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National Outdoor Leadership School

History

Early Years

NOLS was founded in 1965 by Paul Petzoldt, a world-famous mountaineer and a member of the Army's 10th Mountain Division, with the backing of three affluent Lander residents (Ed Breece, legislator and Petzoldt's brother-in-law; Jack Nicholas, legislator; and William Ericson, physician).[1] Breece, Nicholas, and Ericson formed the nucleus of the early board of trustees. Petzoldt was also an early Outward Bound Chief Instructor, and he wanted to establish a school which promoted concentrating on refining outdoor leadership skills . The first facility opened in 1965 at Sinks Canyon, Wyoming. June 8, 1965 marks the date of the founding and the first trip beginning at the trailhead of Hidden Valley ranch where 100 male students went into the Wild River Range. In the beginning NOLS struggles with finances to provide necessities for outdoor trips so developed the “uniform” made of Salvation Army donations . In 1971 the administrative offices were moved to Lander, Wyoming, where NOLS is still based today. NOLS also has facilities in Alaska, Washington, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Chile, Mexico, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Yukon Territory, Baffin Island, Scandinavia, Brazil and India.

30 Days to Survival

As the school began to grow in the early years in 1966 women were allowed to enroll to go on courses. As well, in 1967, The Adventure Courses began for young boys age ranging from thirteen to fifteen . NOLS grew enormously during the 1970s due to the publicity gained by an appearance on NBC's Alcoa Hour in an episode entitled "30 Days to Survival" which followed a NOLS course through the Wind River Range.[2] The school's focus became more ecological; conservation and preservation began to rank with leadership training in terms of emphasis. As a result of the airing, the school’s enrollment growth went from 250 students in 1969 to over 750 in 1970 . Also, the article, “Last Mountain Man? Not If He Can Help It,” featured the school and Paul Petzoldt for his commitment to the school in December 1969 . The growth continued and by the end of 1976 NOLS has 40 instructors and from 1976 to 1977 enrolled 1,523 students .

1980's and 1990's

During the 1980s, NOLS continued to evolve, working on increasing the professionalism of its staff and increasing the range of courses. Increasing their numbers trended and in 1980 NOLS employed 45 full-time staff members . This is when NOLS partnered with the U. of Utah to manage college credit for courses. This is when they helped create the U.S. Leave No Trace program. In 1989 they shifted to an outcome based education model and described a core curriculum that defined what a NOLS course includes. In 1996 they embarked on a 2 year project to define the NOLS leadership curriculum more precisely. In 1999, NOLS acquired the Wilderness Medicine Institute, one of the nation's foremost trainers of wilderness medicine. NOLS Professional Training, a branch of the school aimed at offering portions of the school's curriculum on custom-designed courses, was founded in 1999 as well . Clients of NOLS Pro include NASA, the Wharton School, the United States Naval Academy, the National Park Service, Woodberry Forest School, Fidelity Bank & Trust, Google, Timbuk2 and the International Sustainable Development Institute. The changes made In the 1980’s occurred due to the leadership of Peter Sims who later in 1984 decided to end his position. Jim Ratz took over and established works with the Alumni Association and built a scholarship basis .

Recently

In August 2004 NOLS launched a tour on a bus run on RVO, or Recycled Vegetable Oil (a type of biofuel), to travel the nation promoting the school, leadership, and renewable energy. As of fall 2006, the bus had traveled to all of the 48 contiguous states.[3]

NOLS celebrated its 45th anniversary in October 2010, with a gathering of alumni, faculty and staff in Lander. The school has gone from 100 students in 1965 to more than 120,000 graduates by 2008.[4]

In 2010, Outside Magazine ranked the National Outdoor Leadership School as one of the best places to work. It is number twenty-eight in the September issue NOLS among the top fifty places to work is the only non-profit educational program to make the list. The school has made the list for the past three years

Fatalities

The National Outdoor Leadership School currently keeps track of all injury and illness incidents for every course. The goal during the courses use the core values to improve each course through means of the curriculum . The current course finishing rate is 96.1% success rate. In terms of statistics and the fatality rate for the courses from 1984 to 1998 there were 3 fatalities (fatality rate of 0.002 per 1000 program days) . Also from 1999 to 2002 there was one fatality making the rate the same (0.002 per 1000 program days) . Statistically this means that for future years of NOLS courses for every 3.17 years there will be one fatality . NOLS continues to emphasis the need for risk management to lower the injury and illness statistics for courses while following the educational objectives .

