OA Leader News
|
OA Leader News |
|
|
OA Frosh Trip Leader's Meeting -
|
Once again it's time to start thinking about our next great endeavor, FT 2004! This past fall was a tremendous success with 599 frosh on 75 different trips! OA runs the largest wilderness orientation program in the United States. This year should be even bigger and we will need lots of people to make it happen. We hope you can be a part of FT 2004. The Frosh Trip runs from Saturday, August 28 – Saturday, September 3. You will need to arrive on Wednesday, August 25 for pre-trip training. Some leaders including Leader Trainers, Climbing Leaders, Canoeing Leaders and Outdoor Adventure Leaders arrive earlier, see the detailed schedule below for arrival dates.
| All Leaders must be certified in Adult CPR (either Red Cross or American Heart Association) before leading a Frosh Trip. If you did not take your class through OA you will need to provide a photocopy of your certification card. We are offering a number of classes this spring for those who need to recertify. There will be CPR Refresher Courses after spring break. See the current OA Newsletter for dates & times. |
To apply, fill out the Frosh Trip Application and Health History Form on the Web. Applications must be received no later than Friday, April 2. If you are in the process of completing the Leader Training requirements this spring you should go ahead and submit an application to lead. Your application will be reviewed at the end of the year to confirm that you have completed all of the leader training requirements and are eligible to lead a trip.
We are looking for a group of leaders who can come back to early on Wednesday, August 25 as an Advance Team to help in final preparations for FT 2004. This group will be responsible for such things as last minute packing and all the thousands of little things that need to be done in the final hours before the Frosh Trip starts. This group will come back on Tuesday afternoon, August 24. Advance Team starts working on Wednesday at 10:00 AM. If you are interested in volunteering for the Advance Team, please indicate this on your application.
If you are going to be on campus this summer, please check this on your application form. We need help all summer long to get ready. Every Thursday we do Pizza Night at the ER - free pizza in exchange for packing first aid kits, and fixing packs and stoves. If you are going to be in Princeton, please mark this on your Frosh Trip Application.
The Frosh Trip is a massive logistical enterprise. Ours is the largest program in the country in terms of participants and number of days. This means we need lots of qualified staff: leaders, support team staff, and Command Center managers. In order to be eligible to lead a Frosh Trip you should have completed all of the leader training requirements. If you haven't completed everything yet but are planning to so by the end of the year, you should still submit an application and indicate the planned completion date for each training requirement. You will be considered for a leader position based on your completion of the Leader Training requirements and the evaluation after your Leader Training Trip.
When you apply to be part of FT 2004, you are agreeing to serve in the role and location, which you are assigned to, without complaints. We will do our best to place you in the position that you request and will take into account your location preferences and pairing requests. In a program of this size, we can't fulfill everyone's requests and we cannot switch people around at the last minute. You will find out just what position and location you have been assigned to when you return in August. People who have not completed all of the Leader Training requirements might be assigned to be on a Support Team if that is where we need you most.
Leaders - You need to have successfully completed all of the leader training requirements by June 1. You must also have current CPR certification for September 2004. If your certification has expired or will expire you need to re-certify your CPR before Frosh Trip.
Climb Support - This year with the addition of the Outdoor Adventure Trips (see below) we are planning to do more Rock Climbing. In order to have enough climbing leaders to go around we are looking for 1-2 people who would be interested in spending the week at the Princeton-Blairstown Center and running Rock Climbing Trips with a different group each day. You need to have taken the Top Rope Climbing Techniques Course or have similar climbing experience.
Support Team Staff - We couldn't operate the Frosh Trip without Support Staff Teams. We pair two people together in each Team so it can be a fun job to do with a friend. You'll be stationed near the different trip areas in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, or New England. During the week your team is our field resource to groups that are on the trail. You will interact with groups on a daily basis shuttling groups back and forth between the river and trail, resupplying groups with equipment, delivering water drops, and providing transportation in special situations. It gives you a chance to interact with the groups and meet some incoming students during the trip. You are "on call" each day will be linked in by cell phone to our Communications Center here on campus. Most Support Teams will be driving a 7-passenger mini-van. Food, comfortable lodging, and all expenses are covered by OA during the week. In order to drive a van you need to have a valid US or Canadian driver's license and complete the University Van Driver Training program. This is a 30-minute Web-based instructional course and a 15-minute road test. We will send you more details about van certification after you apply.
