Nate Arnett and Lynnze English

00:02 1020 and I'm 26. I'm currently in Dayton, Ohio, and I know Nate through Adventure Central.

00:12 Happ'n, my name is Nate Arnett. And it is September 12th 2020 and I'm 47 in Dayton, Ohio. And I know Lindsey through the adventure Central program. So we've got a fun set of questions for each other and I'll go ask a question first so when he gets there and respond, so first question is who are you and how did we meet? So like I said, I'm Lindsay I am currently a lawyer a tax lawyer we met I probably

00:50 Tootsie 16s years ago through Adventure Central when I was a participant in the program, I think yeah, I think I was about 9 or 10.

01:03 And I recall call very well. Wednesday is a bright-eyed. I believe it was about a 5th grader and she had all kinds of friends that were part of our program. She came in with the group that we're all really ambitious and fun and I'll come in from some other school and they just added a ton of life into the program for what we were doing at the time. So we'll talk more about some of the fun things that we did so

01:42 All right.

01:44 So what is how would you explain Adventure Central and how did it get started and get created? What is I talked about Adventure Central? I like to use words like partnership Place program and people is all service is really good landmarks for us. And so as we think about partnership, it was something that got started back in the mid-90s as Five Rivers Metroparks to cover a lot of our Urban parks in Dayton area and the place where were they located for adventure Central and is Wesleyan Metro Park and they were really looking for something fresh there. Then they utilized a community needs assessment process and out-of-school time programs popped up as a really strong Mead.

02:44 At which was great except that mention. This is a Park District. They're used to dealing with the Birds bunnies trees all those things and they realize really quickly they needed help and that's when they approached Ohio State University extension and 4-H and their background with positive Youth Development. And that's how the partnership got started coming up in about 2 weeks will celebrate 20 years of the center actually being open which is pretty exciting. And so as I had a place Adventure Central is a physical space. It's a community center five classrooms a large great room. And I think probably one of the coolest things we have is really awesome 60 acre backyard with the creek running right through the middle of it and so is were trying to connect young people up with nature. It's really the perfect location.

03:44 For us to be able to set that up and that kind of sets up the program side where we do after school and Day Camp. Typically, we have 9220 kids participating in the program throughout the year get to go to overnight camp have family engagement experiences and then lots of Team experiences, which will talk sound through our experiences here the day preparing young people for the world of work and all that each year at around 70,000 contact hours. So we work with a couple hundred young people and their families really intensely each year and we've been doing that pretty much since we get started. The last one was the people they really are the ones that bring things to life and I when we talked about our Target on

04:44 Adventure Central is really young people in their families that live in the West Dayton Community, which is primarily African-American has typically been an area that's been underserved by a lot of organizations. And so we're really targeted to working with that particular community and I think it would be remiss for me to not mention a pretty significant person in our history was Marvin olinsky who is the executive director for Metro Parks and also had a strong connection with Ohio State University extension in 4-H. He's really the person that made the program happen and pulled all the strings pushed all the buttons made the investment because he grew up in a similar community and felt a strong.

05:44 Passion for making sure that the organization reached out and really tried to connect with people in the community. So Marvin's been a really big piece of the overall history of way down. There has been to Central some quick overview kind of what Adventure Central isn't kind of how it's worked. So

06:06 Well Lindsay, so how did you get started with the program a very beginning? I was in the program one of my family friends was a group leader of a group leader. And so he just brought me along. I think that summer and whatever class he was in and then I think I officially got enrolled that ball for the after-school program. That's how I got started. I think I was just I was just tagging along with him and with tiara now ended up being in a group that I was like a little bit younger than everyone else but it kind of just letting things are a little bit smaller back then a little a little more relaxed. So I kind of just left my way in but that's how I got introduced to it. And then I think I'm assuming I obviously enjoyed it and so my mom made sure I was officially

07:06 Rolls for the after-school program

07:11 What about you? How did you get to work in there? How did you get brought on this kind of a funny story? I was working in Missouri doing 4-H work there and I've been there for a couple of years and just was looking around one day at some of the job opportunities that on the national level and saw the posting for this program director position as an extension educator here in Ohio at this new program and I was like all that sounds like a really cool place and the worst part was the deadline for the position had to close about a I don't know a few days earlier. And so I just out of the blue picked up the phone call the HR Director and said

08:11 I don't know kind of what your process is how this all works. I see it's closed. But here's my resume. It really sounds like something that would be pretty great. I could fit for some of the things that I have been doing and ended up I was able to common interview for the position and kind of walked around the facility saw what was going on or I'm a mind you I'm coming from the Ozarks of Missouri to be extremely rural-urban Dayton and little little quite admittedly a little bit of culture shock moving in at first just coming and going wild as all other a lot going on here in Dayton. I know people I didn't know anyone.

