Most people visit park district grounds to relish a respite from the hustle and bustle of the job, the carpool and the dirty dishes piled in the sink. Not so employees of MTI Vacations, headquartered in Oak Brook.
They gathered at 7:30 a.m. one day a few months ago at the Irons Oaks Environmental Learning Center in Olympia Fields to maneuver across a 50-foot-wide “toxic river,” scale a 60-foot vertical structure and traverse 2-inch ropes some 35 feet above the ground amid the russet and gold of the autumn trees.
Is this any way to savor one of the most idyllic spots in the southern Chicago metropolitan area? And why were those employees not at their posts helping people book their own getaways to such spots as Hawaii and Las Vegas? And what is being done about that toxic river on park district land, of all places?
The answers lie with Tim Rhodes, program coordinator for the Adventure Center at Irons Oaks, which is jointly operated by the Homewood-Flossmoor and Olympia Fields Park Districts.
“These employees are engaging in team-building skills and are learning the fine art of risk-taking,” said Rhodes.
Originally designed as a traditional, nature-walk type of facility, Irons Oaks now offers challenges galore for adventure-minded individuals and mold-breaking corporations.
And despite the physical nature of tower scaling and rope-walking, most of the activities offered tap into the emotional and intellectual qualities of participants as well.
That was certainly the experience for the 35 MTI employees. Attired in athletic shoes and hiking boots, fatigue wear and spiffy jogging suits, the employees assembled in the spartan log cabin meeting lodge at Irons Oaks, where hot beverages, sweet rolls, fresh fruit and health bars awaited them. Gradually, the participants found places on the three benches near a blazing fire in the fireplace.
Rhodes outlined the day-long program, stressing the importance of adhering to safety guidelines and properly using the safety equipment provided for some activities. He also emphasized that the participants were to set their own goals, assuming each “challenge by choice” individually rather than succumbing to peer pressure. Most important, he said, the Irons Oaks activities were created for people to have fun.
With that short introduction, Camp MTI began. The participants broke into three groups, each with a park district facilitator to monitor the activities.
With his sturdy body, ruddy beard and watchful eye, Al Tucker of Matteson exuded the reserved self-confidence of a man who served 13 years in the U.S. Army’s Special Forces during the Vietnam and post-Vietnam era before joining the Irons Oaks staff a decade ago. Tucker believes the lessons of his military service can prove helpful to the civilian MTI workers.
“Meeting challenges has less to do with physical strength and courage than most people think,” he said. “It involves working as a team and learning to take appropriate rather than rash risks.”
That attitude is shared by the other facilitators, including six-year park district staffer Andy McSheffery of Darien, who previously worked at Rock Creek Center, a Lemont psychiatric hospital, and at the Southwest YMCA in Alsip; Ryan Furer of Homewood, who studied recreation and parks administration at Western Illinois University; and Nancy Beckman of Park Forest, a University of Illinois graduate.
Throughout the day, the MTI employees would ask the advice of, become frustrated with and seek approval from these facilitators. The changing relationship between these staffers and the three groups was intentional as the participants learned to rely less on the facilitators and more and more upon all the group members to solve the problems.
The team-building activities for corporate groups such as MTI begin with the least physically challenging activities offered. Tucker’s group of 13 first was presented with figuring a way to cross the imaginary toxic river with 12 tree stumps about 1 1/2 feet around and 2 inches thick. Tucker explained that each tree stump must be continually held or occupied by a team member until every member crossed the river. Touching the ground or leaving a stump untouched required the group to restart the exercise and relinquish one stump. Each failure made the task more time-consuming and difficult.
The group consulted and determined an initial strategy for the river crossing. Two people were chosen by the team members to act as front and back anchors. The front anchor-person began by placing one stump in front of the other and then stood on the stumps. Stumps were then passed forward and one more person assumed occupancy of a stump. Once all the stumps were in place and every team member had at least one foot on a stump, the back-anchor person would pass the last stump forward, the front-anchor would place it in a forward position and everyone would move ahead one stump.
