甜瓜视频app

 WCU Stories      June 12, 2019

The cargo-laden boats and the mules that pulled them are long gone from the historic C&O Canal 鈥� save for a few reenactments each year 鈥� but the canal鈥檚 towpath still hums with activity these days, primarily by two-wheel commuters looking for a scenic ride and a taste of history. Among them recently, a group of cyclists from Western Carolina University鈥檚 Project Discovery program.

Led by Todd Murdock, program director for 25 of his 33 years with Project Discovery, the group of seven middle school and high school students and three staff members rode the length of the 184.5-mile trail along the Potomac River from Cumberland, Maryland, to Washington, D.C., where they ended their seven-day journey touring the nation鈥檚 capital. The group left Cullowhee on June 7 and returned June 13.

鈥淭he towpath is all dirt, there are no cars, and there鈥檚 tons of history,鈥� Murdock said several days prior to the trip. He has taken numerous Project Discovery groups on the bike trail as part of the program鈥檚 experiential learning curriculum. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a difficult ride, so it鈥檚 doable for beginners. You finish in D.C., so you get to tour D.C., which is awesome. You roll off the towpath right in to Georgetown. 甜瓜视频app a mile from the towpath are all the memorials 鈥� the Lincoln, Jefferson, MLK, Vietnam War and WWII, which we鈥檒l see on our bicycles because it鈥檚 the easiest way to do it.鈥�

Project Discovery, also known as Talent Search, is a college access program funded by the U.S. Department of Education and hosted by WCU to help seventh- through 12th-grade students finish high school and graduate from college with as little debt as possible. The program serves the Western North Carolina region by providing a curriculum that includes career exploration, college visits, service learning, outdoor adventures and more. It costs about $480 for a student to be in the program for a year, which is paid by the grant, Murdock said. 鈥淚f they get a college degree, and 52 percent of them do, they鈥檒l pay that money back in taxes in three months. We鈥檙e a cheap date," he said.

Until six years ago, when the cost per participant went up, but the program鈥檚 budget did not, about 900 students a year participated in the program, Murdock said. 鈥淣ow, we鈥檙e at a little less than 800. 甜瓜视频app 80 percent of our students enroll in college. We graduate 98 percent from high school and 52 percent from college. They鈥檙e primarily low-income and first-generation college students,鈥� he said.

Students participating in the C&O trip were Dominique Hensley, rising 9th-grader, Clyde A. Erwin High School; Matthew Gray and Landon Matz, rising 9th-graders, Swain County High School; Phoenix Brooks and Sullivan Shanahan, rising 10th-graders, Robbinsville High School; Griffin Murdock, rising 11th-grader, Haywood Christian Academy; and Dhruti Senghani, rising 12th-grader, Swain County High School. Other Project Discovery staff on the trip were Jennie V. Sorrells and Jamy Beth Suminski.

Murdock, who earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at WCU, said he has used the extended bike trips 鈥� some have been as long as three weeks 鈥� to promote self-efficacy through a curriculum focused on situational leadership skills, conflict resolutions skills and group problem solving skills, among other things. 鈥淓ach participant gets to be the leader for a day. So, we teach them how to give and receive feedback to each other and about positive and negative group roles,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e teaching them about what鈥檚 a good communication climate and about situational leadership theory, so when they鈥檙e the leader they have to assess the readiness level of the group, and then they lead in the style that fits that.鈥�

On the C&O Canal trip, as with all of them, the group camped out nearly every night and cooked its own food. Supplies were carried in a van driven by one of the three adults, who rotated driving responsibilities with the other two, so there were always two adults on bicycles with the students. The van driver often drove ahead to the designated stop, then pedaled back to meet the group.

In the 25 years Murdock has served as the program鈥檚 director, he has brought in $9 million in grant money to the university. He has used nonfederal grants to purchase new bikes and rebuild old ones. Thanks to a grant from the Great Smokies Health Foundation Thrift Store in Sylva two years ago, he was able to purchase 10 new bikes for this most recent trip. He placed a donation box out at Motion Makers Bicycle Shop in Sylva to collect 鈥渦sed but not dead鈥� bicycle clothing for students to use.

鈥淪omebody asked me the other day, how long I had been rock climbing. I said, 鈥榦h, 35 years.鈥� They said, 鈥榙o you climb outdoors, too?鈥� I just laughed. There were no indoor climbing gyms 35 years ago,鈥� Murdock said. 鈥淭he idea of outdoor activity has changed, but I think we need it more than we did. The research backs up experiential education. John Dewey (American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer) was dead on the money. That鈥檚 how we learn best.鈥�

Research on Murdock鈥檚 experiential programming by Andrew Bobilya, professor and program director of WCU鈥檚 Parks and Recreation Management Program, and Phyllis Robertson, professor in WCU鈥檚 counseling program at Biltmore Park, while still under review, bares out Murdock鈥檚 theory. According to the study鈥檚 conclusion, 鈥淩esults of this study demonstrate the benefits of a short-term, adventure-based experience on youth鈥檚 perceptions of their skills and talents and provides direct application to the issues they will face when choosing to advance academically and face challenges that lie ahead in the college environment.鈥�

The C&O Canal trip was somewhat of a sentimental journey for Murdock. He鈥檚 retiring this month after 33 years in the saddle, during which time he has pedaled and paddled thousands of miles across the country, encouraging his young charges to rise to the challenge and believe in themselves. With all that travel, does he have a favorite memory? Several, he said, but there is one in particular.

In 2005, he was taking a group of students on the last segment of a three-leg bike trip in honor of the 200th anniversary of Lewis and Clark鈥檚 expedition, which included biking and paddling much of the way across the U.S. The first two legs were in 2003 and 2004. In 2005, the group ended the trip with a 750-mile bike ride from Missoula, Montana, to Astoria, Oregon.

鈥淥ne of the things all the kids will do when they get close to the end of the trip, close to the last mile, is take off 鈥� it鈥檚 horses to the barn,鈥� Murdock said. 鈥淲e had come down this road, and I鈥檓 looking at the map. I knew we were about to make the last turn. I stopped everybody and I said, 鈥榟ey, when we make this turn, you鈥檙e probably going to be able to see the ocean.鈥� Then I read a quote from Lewis when he said, 鈥榯he ocean in view, oh the joy.鈥� And then I told them I wanted them to enjoy this last mile, to savor it and to go slow. I didn鈥檛 want them crashing the last mile. Well, we turned that corner and they just took off 鈥� horses to the barn. I was yelling for them to slow down, and then I just let them go. Watching them hit the sand down there, that one stands out.鈥�

An epic ending to an epic adventure, much like Murdock鈥檚 tenure with Project Discovery.