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Current Events Who We Serve Application & Forms Employment @ TONEC TONEC Overview Staff Directory Map & Directions Freeberg Scholarship Touch of Nature Environmental Center Mail Code 6888 Southern Illinois University 1206 Touch of Nature Road Makanda, Illinois 62958 Phone: 618 | 453-1121 Fax: 618 | 453-1188 Email: tonec@siu.edu |
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Overview
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale is home to a unique center for outdoor, environmental, and experiential learning. Known as Touch of Nature Environmental Center, it has become well respected in North America for programs that emphasize both natural and human resources. As early as 1949, visionaries like SIUC President Delyte Morris and recreation specialist William Freeberg were working to develop what was then known as Little Grassy Campus. Unfettered by traditional academic structures and strictures, the founders developed programs that cut across accepted boundaries and laid the foundation for fresh interdisciplinary approaches to education and service. SIUC is one of the first universities in the United States to use nature and the out-of-doors as extensions of the classroom. Touch of Nature offers a wide variety of educational and service programs. We provide education and recreation for individuals with disabilities, and for people of public service, institutional support, and service to students, instruction, and research. Few other environmental centers offer an equivalent range of services and programs. The Touch of Nature staff believes that individuals and groups, agencies and institutions, must shape themselves and their environment in ways that will increase their well-being and, thereby, their productivity. In that spirit, the Center's programs and services are designed to enrich the lives of participants. Touch of Nature is located eight miles southeast of Carbondale in the rolling hills of southern Illinois. A 900-acre lake, Giant City State Park, and Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge, as well as the Shawnee National Forest border its 3,100 acres. It is a beautiful, peaceful setting ideally suited for nature study or recreation, for study and reflection, or for just relaxing. Touch of Nature has gained national recognition for pioneering experiential learning programs--camping, recreation for all populations, ecological/environmental education, and retreats--in which learning takes place through experiences in the outdoors. Support for these programs has come from such groups as United Cerebral Palsy, The Lions of Illinois Foundation, the American Camping Association (camping and recreation for the individuals with disabilities), The Friends of Touch of Nature, the Illinois Department of Corrections, the Department of Children and Family Services, (Wilderness Adventure Programs), and the National Science Foundation (ecological/environmental programs). Programs for social service agencies, public and private schools, community colleges, other universities, religious groups, state and federal organizations, business and industry, and individual participants are available. Touch of Nature, with its well-trained staff, its great natural setting, and its access to the University faculty, can provide stimulating recreational and educational experiences for individuals and groups. Our oldest program, Therapeutic Recreation Program, Camp Little Giant, serves children and adults with hearing, visual, mental, and physical disabilities. The camp has achieved national and international recognition. In 1980, it received the Eleanor P. Ells award from the Fund for the Advancement of Camping. Campers thrive in this outdoor setting where there is an atmosphere of love and acceptance. Although Camp Little Giant is a summer program, the Therapeutic Recreation programs operate throughout the year. In the fall, winter, and spring, much of our program emphasis shifts toward adults. Programs for older adults, co-hosted by Elderhostel, go into full swing, and participants learn and play in the scenic southern Illinois outdoors. Activities include birding in the Mississippi Flyway, studies of our national forests, and the diverse ecology of southern Illinois, management of mammals and waterfowl, and wilderness adventure. These programs have become models for similar activities elsewhere. Conference services and facilities are available for business, industry, educational institutions, government agencies, service groups, and other organizations. Four hundred or more people can be accommodated in lodge rooms, dormitories, cabins and tent sites, meeting rooms, classrooms, banquet rooms, and pavilions. There are recreation areas for swimming, canoeing, hayrides, and environmental hikes. Meals are expertly prepared with a personal touch-everything from "down home feeds" to health foods to fine menus with detailed service. Our best-known offering is the "Buffalo Tro," a specialty here for over 40 years. The meal features juicy sirloin of beef marinated in a special secret sauce and cooked directly on hot coals in the same style used by the Plains Indians. It is served with baked potato, salad, and dessert. Experiential education is offered through Ecological/Environmental and Wilderness Adventure Programs. In 1972, Touch of Nature received the National Environmental Education Land Mark Award for Excellence in Environmental Education. Our Environmental Ed-Ventures range in length from a few hours to two weeks. Programs focus on ecological concepts, local natural history, natural areas in southern Illinois, and environmental ethics in ways that interest participants on many levels. For those wanting something more strenuous, we offer Wilderness Adventure courses. These courses can include backpacking, climbing and rappelling, canoeing, caving, and initiative courses for all age groups, and can last from one to ten days. They are designed to challenge the physical and mental capabilities of each participant and to develop group cohesiveness. Courses are provided year-around on a contractual basis to schools, church groups, service and scouting organizations, colleges and universities, and state agencies. Courses are conducted in scenic southern Illinois and in many natural areas and national parks across the nation. Specialized courses are also offered. The EXCEL seminars are designed to address the specific objectives of a group. The mission of EXCEL is to help individuals and organizations to succeed in this new and changing environment. EXCEL uses a series of powerful leadership and team building experiences designed to maximize individual and team potential. Amazing results are achieved by immersing people in challenging situations which require initiative, risk-taking, teamwork, and the utilization of individual and group resources. The evaluation and transfer of learning is enhanced through the use of self-assessment instruments and integrated classroom seminars. We do more. We help those in need. Spectrum Wilderness is a 30-day wilderness stress challenge program for young people on the verge of serious trouble in school, at home, or in the community, and for people making the transition from institutional care to independent living. Group processes, initiative courses, and wilderness living are used to help participants grow confident and develop a sense of being part of a community. They learn responsible behavior by trying new activities and coping with controlled but psychologically stressful situations. The programs are carefully designed, tested, and monitored by staff people trained to help participants build healthier lifestyles. Our link with Southern Illinois University Carbondale puts us in touch with all the services of a large comprehensive university. In turn, the University's links with other institutions let us draw on a large pool of people and services. We maintain a highly qualified staff of recreation and outdoor programmers, environmental education specialists, and human service professionals. We are further helped to expand our programs and extend our influence through the presence of interns and fieldwork students. Touch of Nature Environmental Center will never be just a place on a map. It is the result of some determined dreams, and it is sustained by a resolute commitment to making those dreams reality. Our first 50 years were just the beginning. |
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