09:11 First time really in Ohio and that kind of experience in so I came interviewed and I went home and told my wife I'm like I don't I don't know that I have much of a chance. They already have a tall skinny white guy on staff who was happened to be this A Center Director at the time Graham Cochrane who I worked with for six years here. And anyway, waited a couple of weeks heard they had the opportunity to accept the position and they wanted me in Dayton in less than a month because they were starting to pull things together for their summer for summer program and some anyway been here ever since and over 19 years ago, and I really just pulled a lot of my experience and background to an Environmental Education Youth Development.

10:11 It was exciting for me as I had done working both of those areas and always felt that it was the challenge was work with kids for a couple hours and then boom they go on and maybe you'd see him again. Maybe you wouldn't in the opportunity. We had to do the programming there at Adventure Central was going to do a lot of good community building and be able to work with young people in their families year-over-year day after day. I'm in really be able to see the cumulative effect. And so obviously I must be enjoying and I'm still around. That's like means it's truly meant to be

11:04 Absolutely. I wasn't that I was a believer in Serendipity before and that was just another great example of it.

11:15 I know you said that you mentioned that you saw the position you thought it would be a perfect fit for like when you came and you saw the space at what were your initial thoughts and expectations? Like what did you think it was going to be like in is it what you thought it was going to be like now?

11:32 I think part of what I was really excited about was that there was a minimal amount of program and no we had the opportunity to really build it from scratch and we had a decent budget and some great partners and I think what partly really drew me was that ability to focus on a community. Typically a lot of our extension programs are county level, which is really amazing to have this National and international network of kind of County Focus professionals, but not always does it do we have the opportunity to focus on a particular community? And so this was that was I think a really exciting piece for me to get started and some of the strain

12:32 Things that are not as we got started. We had a computer lab and it was a fun example contractor. We were working with at the time. He's like you're never going to get kids to use a computer lab for anything more than playing games and I like want OK challenge us and wasn't long and we had kids doing educational games and we were doing some actually some online learning opportunities that we were basically being contracted with the beta test some things to figure out ways to have a kid be more engaged in some online learning opportunities not to mention username for homework and supporting some of their up their learning that way.

13:23 And I think really our first five years of operation their Adventure Central we were figuring it out everyday. There wasn't a Playbook. We were trying something seeing what worked some days. It worked really well some days it didn't and we come back and that's that's the beauty of the kind of program. We do when you were working to win every day, but you build enough of them up and over time. We really start to see some of the cumulative impact and work tickets happening there. So,

14:00 What about you? What were some of your initial thoughts and expectations for the program in the beginning?

14:13 Nature outside you hot like thinking that I just wasn't going to like it because of his wasn't what I was used to thinking like just probably just like a lot of complaining which is kind of like a lot of people or everyone starts off course. It's like you have this unknown thing. They want us to be outside for hours and then go back outside and then, you know getting his Creek or do this is like no no, no not doing it. I'm going to hate it. But obviously like I end up loving it stay there forever. So it turned out to be good. But I think I kind of had that same that same shock of just like this seems a little this is the unknown. It seems a little gross. I'm not for it, but

15:03 Yeah, that's kind of the only expectation. I had that it was I just wasn't going to enjoy it.

15:11 Well, I mentioned that you stuck around. So what what did keep you involved? It's really I mean it is hot, but it's not bad. We got to do a lot of really really cool things a lot of really interesting things just like

15:33 Curriculum was just really Dynamic. We're learning. We were learning things that we were not learning at school. So it didn't feel like although you would come to school and we were being taught me but you know that that's what everyone was doing. It wasn't the same thing that we were learning in school wasn't math wasn't science reading and writing it was touching on those parts that there's but it was really like Hands-On it was science in a way that wasn't like the periodic table. So I think that it was it was definitely

16:07 The ability to go outside. Like you said, we had Creek we would get to go play in the creek. We would go visit the different Metroparks, you know, so just really being able to experience so many things that we would have never done and really getting a hands-on experience with science and nature. Like I said, if I wasn't in a super strict super School kind of way, so that's one of the things and I think at the time but I was going so probably like I said around the third or fourth grade to remember probably around 7, but at that time I was in I was at I went to a Catholic school and then I went to a small private school.

