Pali Institute Blog

As we finish up our Fall 2009 season this week, here are some statistics regarding the number of students and schools that attended our program from September through November.

Total Number of Students = 2248
Total Number of Schools = 37
Number of Programming Weeks = 11

Average Number of Students per Week = 204
Average Number of Schools per Week = 3.36

Largest Month (Students Attending) = October - 1142 students
Largest Month (Schools Attending) = October - 20 schools

With this season coming to a close, we look forward to a wonderful Thanksgiving break with our friends and families along with a relaxing Winter Break. On January 5, 2010 Pali Institute will start its Winter/Spring 2010 season staff training with our first groups attending the week of January 11, 2010. As we reflect on the great adventure that was the Fall 2009 season, we look forward with excitement to new adventures and new friends in 2010.

The Pali Institute Fall 2009 Open House recently happened this past weekend. It was a great fun-filled event that adults and children participated in. Teachers, administrators, and their families came from the Southern California area, Las Vegas area, and Phoenix area to participate in this three day event that featured a Campfire with S’Mores, Aerodynamics, Balloon Rescue, and Forest Ecology class demonstrations, and a wonderful High Ropes experience for all. But the highlight of this weekend had to be the first ever Pali Institute Haunted House and Pumpkin Painting Patch. Kids of all ages enjoyed the Haunted House complete with Trick or Treating. And the Pumpkin Painting was phenomenal.

We would like to thank everyone who attended, and we hope to see you back at Pali in the future with your school children. If you were not able to attend this open house, please give us a call and we can arrange a visit for you.

On October 15, 2009 at 10:15 A.M., Pali Institute participated in The Great California Shakeout. This massively coordinated earthquake drill throughout the state of California had just shy of 7 million participants. This was the largest earthquake drill in U.S. history. For many of the Pali instructors, this earthquake drill was a first. With many of our instructors coming from the Midwest and East Coast, earthquakes and earthquake drills are out of the ordinary.

We had our students participate in indoor and outdoor earthquake drills based on where their class location was at 10:15 A.M. By practicing the “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” technique, we hope that everyone is prepared for the next earthquake.

This first full week of October has been busy at Pali. We have had a total of 5 schools visit us for some great OE programs. We would like to welcome back Pacific Hills School, the Center for Early Education, and The Laurence School. We also had two schools visit Pali for the first time. Welcome the San Fernando Valley Academy and Mountain Ave. Elementary School. We cannot tell you how excited we are to work with you this year and in future years.

With the changing of months from September to October, we have seen a change in the weather as well. While September had sunny days with highs in the 70s, thus far October has seen sunny days with highs in the 50s. Now that Fall is upon us, we welcome it with open arms. As a reminder, if you are visiting Pali in the near future, please look at the weather forecasts so you can be fully prepared for your trip.

The Pali Institute Fall 2009 Educator Open House will soon be happening. Our Open House weekend is scheduled to start Friday, October 23 and end Sunday, October 25. This fun-filled, family themed event will give all interested teachers and administrators the opportunity to see the Pali Institute program first hand. We will be having many class demonstrations, ranging from our High Ropes Course, to Zero Gravity, to Aerodynamics, to Forest Ecology hikes. Please bring your families as all of our class demonstrations are open to kids as well. And since this event is happening the weekend before Halloween, we are inviting everyone who attends to bring their Halloween costumes. Halloween themed events such as Trick or Treating, pumpkin carving, and apple bobbing will take place. For more information and reservations, please call Tammy or Taryn at 909-867-5743 or Raena at 818-718-9907.

Happy Fall!!! We hope to see you soon at Pali Institute.

