Combining Aristotle's Peripatetic School with a gourmet picnic lunch, the OpenMindWalk is an ecotourism service of the Open Space Academy. The idea is that a client or class make three general selections (where: destination, what: food, how: topics of conversation), and members of the OSA guide a hike in a park or open space.
(In addition to the guided tour, OpenMindWalk is an interpretive program in which students learn about an area, a specific location, and create an informational "post" out in an open space. The "post" is actually a wooden post at a particular GPS coordinant, with text, online information and feedback, a sundial, and a geocache. If could be at a gate, in fence, or standing alone unobtrusively waiting to give and receive information from passersby. These posts and postings will be developed to enhance guided hikes or for independent hikers. They will be supported and promoted by a "post" website. Schematics will be forthcoming...)
Guided Hikes
First, a class of Open Space Academy students will need extensive training to be a docent. They will need to learn about the ecology of an area, know the history, the geology, the flora & fauna, and all the relevant facts. They will need to be in good physical shape, trained in various safety and emergency care skills, and learn the basics of good nutrition, the culinary arts, and fine dining. They will need to learn public speaking skills, the Socratic Method, and the research skills necessary to become versed on a topic of conversation in a short period of time.
Next, the OSA will create the OpenMindWalk booking site so that interested groups of adults or classes of students can sign up for an OpenMindWalk. When they do they will need to choose where to hike, what to eat, and how they will conversate. These are some tentative options...
Destinations:
(In addition to the guided tour, OpenMindWalk is an interpretive program in which students learn about an area, a specific location, and create an informational "post" out in an open space. The "post" is actually a wooden post at a particular GPS coordinant, with text, online information and feedback, a sundial, and a geocache. If could be at a gate, in fence, or standing alone unobtrusively waiting to give and receive information from passersby. These posts and postings will be developed to enhance guided hikes or for independent hikers. They will be supported and promoted by a "post" website. Schematics will be forthcoming...)
Guided Hikes
First, a class of Open Space Academy students will need extensive training to be a docent. They will need to learn about the ecology of an area, know the history, the geology, the flora & fauna, and all the relevant facts. They will need to be in good physical shape, trained in various safety and emergency care skills, and learn the basics of good nutrition, the culinary arts, and fine dining. They will need to learn public speaking skills, the Socratic Method, and the research skills necessary to become versed on a topic of conversation in a short period of time.
Next, the OSA will create the OpenMindWalk booking site so that interested groups of adults or classes of students can sign up for an OpenMindWalk. When they do they will need to choose where to hike, what to eat, and how they will conversate. These are some tentative options...
Destinations:
- To the top of Mindego Hill via Russian Ridge MROSD preserve
- Lookout point beyond the Hiker's Hut in Pescadero Creek County Park
- From San Gregorio State Beach to Pescadero State Beach (and back? Depending on low tide)
- Mt. Ellen loop at Memorial County Park
- Purisima Creek Redwoods MROSD preserve
- La Honda Creek MROSD preserve
- El Corte Madera (mountain bike hike) MROSD preserve
- Cloverdale Coastal Ranches (POST property)
- Pie Ranch to Big Basin
- Student-prepared in the district kitchen using locally grown organic produce
- Select from the menus of the Pescadero Country Store, Arcangeli Grocery, Duarte's Restaurant, Los Amigos Restaurant, Alice's Restaurant, Highway One Brewery, the Mountain House, or any number of Half Moon Bay restaurants
- Local Ecology
- Current Events
- The state of Education in California
- Global Climate Change
- Psychology and Human Development
- Lifestyles and Bucket Lists
- Various topics in Philosophy
- Specific Literature