16:51 So I was pretty much one or two of one or two black kids in my class. So for me going to venture center after school and going to summer day camp outside of like seeing my family was really only time I got to hang around other black children, like other kids who look like me who are my same age, but I thought it was something that I do something I needed at the time. It was some that was really important because like I said, I was going to school obviously I have friends at school and you know, like I knew people but there wasn't a whole lot of kids who look like me. So I think that was super important as being able to be around my piercing able to be around other space to like decompress in like be off and not be, you know V1, so that and I think the last thing would probably be the staff.

17:50 The super

17:53 Genuine staff and I don't think I would have been able to articulate it back then. But when I look back now, I'm really appreciative of the fact that

18:04 You have

18:07 A diverse staff you have young people you have old people you have just people from different backgrounds were starving African American community and I don't think that but I think that I appreciate that like so much of the White staff didn't try to like

18:24 Get Urban because they I don't when they're teaching Urban kids. I don't really like that. Like everyone was very much genuine. You don't have to be like

18:32 Pretend to be something that you're not you want to play hip hop music till I connect with people you got to be yourself. So I think I very much appreciated that if interested so didn't try to be like savior some savior space for black kids. It was like we just are who we are we're not going to try to pretend we're not going to try to like Urban eyes are wrapify. Just the Kinect for that something that I always appreciated from start to finish. Like everyone was truly themselves and you guys recognize something that not many people.

19:10 Recognize that in order to connect with students. You have to do the most enough to be yourself because that's what we recognize and that's what we enjoy. I think those things like the staff the programming and the being able to connect with kids my age or something and I was like, okay this is it like it love it. I will come back.

19:31 Awesome

19:33 I mean, I guess it will then the same thing for you. You've been there for almost 20 years what talk to you around?

19:43 I think a big piece for not for me and has just been that we have continued to see success and not so much always is it more formal recognition? Although we've had plenty of that it it's really being able to see that Community build and grow and just watching people evolve through the process of life to the point that it's really the cumulative effect of what goes on and it brings me a lot of energy just to be a part of what's going on and I think part of it that's always been that every day brings a new challenge to the work that we were doing.

20:32 And so even when we would start to figure something out, we always had something else that that we could turn to that would challenge us or the size of the community that we work with. We also know that everybody changes. It's a dynamic system. And so even though you have the same young person that walks in the door each day, they're facing different things. And so there's always a okay. Well, what is it that we can do to help you kind of get through whatever it is. It's going on in your life. And so just watching

21:14 Young people grow up and become those contributing citizens in the community. It's on yesterday. I got a delivery at the front door. And of course, it was someone who's been on our staff and started as a participant and they were excited to drop a package off and in the crazy world. We live in today. Of course, we were happy to see anybody that was in in our own personal space and sell except exciting to see that community in the smiles and that it brings people's lives. So I think that's a big big reason why I stayed stayed involved in the program.

21:59 Alright, so what's your favorite memory or aspect of the program but I think being able to make that transition from being a participant to being.

22:21 To being an employee. So it's like this singing thing the tables really turn. It's like okay. Now I see everything that you know, the reporters were doing what I was a participant to make this happen and now I get to do it from for someone else I get to do it for another set of kids. I think like that was my favorite things being able to like and to take to take out perspective as being someone who's been in the program to be like, okay, like, you know, I know what you know, I know what we want. I know what we can do. I remember what I have your way. So let me put that in into

23:00 Into a fat bike when I when I do that so making that transition and really being able to like connect with the kids in a different way connects with the the adventure Central Family. I'd say it in a different way from a different position. Yeah, we even go to sleep away for two or three days in make a fire and you know, all those fun things that you want to do as a kid. I guess if I had to do like a actual thing, I would say each year like going overnight camp was always super fun and having the themes and dressing up and seeing the song just I can't because it's it's it's necessary. I think not necessary for a good childhood, but it's like one of those memories I will always stick with you.

23:55 I would build on some of the things that you talked about a little bit as well certainly overnight camp was that continues to be a really exciting program and I think you were one of the individuals that really pushed it to becoming more of a youth-driven experience with a lot of things when we started out we were trying them and it was this staff LED kind of moment and it was cool because it was in a different place and everybody was kind of we were all uncomfortable together and that's what I was what was fun about overnight camp. And that was one of the first programs were older. You said you guys get out of the way and let us do this. We we have some ideas and we want to see some things happen here.