The second week of the 2009-2010 school year is almost over. Thus far, these weeks have been flying by. It has been great to start off the year with some amazing visits from The Bishop’s School, Marlborough School, Warren-Walker School, Laguna Blanca School, Rancho Pico JHS, Hillcrest Academy, and Brentwood Middle School. The beginning of each school year is wonderful because we get the opportunity to help schools start off their school year on a positive note. The teambuilding and leadership experiences that we provide offer a great jumping off point for these schools. Being able to help set the tone for the school year is indescribable. We hope that the lessons learned at Pali Institute are carried over throughout the school year.

Hello All,

It seems as if we have officially entered fire season in Southern California. Currently, there are two major fires affecting the Southern California area. The first one ranges from Glendale to Pasadena in the Angeles National Forest and the second is centered in Yucaipa/Oak Glen. Neither of these fires pose any threat to the Running Springs area and Pali Institute. Fire crews are making great progress in containing these fires, with the Yucaipa/Oak Glen fires being 75 percent contained. We wish everyone who is affected by the fires all the best. We definitely know what you are going through, as Pali was evacuated for 2 weeks during the October 2007 Slide Fire.

Wow, what a quick summer it has been. As we start our staff training today, we would like to welcome all of our new friends who will be OE Instructors for the 2009-2010 school year. We are excited to have you on board and eager to learn from you. We are also very excited to welcome back all of our returning instructors from the 2008-2009 school year. We look forward to hearing all about your summer adventures and learning any new tricks of the trade that you might have picked up. We look forward to making the 2009-2010 school year the best Pali Institute has ever seen. To all the schools that will be attending Pali Institute this school year, we cannot wait to see your smiling faces here. To all the schools that are considering attending Pali, please act quickly as our calendar is nearly filled up.

With the end of the Pali Institute 2008-2009 school year last week, here are some fun statistics regarding the number of schools and students that attended Pali.

Total Number of School Groups Attended - 107
Number of Fall School Groups Attended - 33
Number of Winter/Spring School Groups Attended - 74

Total Number of Students Attended - 7,950
Number of Fall Students Attended - 2,400
Number of Winter/Spring Students Attended - 5,550

Total Number of Programming Weeks - 33
Number of Fall Programming Weeks - 13
Number of Winter/Spring Programming Weeks - 20

Average Number of Schools per Week - 3.25
Average Number of Students per Week - 240

Largest Month (Number of Students) - March 2009 (1845 students)
Largest Month (Number of School Groups - May 2009 (26 school groups)

As this 2008-2009 school year is now closed, we focus our attentions to the 2009-2010 school year and strive to make this upcoming year better than the last.

Happy Summer!!!

It sure has been a whirlwind 9 months starting in September 2008. As we brought our 2008-2009 school year to a close today, we must thank everyone involved who made this year one of the best that Pali has ever had.

First, we would like to thank all the schools that attended Pali Institute. To all the students that participated in our program, we hope that you will forever look back at your Outdoor Education/Science Camp trip with fond memories. To the teachers, thank you for all that you do throughout the school year and for your willingness to bring your students to Pali. And to the parents, thank you for your continued support and letting us watch your children for a few days. We hope that your children brought back fun stories, games, and songs to share with you.

Next, we would like to thank everyone who works at Pali for their support of our Outdoor Education program. Thank you to our kitchen staff for constantly ensuring that our students and staff are well fed on a daily basis. Thank you to our maintenance and housekeeping staff for ensuring that all of our site needs were met, from fixing a broken toilet to making sure we all had clean beds to sleep in. Thank you to our off season summer camp staff and weekend conference center staff for helping us answer all the phone calls that come in. Thank you to our accounting department for always ensuring we received a paycheck twice a month. Thank you to our Outdoor Education Sales staff who work tirelessly to convince schools the joys of not only Pali Institute, but also of Outdoor Education.

And finally, thank you to the Pali Institute instructors. Without you this year, thousands of children would not have the memories of Outdoor Education that they have. Without you, hundreds of schools would not look forward to their Pali Institute trip as eagerly as they do. Without you, all of our lives would not be the same.

As the 2008-2009 school year officially comes to a close, THANK YOU!!!