FOCUS Program - Experiential Education for Schools

FOCUS means Finding Our Community, Understanding Self.

FOCUS is an adventure-based, experiential education program that students engage in all year long. The program is built on a progression of life skill development and aims to help students enhance the development of key life skills and incorporate them into their everyday lives in and out of the classroom.

The Director of FOCUS is Donna Murray, and is run under the auspices of Sweetser located in Saco, ME. The FOCUS Program will provide a unique opportunity for students to work in small groups to help develop key skills they will need for the rest of their lives.

Goals:

Students will participate in a program to develop their Life Process Skills. The program is built on a progression of life skill development; each session will provide different goals and objectives and build upon the previous session.

Outcomes - Life Process Skills effectively incorporated through this program include:

Building health interpersonal relationships
Building trust
Active listening and communication
Anger management / conflict resolution
Problem solving / decision-making
Self responsibility and health choices
Leadership development
Setting individual and group goals

Students will develop and enhance Life Process Skills by:

Defining common values through a common language (SMS codes of conduct) and continually practice these values;
Creating a level of trust among peers through emotional and physical safety;
Verbalizing how their behavior and attitude affects the successes of the group and the larger school community;
Respecting and verbalizing how the efforts of the group members contribute to positive group decisions in accomplishing tasks;
Learning how to give and receive constructively framed feedback about the behaviors of themselves and peers;
Defining conflict resolution and problem solving strategies and continually utilizing them as needed.

FOCUS program designs - which fits your needs best?

FOCUS consultants train educational staff in an established Experiential Learning Curriculum. Over the course of a school year the educators will teach the curriculum to their students, under the consultation of FOCUS facilitators. FOCUS facilitators will provide three different expeditions: a fall and a winter expedition at the school's location, and a spring culminating expedition at the FOCUS Challenge Ropes Course site in Saco, Maine.
Educators receive the curriculum, monthly consultation and preparation sessions from the FOCUS facilitator and can utilize FOCUS props. This program has been provided at Westbrook Middle School and Saco Middle School.
FOCUS contracts with schools for eight to twelve (the number of sessions depends on the client's need) two-hour sessions over the course of a school year with a culminating day on the FOCUS Challenge Ropes Course site in Saco, Maine. FOCUS facilitators deliver the experiential learning program within the school's setting for each session. This program is currently being provided at Dyer, Skillin and Brown elementary schools in South Portland, and at the Dayton Consolidated School.

Focus Adventure Learning takes place year round.

Sampling of clients (read our testimonials):
Skillin Elementary School South Portland
Dyer Elementary School, South Portland
Brown Elementary School South Portland
Dayton Consolidated School, RSU 23
Westbrook Junior High School

Contact FOCUS today and see how your group can benefit

Contacting FOCUS

The FOCUS adventure-based learning program provides a unique opportunity for students to work in small groups and develop key life-long skills. More information on FOCUS.

For more info or Ropes Course reservations, please contact:
Donna Murray, Director
207-294-4929
dmurray@sweetser.org

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