The first two attempts were marked by nervous laughter from some and enthusiastic cheerleading from others, but solid problem-solving communication was in short supply. With only 10 stumps remaining, the members consulted a third time, asking themselves what mistakes they made and how to overcome them. Again, they tackled the task. Everyone crossed the river, including the soft-spoken, six-months-pregnant Ricaphel Tumang of Bolingbrook, who was one of the few to exhibit calm throughout the endeavor.
The members, rapidly becoming a team rather than just a group, seemed to take great pride in their accomplishment, particularly in their ability to literally change course in imaginary mid-stream when Tucker told them three-quarters of the way through the task that they must disembark at a specific spot some 10 feet upriver from where they were headed.
“But you didn’t tell us that at the beginning,” said one participant, precariously perched upon a stump.
“I’m telling you now, and anyway, you never asked,” Tucker replied very casually.
After taking five minutes to congratulate each other on a job well done, the team gathered around Tucker. When asked to evaluate the experience, most people spoke of the importance of listening to the instructions, planning and working together.
“Yes, and sometimes things change,” said a bemused Tucker, referring to his mid-river rule switch.
Other problem-solving activities followed. Members of McSheffery’s group were asked to stand on a 15-foot log and then rearrange themselves according to their birthdays without touching the ground. His group members also had to figure a way to balance everyone on a one-yard-square short platform and sing “Row-row-row your boat.”
By late morning and early afternoon the groups were ready to tackle the two most imposing obstacles: the series of ropes strung high above the ground, and the tower. Markham resident Charles Harris, with MTI’s data processing operations, remarked, “The ropes are the most difficult thing I’ve done since I was in the military 25 years ago.”
But for many, the tower was the most daunting. Its gray structure sports two facades, with protruding rocks on one side and wood on the other. Participants who wanted this “challenge by choice” were placed in harnesses attached to safety lines and encouraged to set a goal-not necessarily the top-to reach for themselves.
Though half the members of McSheffery’s group opted to forgo the climb, they scurried from one face of the tower to the next, not only shouting encouragement but tips for the most adventuresome on where to put hands and feet to ascend inch by inch.
Some people closely examined the wall to determine which side might be easier. The women favored the wood-studded facade and the men the rock-studded one, although McSheffery noted, “There’s not much difference. Each has its own difficulties.”
Vicki Kinney of Brookfield, who works in the casino boat operations at MTI, chose the rock facade and made it to the top.
“I was exhausted but it felt great,” said the 28-year-old Kinney. “When I was halfway to the top, I really doubted I would make it all the way. But with everyone cheering for me, I gained the confidence to get to my goal.”
Others tried both tower sides, and some even accepted the challenge of scaling to the top blindfolded, guided only by the verbal cues from a partner at the bottom. Instructions that started as “move your foot” progressed to “lift your left foot about 18 inches higher and 6 inches to the right and you’ll find a place to put your foot.”
By the end of the day, many had learned the value of listening carefully to instructions and giving very clear and precise directions. The participants agreed that this learning-by-doing left much deeper impressions upon them than merely “listening to a seminar or attending a conference in a classroom atmosphere,” said Debra McNichols, a marketing manager for MTI.
McNichols was part of another MTI group that had enjoyed the Irons Oaks experience earlier in the fall. “Actions speak and teach louder than words,” said McNichols.
“A month after the earlier sessions, people were still talking about and discussing what they learned at Iron Oaks,” said Madeline Spakausky of Willow Springs, who is a secretary to MTI president James Noyes of Glen Ellyn.
Noyes was the propelling force behind bringing the MTI staffers to Irons Oaks. In years past, senior level employees had journeyed to southern Wisconsin for a similar, two-day adventure. “I checked out Irons Oaks and realized this was a facility that was nearer and it offered everything Wisconsin did,” said Noyes. He blocked out time for his employees and then offered them the opportunity for a day outside the office.
One MTI staffer noted that while the offer was termed voluntary and he did not wish to attend, “I felt it would be a dumb career move not to attend.” By the end of the day, this once-reluctant employee said, “I have really enjoyed this entire experience and am so glad I forced myself to come.”
