, I hope to pass on to leaders the importance of letting their passion, their playfulness shine through. When we were in Thailand one of our guides on an excursion was very playful. It was really interesting to see how he related to his environment, and this really added to the whole experience.
I hope to encourage this in our instructors as well; that is to encourage them to find aspects of their job they find enjoyable and interesting in their teaching and pas that enjoyment onto those they work with.
Alli,thank you for your time and thoughts.
Labels: Ten Questions
posted by Strathcona Park Lodge | 11:41 AM
<< Home