Orienteering at Conferences
- Barb Bryant
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
Navigation Games is seeking volunteer orienteers and teachers to deliver workshops at educator conferences, to spread the word about the value of our sport for schools and other youth-serving programs. We are also seeking a part-time administrator (volunteer or paid) with great organizational and communication skills to help us manage the project.
We have been delivering these conference workshops for several years, and are encouraged about the resulting uptake amongst teachers. We have presented at conferences for physical/health, experiential, outdoor, math, and environmental education. In addition to describing a progression of lessons, we present information about Orienteering USA resources, including coaching training, the event calendar, and the Youth Mapping Program (YMP). We coordinate with YMP to make maps for demonstration activities at the conference venue, and to communicate with the venue to encourage them to use the maps for future orienteering activities at their location. For examples of conferences that we have delivered, see our 2024 conference page; it includes links to slide decks and maps.Â
Attendee feedback has been super positive. Some feel motivated to attend an orienteering event: "I genuinely cannot wait to join my first orienteering race." And others now see a path forward for teaching others: "It was great to do several hands-on activities but also to talk about extensions, modifications, and lessons." Many attendees have followed up to get orienteering maps made and ask for help designing orienteering activities for their schools or programs. And all attendees come away with more knowledge about the sport.
Because we have seen the effectiveness of this form of outreach, Orienteering USA has given Navigation Games a grant for conference and administrative expenses. Navigation Games will support you in finding, applying to, planning for and delivering the workshop, as well as following up afterward with attendees. We have prepared information for you to find out more about what's involved here. Check it out, and please contact us (admin@navigationgames.org) if you are interested in presenting or helping to manage the orienteering-at-conferences project!
