C UB Adventure

1. C B U Some Thoughts from from Previous CUB Racers: Who is Tiger Adventure? • Tiger Adventure is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to create opportunities for personal growth and learning through adventure. Founded by a group of Princeton University alumni and family/friends, Tiger Adventure began its teamwork in the sport of adventure racing, but soon became inspired to broaden the organization’s purpose. Embracing the motto, “The Adventure is More than the Race,” Tiger Adventure established the CUB Adventure program in 1998 to provide unique opportunities for adventure for underprivileged youth in the community. • Richard Corcoran, President and Captain • Princeton University - AB History / American Studies • Stanford University – MBA/MA in Education • Boston Consulting Group – Consultant • Heather Stefanski, VP Operations • Princeton University – BSE Operations Research • Stanford University – MBA/ MA in Education • McKinsey & Co. - Consultant • Alexa K. Corcoran, VP Marketing • Princeton University – AB History/American Studies • Learning International – Trainer & Marketing Mngr • @Home Network - Marketing Manager • Samuel McMillan, VP Expansion • Princeton University – AB History • Stanford University - MBA • American School of Tangier - English/History Teacher • Boston Consulting Group - Consultant • Jennifer L. Golden, VP Community Service • Princeton University - B.S.E Operations Research • Stanford University - MBA • Deloitte Consulting/Braxton Associates - Associate • Ben Stefanski, VP Training • University of Vermont – BA Psychology • Nike Inc. - Sales Associate • Early Winters – Inventory Manager • Pottery Barn – Inventory Manager CUB Adventure “As a mentor, I’ve always struggled to try to find activities to do with my student -- the CUB Race was a great opportunity for us to spend time together on an activity that challenged us both.” - Mentor, Stanford University “The CUB Race was really fun…You really needed the whole package -- mental and physical activity, plus teamwork! It was great! - High-school CUB Race participant, I HAVE A DREAM CUB Racing inspires: Learning through experience Solving problems in teams Gaining awareness of the environment Drawing upon a variety of skills Building self-confidence Having fun! C B U Challenging yoUr Body and mind Tiger Adventure 940B Arbor Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (650) 497-4469 Jgolden@TigerAdventure.com www.TigerAdventure.com

2. Why did we create CUB Adventures? We have a strong belief in the importance of experiential learning and realize that it is often the non-intellective factors like self-confidence, perseverance, and interpersonal skills that determine success. For all of us, “adventure” has played an important role in our education. We feel equally enriched by our experiences in interscholastic athletic competition, personal pursuit of fitness, and adventure racing as we do by our “classroom learning.” We created CUB Adventures because we believe that success in both arenas build off each other. Ultimately, we hope to inspire our youth participants to constantly seek adventure and learning experiences in their life. Who are CUB Adventure Races for? We work with non-profit organizations who are currently providing a service to youths, such as after-school care, mentoring, or tutoring. We realize that the resources of many of these organizations are often tapped just meeting day-to-day operational demands. Typically, in these organizations there exist ongoing “teacher-youth” relationships. Our goal is to give the youths an opportunity to learn in a unique way and to strengthen their relationships with their mentors through a CUB Race. Organizations will be able to draw on the CUB experience in future learning activities. 2. Success is often related to non-intellective factors. CUB Race checkpoint activities have included putting up a four-person tent, searching the Internet for the height of Mount Everest, shooting baskets from a designated spot, and finding facts in a history exhibit. Research done by Abraham Tannenbaum has shown that gifted-ness is related to both non-intellective factors like ego, strength, dedication, and environ-mental factors like a stimulating home. CUB races are focused on providing an opportunity for stimulation and for building self-confidence. Teams help remove pressure from the individual and help encourage the individual to try something new. In a CUB Race, teams are evaluated on how many act-ivities they successfully complete and their total course completion time. Teams are also awarded points for creative express-ion and teamwork. The winning teams are then awarded a combination of prizes donated by generous sponsors. Each CUB Race participant also receives a personal compass to guide him/her on future adven-tures. 3. Learning occurs through solving real problems and making decisions. Darling-Hammond, Zorman, Maker, Nielson & Rodgers in their research on “Problem Based Learning” have demon-strated the importance of making the learning experience as “real” as possible. They also emphasize the importance of the decision making process on the learning experience. The CUB races will provide students an opportunity to solve real problems like “How do I get from checkpoint A to checkpoint B?” and make decisions such as, “How should we divide up this task between four team members?” The races will also ensure that students get a chance to reflect on how decisions are made and problems are solved. A CUB Race is an experience like no other for most participants. The goals of the program include strengthening bonds between the students and their mentors, providing students the opportunity to work in teams, and helping to build self-esteem. 4. The ability to work in teams is critical for achieving success. Teams are everywhere. We see them both in the workplace and at school. John Katzenbach in his book The Wisdom of Teams demonstrates that a high perform-ing team will outperform individuals acting alone. He also stresses that it is not easy to create a meaningful team. It requires interpersonal, functional, and problem- The concepts promoted in CUB races: Although the vision for a CUB race originated with the experience of adventure racers, the courses/races incorporate sound educational principles. Each course is developed with the needs and skill set of the partic-ipating youths in mind. We take into account the age, experience base, and the goals of the organizations with whom we are working when we design a course. Irrespective of the characteristics of the participants, we draw on the following principles when we design a CUB race: How does a CUB Race work? solving skills. Many students do not have an oppor-tunity to develop these skills and gain experience working on a team. We aim to provide students will this opportunity and help develop their “team skills.” Tiger Adventure typically sponsors a CUB Race for an existing youth organization in the community. We 1. Intelligence is multidimensional. Sounds like an adventure…. How can I support a CUB Race? Howard Gardner in his book Multiple Intelligence identifies seven dimensions of intelligence including analytic/ mathematical, kinetic, intrapersonal, spatial, interpersonal, linguistic, and musical. Joseph Renzulli in his book The Total Talent Portfolio emphasizes the wide variety of student’s interests and learning style preferences. begin by inviting youths, preferably between the ages of 10-18, to join their mentors for a half-day event and adventure. After a brief multimedia presentation and training session, the participants/racers embark on a mini-orienteering course. Competing in teams of 6, the students will navigate through 6 to 10 check-points -- each presenting a different type of challenge for the team. The racers must figure out their own route with a map and compass and set off on the adventure… The Race Course: At a CUB Race checkpoint, Tiger Adventure volunteers facilitate a physical, educational, or interpersonal activity. The team must successfully complete the activity as a team to move onto the next checkpoint. • To make the CUB adventure program successful we rely on the assistance of sponsor organizations. CUB Race support can take several forms: • Financial contributions as lead sponsor supporting the creation and execution of a CUB Adventure, • Prizes or mementos donated for our race participants, • Youth organizations who would like to partner with Tiger Adventure to plan a CUB Race. If you would like to support a CUB Adventure, please contact Jennifer Golden, VP of Community Service for Tiger Adventure, at (650) 497-4469 or send email to jgolden@tigeradventure.com. Both Gardner and Renzulli believe that the most successful learning environments take into account the wide variety of interests and strengths displayed by students. In designing the CUB races, we attempt to include a wide variety of activities focused on different skill sets, which enables all participants to achieve some success.