Ropes Course setsleadership training

The Challenge Sonoma Adventure Ropes Course is gearing up for its second annual spring Leader Training Program on May 13 - 15, at Sonoma Mountain above the Sonoma Developmental Center in Eldridge.

Potential Ropes Course leaders, ages 15 years and up, are invited to participate in this unusual training, which provides opportunities both to enhance outdoor leadership skills and to 'give back' through voluntary community service.

This year's Spring Ropes Course Leader Training Program will run from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday, May 13, through Sunday, May 15.

Trained leaders are required to volunteer a minimum of seven days during CSARC's season of operation from April through November each year.

Established in 1984, CSARC is a nonprofit group of dedicated community volunteers serving Sonoma Valley school children and at-risk youth. At the heart of this far-reaching organization are CSARC's leaders and skilled trainers, who engage over 1,500 participants annually in unequaled outdoor experiences that promote self-awareness, inspire learning and offer strategies to success.

This training is 'site specific' for the CSARC, Challenge Sonoma Adventure Ropes Course and is invaluable for anyone with a strong desire to give back to community youth in need or who might be considering a career in the field of experiential education. Trained leaders will have the opportunity to work with diverse groups including fifth-grade classes, sports teams and community organizations, as well as family groups and corporate bodies.

For high school students, the training creates immediate opportunities for young adults to give back to their own community and can be most notably valuable on applications to colleges and universities.

Local students, including at-risk and disadvantaged youth, from both public and private schools are the focus and most frequent participants in CSARC's adventures.

Since its beginning, CSARC has served a wide variety of youth and other client groups, including the Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance and groups such as the Creekside Senior Community, Girl Scouts of America, the California Academy of Sciences, School for the Deaf, the Arthritis Foundation, ROTC, UC Davis Veterinary Medical Students, Sonoma Developmental Center's Recreation Therapists, and San Mateo Pals (Police & Kids).

Tuition for the training is $125.

For more information and to enroll in CSARC's Spring Ropes Course Leader Training Program, contact Diana Rhoten at 484-7759 or email at info@challengesonoma.org.