The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically impacted opportunities for internships in parks, recreation, tourism, and sports. The government mandated numerous agencies to close. Many agencies that remained open reduced staff, froze budgets, shifted programs online, and discontinued internships. The senior internship for Parks, Recreation, and Tourism…

This paper explores opportunities for outdoor recreation and education programs to support communities working to sustain or increase community vibrancy. Vibrancy is necessarily linked to our natural environment and the quality of and access to natural environments can impact community vibrancy outcomes. Outdoor recreation access and experiences…

This learning activity describes changes made to teach Recreation Programming in an online format, specifically the use of weekly student-led discussions on readings and films related to programming. The three components of weekly discussions (weekly summaries, weekly participation, and one-time discussion leader) are explained.

Steeped in a rich history of formal connections between institutions of higher education and the citizens and communities in which they are embedded, the importance of engaging education in the community has long been recognized for its myriad of benefits to all involved including increased funding for university research, more informed practice…

Adapting an assignment for a hybrid class, students learned to consider business feasibility elements through blogging about an industry of their choice and then presenting a recorded "Ted Talk." Lessons learned include that students are lacking in digital design skills and the ability to present in a story-telling format. Adding…

I have been teaching an information technology course in recreation, parks & tourism partially online (hybrid format) for nearly a decade; however, I never taught it fully online until the shift to emergency remote instruction during the pandemic. What I found was that some of my previous reasons for not wanting to teach fully online were…

This article discusses current literature and recommendations for future recreation-based camps for military children aged 7 to 17. Since the beginning of the Global War on Terrorism, the amount of government and community-based programs offered for military families over the past 15 years has significantly increased. This article gives a brief…

The history of parks and recreation is deeply rooted in child's play. From Joseph Lee's writings about the developmental benefits of child's play at the beginning of the 20th century to the establishment of the University of Illinois's Motor Performance and Play Research Laboratory in the 1960s and 1970s, child's play has been a central focus of…

This article describes a modified importance-performance framework for use in evaluation of recreation-based experiential learning programs. Importance-performance analysis (IPA) provides an effective and readily applicable means of evaluating many programs, but the near universal satisfaction associated with recreation inhibits the use of IPA in…

The second edition of "Supporting Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Recreation" is expanded to provide the most up-to-date, practical approaches for professionals, as well as families, to support the increasing number of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) of all ages and levels who will be participating in every…

This four-day learning activity on the controversy of exclusion of gays and subsequently atheists in Boy Scouting is particularly relevant because it highlights the complexities that surround issues of equality, equity, the provision of leisure services, First Amendment rights, and the implications of court decisions on social justice. This lesson…

Senior internships in parks and recreation are an opportunity to put classroom knowledge to practice. However, this is likely the first time students are in a learning environment without the immediate support of faculty and peers. To alleviate this issue, online discussion boards were used to connect interns who were located across the country.…

Rural community colleges have an often understated impact on the communities they serve, especially in regard to their role in developing the identity of individuals. The ability of the rural community college to influence individual identity development is often exasperated due to the challenges associated with rural American life. The role of…

At the beginning of the 20th Century, collegiate campus recreation programs were moved from student controlled entities and placed under the supervision of academic or athletic departments (Milton, 2008a). As such programs grew and became more popular among the general student populations on America's college campuses, administrative oversight was…

Jewel's Learning Center won the honor of being the first center to win an Extreme Makeover, courtesy of "Exchange" magazine and its partners! The author was over the top! Not only were they getting a new playground, but all new furnishings and toys for the entire center! Wow! It really happened! Changes just keep coming and coming. They have made…