Specialties
Teambuilding/Outdoor Education
As an educational non-profit Challenge Course, Genesee Valley has been serving children and adults for over thirty years. Through an experiential approach to learning and an emphasis on cooperation versus competition, we encourage our participants in activities that help them to realize and build skills necessary for success in life. Some of these skills include: communication, teamwork, healthy risk-taking, confidence building, leadership, and creative problem solving. Though each of our programs is unique, common philosophies bind them together: learn and grow through experience, trust and self-discovery.
Summer Camp
Genesee Valley's Summer Day Camps offer children ages 4 to 17 the opportunity to play, explore, and challenge themselves in a beautiful outdoor setting. Campers experience our extensive ropes course, as well as participate in activities that utilize the natural aspects of our property, such as lakes, forests, trails, farmland, and fields.
History
Established in 1981.
It was Tom LaMonica's vision for a truly unique educational experience that inspired the incorporation of Genesee Valley Outdoor Learning Center in the spring of 1981. With the help of colleagues such as David Pines, Craig Dobkin, Rita Yerkes and Paul Stephenson, Tom created leadership programs that challenged traditional methods of education, and encouraged success through shared outdoor experiences. In his words, "Learning by doing instead of learning by reading or writing is an easy way to put it. Instead of reading the solution or writing it down and being graded on it, here you actually engage with your group members mentally and physically to solve the problem together. Gaining input from everyone and then executing the plan... it doesn't always happen the first time, but there is value in failure, as well as in success."
Meet the Manager: Scott G.
Scott Gray serves as Challenge Course Manager at GVOLC. He is proud to work for an education non-profit and really believes in creating an environment where people can grow.