History of Project Adventure

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1970s

  • 1971 Project Adventure is founded at Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School in Hamilton, MA.

  • 1972 First PA-style Challenge Course is built behind Hamilton-Wenham High School. More than 25 challenge courses will be built by 1976. Jerry Pieh performs hand-over-hand first rescue of stranded high school student on the Zip Line.

  • 1973 PA receives Educational Pacesetter’s Award from the President’s National Advisory Council.

  • 1974 US Department of Education evaluates PA and finds it “exemplary.” adding PA to the National Diffusion Network.

  • 1975 First Train-the-Trainer workshops are held in Hamilton.

  • 1977 PA moves from trailer at Hamilton-Wenham High School to Iron Rail building in Wenham. The first Project Adventure curriculum, Cowstails and Cobras, by Karl Rohnke, is published. The first Adventure-Based Counseling (ABC) workshop is held with Paul Radcliffe facilitating.

1980s

  • 1980 Dick Prouty joins PA as an intern. Bob Lentz departs. Dick Prouty and Karl Rohnke assume leadership of PA.

  • 1981 Project Adventure is incorporated as a 501 (c)(3) organization. Alan Sentkowski opens the first PA Georgia office.

  • 1982 PA gets its first fax machine at Iron Rail office and staff are in awe.

  • 1983 Staples are used in challenge course building for the first time.

  • 1984 Silver Bullets - A Guide to Games and Initiative Problems by Karl Rohnke is published and becomes the best seller in PA history over the years, with more than one million copies sold.

  • 1985 PA receives an Exemplary Project Award from the Georgia Advisory Governor’s Council on Juvenile Justice and Deliquency Prevention.

  • 1986 Zip Lines begins as a PA internal newsletter. It later grows to a magazine for the broader field.

  • 1987 The Leadership Project, Inc. under the direction of Jim Grout, receives a grant for an alcohol and drug abuse prevention program in Vermont. PA and TLP merge at the end of 1987.

  • 1988 Project Adventure Asia Pacific is formed

  • 1989 The Camping Association of Victoria launches PA Australia. PA grows to 37 full time staff and 50 National Certified Trainers.

1990s

  • 1990 Project Adventure New Zealand (PANZ) is registered and incorporated.

  • 1991 PA opens Brattleboro office with Jim Grout serving as Office Director. Ann Smolowe opens PA’s Portland office. PA builds the first challenge courses in Singapore.

  • 1993 The Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT) is officially formed as a non-profit trade association.

  • 1995 Opening of Project Adventure Japan. PA becomes one of the first 2 organizations nationally to receive accredited status from the Association for Experiential Education (AEE).

  • 1996 Corporate consulting soars with a $2 million contract with BMW. Adventure in the Classroom, by Mary Henton, is published.

  • 1997 Karl Rohnke joins the Vermont office. Jane Panicucci and Bob Ryan travel to Australia and New Zealand for Program Reviews with Mark Collard and Ross Merritt.

  • 1999 PA purchases Moraine Farm with the generous support of the Batchelder family.

2000s

  • 2000 Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for Moraine Farm Office on June 30, 2000.

    2002-2004 Adventure Curriculum for Physical Education is published for Elementary, Middle, and High School, written by Jane Panicucci with Amy Kohut, Alixon Rheingold, Lisa Faulkingham Hunt, and Nancy Constable.

  • 2005 Bob Ryan is awarded ACCT Critical Link Award, and published The Guide for Challenge Course Operations

  • 2008-2010 PA faces financial crisis. Offices and programs in Georgia close, and PA sells part of Moraine Farm property.

2010s

  • 2013 PA Connect, an online learning platform, is launched.

  • 2014-2015 Dick Prouty retires after 34 years of service. Richard Ross is hired as the Executive Director of PA.

2020s

  • 2020 The Covid-19 pandemic forces the closure of all in-person programs. Richard Ross steps down. The Board appoints Caitlin McCormick Small as the Executive Director of PA. PA must lay off 75% of staff.

  • 2021 PA hires back 98% of staff and grows in size compared to pre-Covid operations. Moraine Farm property is sold to The Trustees of Reservations, allowing PA to restore financial stability.

  • 2022 Project Adventure celebrates its 50th Anniversary.