Mission

"The mission of the National Outdoor Leadership School is to be the leading source and teacher of wilderness skills and leadership that serve people and the environment"

Values

Wilderness

The place where nature prevails and the survival of the students becomes the denominating factor. The places where fatalities and reality occurs. Judgment and responsibility are key to decision making for self sufficiency. Survival in the wilderness leads to inspiration and personal growth though ethics in the environment

Education

A challenge for each person to help and develop personal skills attempts to be conquered through the guides in the survival and travel in the outdoors. By meeting challenges, students gain inspiration through technical skills and studying the environment in leadership roles .

Leadership

Through encouragement,s students learn though experience. Judgment and awareness of group dynamic are key in developing all characteristics of leadership .

Safety

Through traveling in the environment, health and safety become priority due to the elements. With the goal of risk management in the core curriculum, good judgment leads to success in people's training

Community

With diversity and responsibility, individual passion is appreciated. Along with the group dynamic and positivity everyone cherishes with the mission and takes the job seriously .

Excellence

Asking questions, going through experiences, and rejoicing in accomplishments lead overcoming the challenges and push for personal growth. Adapting to cahgne moves towards evolving for potentially reaching goals .

Curriculum

Leave No Trace

National Program which started in the 1960’s as an idea by the USDA Forest Service. Through the decades the program developed, and then in the early 1990’s NOLS partnered with the Forest Service. 1994 marks the date of the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoors Ethics founding that is a non-profit organization .

The Principles of Leave No Trace concern social and environmental impacts which have led to ecological degradation. The program serves as an education tool to provide insight into behavior practices for people camping on the backcountry. The principles include “1. Plan ahead and prepare. 2. Travel and camp on durable surfaces. 3. Dispose of waste properly. 4. Leave what you find. 5. Minimize campfire impacts. 6. Respect wildlife. 7. Be considerate of other visitors.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leave_No_Trace

Wilderness Medicine Institute

This a a training section which is included in courses offered by NOLS. The location of courses which offer such training for students are in India, Mexico, New Zealand, Patagonia, Rocky Mountains, and Southwest. Training includes certification in Wilderness First Responder, Wilderness Advances First Aid, and Wilderness First Aid .

Leadership

The curriculum's goal is to push students to use leadership skills and teamwork to rise up to the challenges. Suggestions for characteristics of strong leadership are as follows. Expedition Behavior means having the right attitude by staying positive. Competence is the potential for growth and being able to gain more knowledge. Communication involves verbal communication as well as body language. Judgment and Decision-Making lead into how the make the better off decisions that benefit the group. Tolerance for Adversity and Uncertainty is an aspect of any group dynamic. Leaderships should keep the positive attitude and work through the issues in a responsible manner. Self-Awareness is taking time for people's selves. Taking care of their safety and health is important to being able to function properly and making strong decisions. Vision and Action is having the initiate and knowing when the lead from behind

Outdoor Skills

The opportunities on the courses involves improving skills under activities such as backpacking, canoeing, caving, climbing, fly-fishing, horsepacking, mountaineering, rafting, river kayaking, sailing, sea kayaking, skiing, snowboarding, etc. Students gain inside into equipment such as how to choose the best for the elements and about caring for the equipment. Nutrition and hygiene glance one other out. Students learn about the proper foods for the physical activity and strain on their bodies. Proper hygiene is essential for prevention of illnesses. Learning the proper camping techniques with leave no trace principles show how to live simplistically. Depending on the location, keeping warm becomes important to prevent sickness and allow comfort.

Environmental Studies

Throughout the courses students leaner about the Leave No trade principles and practice such skills. Students again inside into the history of their location by reading and discussing the plants, animals, geology, etc of the surroundings. Students dive into the environmental issues around the area and humans environment ethics regarding the topics.

Risk Management

The contact of risk management revolves around health and prevention steps for injury and risky situations. Health wise students leaner about proper body care such as foot care and boy warmth. as a unit on the course the students leaner though past experiences about judgment and group decision making through daily travel. The courses give an overview of the objective and subjective risks involved in the wilderness with step to approach the low risk decision making. Lastly, the emergency procedures are presented to go over evacuation plans and to answer many what if questions involved in injury and risky situations.