A Namesake

The History of the Original ‘St. Louis Regional Experiential Adventure Movement’ (STREAM)

~David Cady

Hank Schafermeyer and Tony Callabrese started Underway down at SIU-Carbondale, early 70’s. Bill Comfort, Robert Lindholm, Bill Simmons and Clark Russell decided to fundraise in the STL area to send teachers to Outward Bound (MOBS). When the teachers returned there was nothing to support them. They reached out to Hank and secured funding from the Danforth Foundation for seed funding through Gene Swilk. Around 1974, Hank hired staff from MOBS (former name of Voyageur Outward Bound School) to come to STL after their Summer seasonal work. Hank filled their days with programming. The joke was in order to get a day off the staff cut the day out of the calendar so nothing could be written down.

There were several other programs around this time, Darryl Hall and Parkway Youth Center (John Siemers), who primarily served youth who were having difficulty and did “Hoods in the Woods” programming. Darryl Hall ended after a death or severe injury, and Parkway Youth Center became the Progressive Youth Center around 1986 when STREAM provided outdoor adventure programming. Charlie Wipperman was doing school based programs out of a school district up north STL. Jim Jeffries was doing adventure programming through the Special School District in STL. On the east side, Belleville YMCA was providing programming, and there was a man who provided field trip options at his Camp, where Native Crafts (flint napping, etc) was taught and kids slept in teepees.

STREAM continued to offer teacher training programs encouraging the use of experiential learning to supplement what was being taught in the classroom. In 1979, Hank left STREAM to start Student Leadership/ Experiential Adventure Programs (SL/EAP) with the St. Louis Public Schools. Bruce Bailey became Executive Director of STREAM, and started doing professional development programs, and certification courses like ropes course, rock/climbing and rappelling, caving, vertical rigging and rescue. Corporate team building, FBI search and rescue training became funding streams along with week long adventure based trips for Priory, Principia, Country Day School, and shorter duration programs with the YMCA and scouts.

Around 1980, I hired STREAM to conduct a camping trip for Laurel Haven School where I was Director of Social Habilitation. We took a group of students who had a variety of disabilities backpacking and camping. Staying up late I found out about STREAM and started taking the certification classes and worked as a contract staff on trips and day programs. STREAM continued along. Several highlights were the International Year of Youth, where voyageur canoes paddled the Mississippi, AEE International Conference at SIU, collaborations with the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, St. Louis County Parks, ECO/ACT with the Missouri Botanical Garden, The College School, and many other off-shoots from those training programs.

In 1985, I was teaching at Forsyth School and leading outdoor adventure programming during the school year at Forsyth and working contractually for STREAM on weekends and during the summer. As part of my coursework at Washington University (working on my Masters Degree), I asked Bruce to do an organization diagnosis to help him improve delivery of programming and because I saw many frustrations as a contractual staff employee. I interviewed Bruce, staff and board members and wrote a paper for my class. later Bill Comfort approached me about taking the role of Executive Director since Bruce had accepted a position as Director of CORO.

If I knew then what I know now I never would have taken the position. Bill Comfort held my hand and said, “Do not worry about the bill collectors, refer them to me, just get in there and set up programs and fill the calendar.” So that is what we did. I was the lone staff member, along with Hank’s mother in law-Hilda, as part time bookkeeper. So Spring 1986, the month Nick Cady was born I took the job. It was crazy but I sold programs, staffed them with contractual folks and Bill and Hilda paid the bills. After that first year, Bob MacArthur had taken the job as Executive Director of the American Youth Foundation. He was one of several people with whom I interviewed and got to know as a part of my outreach as Director of STREAM. He wanted an operational arm of the AYF in STL to complement the camps in Michigan and New Hampshire. He liked the focus I had brought to STREAM to continue educational programs (YMCA, Scouts, school groups), staff certification and corporate training. By having a year round funding source we were able to stabilize STREAM, hire staff and expand programming. The budget grew from 50K year 1 to 500K, doing 5,000 program days when I left in 1993. We built additional programming sites (ropes course- Camp Sabra, Carondelet Park, Coldwater Creek, Camp Wyman, Greensfelder-Alpine Tower) reached out to agencies to develop sites for rock climbing/rappelling (Meramec State Park, Rockwoods Reservation, Urban Adventure Center, Greensfelder County Park,…).

During this time, a group of educators were a part of the Trainers Council. This group met regularly to develop a consistent training and set of standards for all adventure programming, ropes courses high and low, caving -vertical and horizontal, rock climbing rappelling, wrote manuals, developed training courses and set staffing requirements.

Another initiative was to start SLEEC, St. Louis Experiential Education Council. The purpose of SLEEC was to offer a yearly conference which allowed educators to meet, take professional development courses, teach their skill offerings and support each others on going efforts. at it’s heyday, a weekend conference included 40 workshops and over 250 educators. In 1993, I left to begin a new adventure at Webster Groves High School, the Pilot School and Mark Rowland took over at STREAM/AYF.