As the leader in the field of facilities-based Adventure Learning, Project Adventure has accumulated a wealth of knowledge over its 32-year history. This knowledge is encapsulated in our many program designs, in the many program adoptions and adaptations of our models at local sites all over the world, in our publications and in our own staff's skills and competencies.

Several of our recent publications are the direct results of our innovative research. Exploring Islands of Healing serves as the text for our Behavior Management Through Adventure approach to work with youth at risk. The new three-volume Adventure Curriculum for Physical Education, K-12 presents complete and sequenced lesson plans that are aligned with national and state standards. A third text, first of a three-part series, the Middle School Health and Wellness Curriculum, is due to be published in the spring of 2004.

Our Rainbow Lake Campus in Covington, GA, is considered to be a research and development laboratory as well as a training center for teachers and youth workers. In Covington, PA's goal is to help the 125 youth enrolled in eight court-adjudicated programs, to become productive citizens through programs utilizing Behavior Management Through Adventure. While PA's recidivism rate is the best in this category of programming in the world, we continually strive to bring it lower.

A partnership with Prescott University in Arizona will enable graduate students to earn credit toward a Master's degree for internship in our direct service programs.

PA's Youth Leadership Institute is dedicated to the research and development of our models for empowering youth in schools, after school and in youth agencies. The youth empowerment model we have developed gives youth ownership for their behavior and culture.

We currently have a research partnership with the University of New Hampshire, the leading research university in outdoor education and experiential learning. Information, background, studies and articles about Project Adventure's work can be found on www.wilderdom.com. Through partnerships with schools and agencies, PA is researching and developing programs and materials that can be used anywhere.

PA's renewed emphasis on research, documentation and evaluation will enable a consistency of quality and integrity to infuse the work of Adventure. Only with solid data to support the claims of the efficacy of the Adventure-learning tool can we effectively present the potential of our approach and methodologies to transform teaching and learning. We at PA are committed — from the Board through all levels of staff — to continue to advance our tradition of innovation and service to the many schools, agencies, educators and counselors that look to us for leadership.