Command Center Managers - Command Center Managers are an essential resource for making the Frosh Trip run smoothly. Managers are a small group of students that stay on campus during the trip and help supervise daily activities from our Communications Center. Managers intercept incoming calls from groups and schedule the Support Teams in the field to respond as needed for special pickups, equipment resupply, and water drops. Before and after the trips Managers supervise frosh arrival and departure, equipment and food distribution and check in at the end of the trip. You will be staying in your room on campus and will be provided with a food allowance for meals during the week.
Recruit your Roommates & Friends to be Command Center Managers & Support TeamIf you know anyone who is not a leader, but would be interested in working either as a Command Center Manager or Support Team Staff, have them apply online at Frosh Trip Applications (https://oa.princeton.edu/applications). We need lots of Support Team Staff and Command Center Managers this year and it really helps if you recruit good people. Applications are due Friday, April 2 and interviews will be held after that. |
OA is offering a broad range of trips for this year's Frosh Trip. Please rank your trip interests on the application form.
Backpacking: Most OA trips involve backpacking. This year we will be using the same areas we have used in the past. Catskills, NY; Central Pennsylvania - Black Forest, Laurel Highlands, Chuck Keiper, Susquehannock; AT in Massachusetts, Maryland, Connecticutt, Vermont, and New Jersey.
Outdoor Adventure Trips: These trips have been extremely popular we anticipate even more frosh requesting them. Groups camp out in backwoods sites at the Princeton-Blairstown Center for the week and do a different activity each day including: the high ropes course & zipline, outdoor climbing wall, rappelling, an overnight on the Appalachian Trail, and a trail maintenance service project. Leaders selected to lead an Outdoor Adventure trip will need to return to campus on Tuesday, August 24 to participate in a training and orientation at Blairstown that begins at 9:00 AM on Wednesday, August 26. If you are interested in the Outdoor Adventure Trip it is recommended that you take the Advanced Facilitator's Course over Dead Week. Sign up for at the OA TripStore.
Canoeing or Backpacking/Canoeing Trips: There are several all canoeing trips both flatwater and whitewater. There are also some trips that involve both backpacking and canoeing. All of these are in the Delaware Water Gap. Leaders selected to lead a canoeing trip will need to return to campus on Sunday evening, August 22 in order to take a special 3-day Whitewater Canoeing by Zoar Outdoor that begins at 9:00 AM on Monday, August 23. The course is free. Sign for the Zoar Canoeing Course at the OA TripStore.
Backpacking/Rock Climbing Trips: There are several backpacking and rock climbing trips in the Delaware Water Gap. All leaders selected to lead a climbing trip will need to return to campus on Sunday evening, August 22 in order to take a special 3-day Rock Climbing Training that begins at 9:00 AM on Monday, August 23. The course is free. Sign up for the Earth Trek Top Rope Climbing Course at the OA TripStore.
A number of leaders have expressed interest in taking either Wilderness First Responder or the Wilderness Advanced First Aid Course. We are exploring the possibility of offering one of these courses BEFORE Frosh Trip. If you are interested in either course, check the box on your Frosh Trip Application. If we have enough people we will set up a course (cost to be determined). The tentative dates would be:
Enter my Frosh Trip Application
Students who are on foriegn study or taking time off.We have been told that people are unable to login from overseas. Since there is no way for us to test this from our end to fix the problem it is important to find out if you are getting some type of error message and if so what in order to diagnose the problem or if you simply can't get to the login page. Please email oa@princeton.edu with detailed information about the problem you are having and any error messages so we can fix it. It's best to use Internet Explorer and you must have Cookies enabled in the browser. If you are coming in from an Internet cafe cookies may be disabled. You may be better coming in from a connection at a University or library. Rick |