{"id":15205,"date":"2024-08-07T08:10:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-07T12:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/?p=15205"},"modified":"2024-08-05T11:25:39","modified_gmt":"2024-08-05T15:25:39","slug":"inspiring-wonder-and-whoa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/2024\/08\/07\/inspiring-wonder-and-whoa\/","title":{"rendered":"Inspiring Wonder and Whoa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Molly Ames \u201991 Baker guides people in deeper connections with the world at their feet. <\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"Illustration

Illustration by John Dykes<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Coddiwomple: to move in a direction with a clear purpose but without a preset outcome or destination. Molly Ames \u201991 Baker uses this word to summarize the story of her nonprofit organization, TOPOnexus-Center for Learn Local. While \u201ccoddiwomple\u201d is a real word, TOPOnexus is a word Baker invented, combining \u201ctopo\u201d \u2014 Greek for \u201cplace\u201d \u2014 and \u201cnexus\u201d \u2014 \u201cconnection.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe connect people to place through real-world learning,\u201d she says of the Harbor Springs, Mich.-based organization she founded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCoddiwomple can be easily misinterpreted as wishy-washy, but in fact, it\u2019s the opposite,\u201d Baker adds. \u201cIt\u2019s having such a clear focus with your mission that you are able to consider possibilities and then be selective…. In terms of TOPOnexus, we can be responsive to community needs and take on projects in a timely, flexible manner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TOPOnexus is currently focusing on two types of offerings: a Beyond Hands-On Learning model that trains organizations on new ways of learning and TOPO Adventures, which guide people to experiencing places on a deeper level. \u201cThey\u2019re both this idea of becoming connected, building community \u2014 whether it\u2019s community in a classroom or in a training, or by being grounded in the place where you are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Describe the TOPOnexus training program.
<\/strong>We partner with clients to offer experiences, and then we organize the experiences into adventures, workshops, and trainings. Learn Local is universal \u2014 it applies to trainers in human resources, corporations, K\u201312 teachers, college professors. We\u2019re in a collaboration with the National Park Service, and we\u2019re training their historic tradespeople [masons, carpenters, woodworkers, etc.] how to train better. There are all these national parks structures that need historical restoration by tradespeople, and all these master tradespeople are aging out, [so they\u2019re training] the next generation. We developed, and then the park service field tested, this learning model called Beyond Hands-On Learning. The question is not about how to teach, it\u2019s about how the students are learning. It shifts everything from the teacher holding the knowledge and being the sage on the stage to becoming the guide on the side and creating community in the classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How long have you been doing TOPOnexus?
<\/strong>It\u2019s an ever-evolving journey. We\u2019re going into year three as a nonprofit, but what we\u2019re doing is based on 30 years of my field experience and background as an experiential educator. It\u2019s building off of a lot of the same tools I was using at Colgate to build community. [Baker and her husband, Josh, were the University\u2019s Outdoor Education co-directors for 12 years.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What skills do you use to develop these trainings?
<\/strong>I\u2019ve always been working on ways to make learning fun and bring the learners fully into the process. I think part of that is the high risks of adventure education. [For example, you need] your students [to be committed] if you\u2019re trying to cross a frozen lake together when it\u2019s -10 degrees. If they aren\u2019t engaged, it doesn\u2019t work in adventure education because there are high risks. It\u2019s the same thing if you\u2019re restoring a 200-year-old log cabin and you\u2019re trying to teach carpenters or woodworkers the skills they need. I\u2019ve been studying for 30 years how we learn best at any age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do we learn best?<\/strong>
At the core, it\u2019s about being engaged and excited by the learning because you find relevance to you and your life. A huge piece of that is feeling like there\u2019s a community in that classroom. Another big piece is building collective knowledge so it\u2019s not just me as the expert lecturing, but instead putting a concept out there, inviting students to think about it, talk about it, work through it together, share their insights. We call it \u201cwonders and whoas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is a TOPO Adventure?<\/strong>
It\u2019s a new way of connecting to place. You go out on foot and use a map that we design, a travel guide, field notes, and discovery tools \u2014 they\u2019re all in a string backpack \u2014 and explore. It could be a place you\u2019ve been coming to for 80 years … people will say, \u201cI had no idea.\u201d It helps people reconnect with the world at their feet. We get so busy in our hurry-scurry world that we don\u2019t take time to slow down. So how do we go deeper and become grounded?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does a TOPO Adventure work?<\/strong>
We\u2019re field testing something called \u201cTOPO Adventures at Your Public Library: Check It Out.\u201d We are in the process of getting a grant to take this model to libraries all over the nation. This one\u2019s called All Around Petoskey (the name of the town). People pull out their travel guide and go to spots on their map. It gives prompts, like \u201cfind the old train station clue … then find the magnifying glass and the old postcard in your adventure pack.\u201d It says, \u201cTake a look: what catches your attention in this photograph? Notice three things. Take a closer look using the magnifying glass. Walk around the station. Can you figure out where the photographer was standing when taking this photo? Pick a person in this photograph. Can you stand in the same place and strike the same pose?\u201d It\u2019s a powerful way to connect to history as opposed to just getting the facts and figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is your favorite activity outdoors?<\/strong>
At this time of year [spring], my absolute favorite thing is to go poke around in the woods and find the first things to bloom \u2014 I call it the first five. The trout lily is the first, but there are four more that come up early. That\u2019s really what TOPO Adventures are: a fun way to connect people to place, get them to slow down and take note of where they are, and [discover] why the place matters to them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Experiential educator Molly Ames \u201991 Baker is connecting people and places through her nonprofit training organization.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":15207,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2],"tags":[2317,354,992,1239,1441,117],"coauthors":[388],"class_list":["post-15205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-alumni-spotlights","category-alumni-updates","tag-adventure-learning","tag-alumni","tag-learning","tag-nonprofit","tag-outdoor-education","tag-travel"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/palXSH-3Xf","amp_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/07\/Resize-image-project-3.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15205"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15936,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15205\/revisions\/15936"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15205"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=15205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}