24:55 That was a cool opportunity that we got to participate in and part of it too as you're talking about some of those kind of rite of passage moments. And as you move through we had a really significant grant-funded program that was focusing around some science and technology work that

25:24 And there were only a few states that were selected and we represent in the state of Ohio and this particular project and Lindsay was the team lead for a group of three of her peers plus myself. We were the five that were on this team and she it was because of her why we knew we could make this kind of an investment because it was a multiple months multiple experience. We went to DC for a trip. We went to Indiana for another trip out in the middle of the freezing cold nose like dark Tundra and but she really let our entire group and it was because of all the scaffolding of other experiences where she served as a team leader and I've gone and done other speaking things for us.

26:24 So that's probably was one of the more significant experiences that I recall. Is it really start a relationship with Lindsay was just at project cuz we were both kind of making it up as we were going along and try and act like we knew what we were talking about that moment for me what that was like a oh my goodness.

26:53 He really trusts me and really believe them because this is a lot like I remember cuz we at that point with the program we were doing it at Adventure Central, but then we also went to

27:06 Wesley Community Center at some point that there was no adults asked to go with me and you like you got it you can go by yourself and I'm just like it's like me and some other like 16 year olds and we're going to go teach and I'm driving the van I pick em, like this is it you made it like, you know that. Trust in that that belief is there was kind of like goes into the other question that we're talking about. Like how is the program affected me professionally and personally, I think that the sense of swag

27:45 Fearlessness that I have and like everyone has imposter syndrome sometimes but like

27:51 I have a sense of like anytime I go somewhere and I accomplished something professionally like feeling like I belong in his room and I deserve to be in this room kind of comes from that because I was 16 17 18 years old doing things like this. You know, my co-workers were 30 and I'm where you know, we are making the same lesson plans. I'm going, you know, you're doing the same things like they're driving the van I am to they're in charge of because I am too. So it's really I think that likes it's still the sense of confidence. That is like no. I know what I'm doing. I'm a very capable person and any, you know, like you play sitting in those positions and me succeed at it really made me like you do understand the and not to sound like, you know, big headed but likes understand my answer that's in my ability cuz it's like, you know, I'm I have someone who has trusted me who has put me.

28:51 Positions to allow me to excel like I can't even like I feel like I can't even respond when I talk to my friend. I have one friend why I always say something. I'm like, oh, yeah when I worked at Arboretum, but I was like on a boy should but you have all these why do you have so many jobs you like? What were you doing at work? I was actually do know how far am I was 17 or 16 Auto as a youth member on a on a board and it says because you gave me all these opportunities and obviously me continuously improving myself that I was capable. It's something that I think looks back. I very much had a linear kind of you but I thought about experience. I'm like, well, I'm not going to I don't want to work in science or nature. So how is this I'm doing all this stuff at like, how's it going to relate smackie? Sure. I want to be a lawyer but it's very much does because it's giving me this whole this sense of like I have no problem leading. I have no problem, you know Stephen. I have no problem saying that like, I don't care who's competing with someone.

29:51 20 years my senior and has been working for longer. Like I know what I'm capable of and I'm not afraid to like stuff into those rolls. So that's something that I've definitely like within the past few years have been like seeing it acknowledged. Like wow, like I knew I was you know getting work experience. I knew that him the program was allowing me to to to learn all these things but really seeing it manifests itself in my like sense of confidence as far as my professional and personal skills. I'm like this amazing.

30:25 Well, I know you mentioned that you had this interest in becoming a lawyer from a young age. And that's only the first things I remember.

30:36 When you came in as like a 5th grader so that you're like I'm going to be an entertainment lawyer and I like who what 5th grader is that specific hadn't changed. And so that was I knew we had a a motivated young lady there and and as each of those little amount of opportunity came up and there were a lot of different projects. So it wasn't like Lindsay was the only person that ever took anything on we had a lot of different things that would have to happen it and it was always trying to put the right person in the right spot and also and as you mentioned Lindsay week, we like to put people wear might make them a little bit uncomfortable. Sometimes push him outside of their comfort zone and go to

31:36 Arboretum or go to the Garden or do some work with the main office and doing more administrative kinds of things and so is that stud was that has always been the fun part of the work that we do is we can really try to put people in the right spot at the right time for the developmental experience. It did it Best Suits them and also helps support the work that we're trying to do and so I think those are some of the favorite parts that I have are the program just because that

32:11 It's

32:15 Being able to see something in someone that maybe they didn't know necessarily that they had in them and to have enough support and structure that stare that when they come out of it to the person that they all feel really positive about what kind of contribution that they made. That's the question. I want to ask you something. I always ask when I go on a job interview. I will ask the person interviewing me. Like what was your aha moment that moment where you knew that like this job is for me. I'm in the right field. I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be in like this, you know, this is what I was meant to do.

