Day 3, New Carlisle "Y" training

On Wednesday, 26 Jun 2002, a training course was set up at Eastwood MetroPark. It was day 3 of the MVOC weeklong training. I volunteered for Wednesday because I felt I teach better when the students have some knowledge of orienteering.

I selected Eastwood MetroPark because it was flat - with no contour lines drawn on the map - and it had great catching features on 3 sides - railroad tracks on the South, Road on the East, and the Mad River on the North. The course I designed was somewhere between a white and yellow in difficulty - there was not a control every time you needed to turn. The course was 2.6km with 15 controls. I arrived at the park at 7:30am and proceeded to set the course. Although I drove through the park 2 weeks prior to the event, I confirmed most of the buildings and features were there from the latest map we had. Unfortunately the MetroParks had torn down 3 buildings and only replaced two, but in different locations. Only one control was staked where a building was marked on the map, but had been torn down. A few minor changes on the clue sheet and they were ready to go. I explained these changes to the kids and they understood.

Since this was their 1st experience with a clue sheet and punch card, I spent a few minutes explaining what the clue sheet was for, the numbers on the controls, and what to do to the punch card. 21 students and leaders participated:

1 Steph/Stephen/Dwayne 29:07 (Dwayne was the instructor)

2 Desiree/Alicia/Robert 41:52

3 Pete/JT 44:16

4 Christopher/Alex 48:15

5 Danielle/Kelly 51:11

6 Nick/Jacob 53:50

7 Matt/Scott 58:00

8 Cody/Ryan 68:18

9 TJ/Kyle 88:00

Thanks to Pete, JT, Stephen, and Dwayne for picking up the controls. All had a fun time!

In hindsight this was a great effort and I could see the benefits from the knowledge displayed on Wednesday when they ran the course. The kids knew how to use a compass, orient a map, count their pace, and put the three together to compete in an orienteering course. Maybe this is something we need to do each summer and open up participation to all who want to come - kinda like a camp. Maybe we could get some of the JROTC students to help with the week?

Mark Novitski, Meet Director