Karl Rohnke (1937-2020) is a key figure in the development of

adventure education Adventure education is the promotion of learning through adventure centered experiences. Adventure centered experiences can include a wide variety of activities, due to the different ways people experience adventure. Outdoor sports, challenge c ...

, and was instrumental in the creation of

Project Adventure Project Adventure is an international nonprofit education organization based in Beverly, Massachusetts Beverly is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, and a suburb of Boston. The population was 42,670 at the time of the 2020 ...

in the early 1970s.

Biography

After graduating from

Washington & Lee University Washington and Lee University (Washington and Lee or W&L) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. Established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, it is among ...

in 1960, Rohnke was drafted into the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

. Afterwards he taught

outdoor education Outdoor education is organized learning that takes place in the outdoors, such as during school camping trips. Outdoor education programs sometimes involve residential or quest, journey wilderness-based experiences which engage participants in a v ...

programs in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. After working for

Outward Bound Outward Bound (OB) is an international network of outdoor education organisations that was founded in the United Kingdom by Lawrence Holt in 1941 based on the educational principles of Kurt Hahn. Today there are organisations, called schools, i ...

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

and

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, Rohnke became one of the founders of

Hamilton, Massachusetts Hamilton is a town in the eastern central portion of Essex County in eastern Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 7,561. Notably, the town has no industrially-zoned land. Though Hamilton is a landlocked tow ...

. He worked there until 1996, serving as director and president of the organization. Afterwards, Karl co-founded the High 5 Adventure Learning Center in

Brattleboro, Vermont Brattleboro (), originally Brattleborough, is a New England town, town in Windham County, Vermont, United States, located about north of the Massachusetts state line at the confluence of Vermont's West River (Vermont), West River and the Connec ...

. In 1990 Rohnke received the Association for Experiential Education's Stratton Practitioner's Award.KarlRohnke.com
Retrieved 8/18/07.

Bibliography

* ''Bag of Tricks'' newsletter, (1979–95) * ''Cranking Out Adventure'' (1976) * ''Cowstails and Cobras'' (1977) * ''High Profile'' (1981) * ''Silver Bullets'' (1984) ollection from ''Bag of Tricks''* ''The Bottomless Bag'' (1988) ollection from ''Bag of Tricks''* ''The Bottomless Baggie'' (1991) ollection from ''Bag of Tricks''* ''Cowstails and Cobras II'' (1991) (Winner of 1999

National Outdoor Book Award The National Outdoor Book Award (NOBA) was formed in 1997 as an American-based non-profit program which each year presents awards honoring the best in outdoor writing and publishing. It is housed at Idaho State University and chaired by Ron Watte ...

(Works of Significance)) * ''Slightly Skewed Vignettes'' (1992) * ''Forget Me Knots'' (1993) * ''The Bottomless Bag Again?!'' (1994) nd edition of "Bottomless Bag", collection from ''Bag of Tricks''* ''Quicksilver'' (1995) * ''Funn Stuff'' v1-4 (1995-2000) * ''Top Tricks'' (1997) * ''On the Edge Games for Youth Ministry'' (1998) * ''Back Pocket Adventure'' (1998) * ''101 of the Best Corporate Team-Building Activities'' (2000) * ''A Small Book About Large Group Games'' (2002) * ''The Complete Ropes Course Manual'' 3rd ed (2003) * ''Funn 'n Games'' (2004) ompilation of ''Funn Stuff'' 1-4* ''The Bottomless Bag Revival'' (2004) evamp of ''Bottomless Bag Again''* ''Silver Bullets - The 25th Anniversary Edition'' (2009) (2nd Edition)

References

External links

Karl's site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rohnke, Karl American educators American nonprofit executives Youth empowerment people Founders of educational institutions 1937 births Living people People from Brattleboro, Vermont