33:05 I think I probably had a few aha moments as we've gone through this process over 19 years, but maybe the first one I had was when I realized that we weren't having to push kids outside which for the first five years or so. That was a lot of the work was. All right. Let's go outside of a man. We got to go outside. I don't know. It's hot at the bugs and at some point in the process.

33:42 Things kind of flipped and it was kids asking us when can we go outside? Let's let's go outside with and some of it was I think building a enough diverse experience is set out in the yard to pull a variety kids so that they weren't getting bored with it. But that to me that was a big piece that we had done something right and that it was there was a lot more possibility in the work that we were doing. I think more from an administrative perspective give the aha moment was when I looked around and all of our staff were either pass participants, they had started with us as parents or been a volunteer and so any of the paid staff that were there had

34:40 Kind of come through grown up in the program. And so we had truly grown our own and I think to me that was just a demonstration of the commitment that everybody had on the team to supporting the kind of community and environment that we had set up and so and we've maintained that over the many years now where our staff still are representative of the community that we work with and came up and threw and so yeah those those were some of my big aha moments.

35:23 Well, what else do you want to know if you

35:28 Okay, I guess you seen Adventure Central grow from the last 19 years. Like what do you see for the future? What is like, what do you think that and the other 19 years Adventure Central is going to look like is there anything that you want to change or you want to see implemented going forward?

35:48 I think probably is a look at things to change. I want things to be dirtier and Messier and more Hands-On even the what we are and just so kids feel like they can go and play and explore and do things and be comfortable and course. The easy answers are always so we'd like to see more and in a lot of ways. I think the experience has been pretty much just about right and may sound kind of cheesy with we've we've always had a tagline a AC is the place to be and I think and I certainly for me it has been it's been really exciting to see what goes on in the Investments that we have and

36:44 I think

36:47 We're now in the spot where we have a lot of second generation kids. So we're kids a passport disciplines are engaged and what's going on and I'm having conversations with them like all it's not going to be long and I'm going to be a 15 which is our kind of teamwork based learning program. And so they like yeah your your dad was in that program, so

37:17 Yep, so that's been pretty exciting to see all that happened. But what it what it what about what about you now that you've had some years away and cancel it back initially. I wanted to say like bigger, but I actually don't think so. I don't think that I think part of the

37:41 The magic or the Jena se qua is that it's the perfect size. Sometimes when you start to like I said, there's always been a very genuine feeling always been a very familiar feeling and I think that that's something that expanding.

38:01 Could potentially like ruin I think and even like like I said bigger and more money, but I think that's when I think that like in my adult brain is like now cuz then you're putting more hands in the pot and thinks so I could see the way that that's not that probably wouldn't be the best. The only thing that I could think of is if there where I would love is like it could be replicated some other kids and some other City could have the same thing. The only thing that I would say futurewise more so personal I would love baby.

38:35 I could write like a six-figure check to Ventura Central. I don't know if that'll happen. But one day I will write at least a five-figure text adventure and I loved it. Looks like you mentioned I hope I don't know if I may or may not know when I didn't come in. I first said the first I want to be a lawyer and I actually thought about this I said I like I said when I was like probably like nine or ten years old. I want to be a lawyer and now I am I'm like a it's all come full-circle. I'm like I passed the bar and when I think about all of the the ways in which I got here like Adventure essential more specifically you are a huge part of it. I can't think of a job or an opportunity that I've applied to have that have not put your email address down for what I did my bar application. I'm pretty sure I put you down.

39:29 Absolutely for a reference. That looks like I can't like I can't imagine just being like I said where I am without it and even though in the moment, I'm like, oh, how does the science and nature Program help me but boy did it because that Adventure Central, you know next to my friends and family are like one of the major pieces of who I am and why I am the way I am and where I am, so thank you if I've never said it before. Thank you so much.

40:05 Camp thank you.

40:09 I can't think of a better spot to end than that. So.