In the world we live in today, the presence of technology is increasing rapidly. This is causing students to use technology as a form of learning, which results in kids being disconnected from the world around them, creates access issues for low income students, and can lead to disinformation problems. Moreover, recent surveys show that the majority of parents would rather their kids learn by being outside in nature than in front of a screen. In addition, in order to create students who will grow up to be adults that want to have an impact on the Upper Valley area of Vermont and New Hampshire, they must develop a relationship and connection to the land from a young age. The Valley Quest program that operates within the Vital Communities Organization is a place based education program that utilizes treasure hunts, known as “quests,” to engage and educate students about the place they live in. Valley Quest is requesting a one-time $5,000 grant to be spent over the next calendar year from the Cogswell Benevolent Trust. This grant will allow us to reinvigorate our program by producing treasure maps and booklets for the top ten quests we offer. These treasure maps and booklets can be put in places such as public libraries, museums, and hotels throughout the Upper Valley, and will provide affordable and unplugged family fun.
II. INTRODCUTION
Founded in the late 1990s, Vital Communities acts as a convener of people and organizations for the 69 towns in Upper Connecticut River Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire. Vital Communities aims to bring people together to take on issues where a regional approach may be beneficial in order to make this area a better place to live and work. The annual budget for Vital Communities is $1.3 million. In 2017, Lauren Griswold became the coordinator of the Valley Quest program within the Vital Communities organization. As someone who is passionate about the communities and natural beauty of the Upper Valley, Lauren hopes to expand the influence of the program as much as possible.
Valley Quest is a place-based education program that is a manifestation of trying to bring people together in unique ways. As a multi-faceted place-based education program, Valley Quest uses both treasure hunts and historical tours to educate and excite people in the Upper Valley about the land around them. For the past 20 years, these programs have been especially popular among families with young children and seniors. Children are able to engage in any of the 170 quests either in their school curriculum or on their own time with their family. Going on a quest evokes a similar thought process as completing a puzzle, as it consists of a number of clues that lead up to an important outdoor destination—like a stream, forest, or wetland—in the Upper Valley. The annual income of the Valley Quest program is $17,500 (from grants), and annual expenses are $36,600. This program is right in the wheelhouse of the Cogswell Benevolent Trust as it addresses areas such as community recreation, education, family life, and natural resources.
III. PROBLEM STATEMENT
In a world where the presence of technology is increasing rapidly, children are spending more and more time in front of screens rather than in the outdoors. Technology is now being used as a form of learning both inside and outside of the classroom. Not only can technology be a distraction, but according to recent studies it also disconnects students from social interactions, excludes those without access, and increases the chance of disinformation. A National Trust survey found that nine out of ten parents would prefer that their children spend their time connecting with nature—especially since kids under nine spend over two hours a day on screens. Improved memory, stress relief, concentration, and creativity are all associated with spending more time outside. By sacrificing time outdoors for screen time, kids are affecting their cognitive development and also becoming less familiar with the area in which they live.
The Upper Valley region of New Hampshire and Vermont is full of rich resources and history. In order to raise students who will grow up to have an impact on this area, it is important that they develop a relationship with the land around them from a young age. Place-based education is an approach to learning that uses geography to create meaningful and engaging personalized learning for students. Through place-based education, kids are able to develop a personal relationship with the area around them and, therefore, communities are able to ensure their own sustainability. Learning is also more engaging when an education is place-based, as students are given a choice about when and where they want to learn. Place-based education, unlike technology, can be easily tailored to each students’ strengths and promotes student agency. While some place-based education programs have been implemented in schools, Valley Quest brings this form of learning to the communities and families of the Upper Valley as well. Approximately 15 percent of the children in the Upper Valley live in poverty, and thus are unable to access technology if it as used as a form of learning. Unlike technology, quests are affordable family fun and bring together communities regardless of socioeconomic status.
Today’s families are busier than they have been before, and programs like Valley Quest aim to bring them together. Place-based education promotes an understanding of the world around us, and overcoming the environmental and social challenges present in society today will require a deep relationship with the broader region of where people live. The towns within the Upper Valley are much more closely connected to one another than to the rest of their own states. For example, Hanover and Lebanon (in New Hampshire) are much more closely connected to Norwich and White River Junction (in Vermont), than to southern New Hampshire. Quests allow students to focus on this important place and truly develop connections with the unique area that is the Upper Valley.
From an organizational perspective, Valley Quest has identified opportunities to improve by focusing attention on fewer quests. Having 170 different options may not be effective, as it is a large number of quests for the program to manage. Moreover, Valley Quest is not as well known among Upper Valley families as it was many years ago, and would like to expand its outreach.
IV. PROJECT OBJECTIVES
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Valley Quest sold quests in the form of 25-dollar hardcover books. While many enjoyed having a physical copy of their quests, those who did not want to spend $25 on a book could not access them. In order to make quests more accessible, Valley Quest then switched to posting the quests online. The quests were then accessible to a greater amount of people, but they lost their unplugged feel. Moreover, both of these methods made it quite hard for those who were unfamiliar with quests to find out about them. For this project, our goal is to reenergize the program and maximize its outreach by developing a middle-ground between the hard cover books and the online presence.
Short term objectives:
The final goal is to have an unplugged, family-friendly activity that people of all levels of income can participate in. During the late 1990s and early 2000s Valley Quest was a vibrant and heavily utilized program in the Upper Valley. Through this project, we are reinvigorating the quests and returning to the disconnected feel that made Valley Quest so special. As Vital Communities celebrates its 25th anniversary, we are rethinking our priorities and bringing Valley Quest to the forefront of the programs that we run. In the long-term, the money raised by selling the booklets and maps (for $2.50 a piece) will be sufficient to fund the supply of more materials in order to make this program increasingly self-sufficient and less reliant on outside foundations.
V. METHODOLOGY
Vital Communities will implement this project through a series of phases aimed at making quest treasure maps and booklets readily available to the majority of people in the Upper Valley. The first phase in doing this will be to identify the ten quests that will be utilized and augmented through this project. In order to do this, Vital Communities will review the log books at the end of each of the 170 quests and choose the ones that have the most signatures (most people completed them) as well as ones that are spread out geographically throughout the Upper Valley. Any improvements to these 10 quests in terms of clues and content will be made before proceeding to the next phase.
During the second phase of this project, we will determine the locations in which the booklets and maps will be placed (initial outline of this below). These locations will include both libraries and museums or grocery stores. Moreover, these locations will be distributed according to population, and the quests in each location will be to places within a 10-mile radius.
Phase three of this project will involve hiring a graphic designer and working with him or her to design both treasure maps and booklets for each quest. After this, during phase four, booklets and treasure maps will be printed and distributed in the following quantities in the given locations