Kayaking Archives - Waypoint Adventure MA

Wilson is in a red kayak in an indoor pool. He is wearing a red life jacket and blue and yellow swim shirt. A staff member is in the water next to the kayak. Both of them have big smiles on their faces.

Embracing the Unknown: Wilson’s Journey of Growth

May 3, 2024/in Achievements, Kayaking

Wilson first joined a Waypoint indoor kayaking program with his Boston Public School autism classroom at CASH back in 2022. Wilson came to the pool with curiosity, but had reservations about entering the water. Along with the encouragement from staff and peers, Wilson made the choice to step out of his comfort zone, strap on a life vest, and slowly entered the water. Timid at first, he felt most at ease when holding the hand of a staff member. As the season progressed, Wilson started to find himself reaching for someone’s hand less and less. He learned to challenge himself in the pool — at his own pace.

This year, Wilson’s class returned to Waypoint for another season of indoor kayaking. Waypoint staff framed the series with the theme of Growth: Any time we open our minds to challenge ourselves to learn a new skill, we are growing! After a quick paddle tutorial, Wilson did not just dip his toes in the water, he hopped right in the kayak, with a smile from ear to ear! It was clear to everybody at the pool that day that his confidence in the kayak had blossomed! But most importantly, it was clear to Wilson.

At Waypoint Adventure, we believe in letting folks choose their own adventure, just like Wilson did! He started with small steps and slowly cranked up his exposure to the water. Wilson proved to himself that the courage to try something new and unfamiliar – one step at a time – can lead to triumph! Wilson showed the power of starting small and building up to something great. Throughout this spring season, we are so excited to see Wilson continue to challenge himself and experience growth on his terms!

Wilson is in a yellow kayak, in an indoor pool. He's smiling and holding a paddle. He is wearing a red life jacket and wearing a blue and yellow swim shirt.

Wilson paddling with confidence this indoor kayaking season.

Waypoint Partnership with Charles River Recreation

November 16, 2023/in Kayaking, Latest News, Open Enrollment, Snowshoeing, Support

We’re grateful for our partnership with Charles River Recreation! CRR houses the outdoor recreation companies Paddle Boston and Weston Ski Track. For many years we’ve been using Paddle Boston sites all over the Greater Boston area. Only in more recent years, as we’ve acquired more adaptive snow equipment, have we partnered with Weston Ski Track to provide accessible snow sports to the community. People with disabilities and their families who want to recreate together are often met with challenges when showing up for a private or group recreation activity. Waypoint and companies like Charles River Recreation can provide access, adaptive equipment, differentiated instruction, individual or group programming for all ages and all abilities.

Participants with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Developmental Disabilities, Intellectual Disabilities, Limb Differences, Paraplegia, Spinal Cord Injuries, Brain Injuries and more can all participate in the fun and freedom of kayaking, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, sit-skiing, and hiking thanks to partnerships that use their strengths in unison.

Weston Ski Track

Paddle Boston

Summer of Growth 2022

September 29, 2022/in Kayaking, Latest News

Our theme for the summer at Waypoint was “growth.” At the beginning of every kayaking program, we would talk as a group about how stepping out of our comfort zones helps us grow. Then after our adventure, we would ask everyone to write down a “moment of growth” that they will remember…

Previous
Next

Thomas paddled backwards
Brian learned to steer
Lillie met lots of new people
Holden experienced teamwork
and so much more…

We’re so thankful for everyone who came out, how you honored us by sharing your growth moments with us, and to everyone who helped make accessible adventures possible! Thank you DCR Universal Access Program for another great year of sponsorship. Thank you volunteers, donors, and park staff who work behind the scenes to make this summer happen. We couldn’t do this without community support. Thank you!

Max’s Story of Courage and Growth

August 17, 2022/in Achievements, Kayaking, Past Programs, Schools, Support, Uncategorized

Max came kayaking with Waypoint for the first time in summer of 2018 with Newton Public Schools. During his first kayaking program, he felt nervous and stressed and did not want to go out on the water. Along with Max’s teacher, our staff encouraged him to try sitting in the boat on land to start. Over the next hour, Max slowly built up to being able to sit in the boat on land for one minute at a time, starting with 10 seconds, then increasing intervals. He never entered the water or held a paddle.

Each summer, Waypoint selects a goal to focus on across all kayaking programs. In 2018, it was the summer of courage. We celebrated Max’s courage to try kayaking, even though he never got out on the water.

Four years later, Newton Public Schools came kayaking again. Waypoint staff met with Max’s teacher ahead of the program and identified our goal for Max’s next kayaking experience: to have him sit in a boat, on the water, for a few minutes at a time.

On the day of the program, we met the group at Walden Pond and discussed our goal for summer of 2022: growth. When it was time to get into boats, Max blew everyone away. He calmly got into the boat, listened to a demonstration on how to paddle, and headed out on the water with the rest of the group, paddling with his boat partner as they enjoyed the sunshine and crystal clear water of the pond. We later received an email from Max’s family that read, “Max had such a great time and keeps talking about how he wants to go back to the ‘little boat’! YOU MADE OUR SUMMER!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!”

At Waypoint, we believe challenge leads to growth. We also believe in challenge by choice, meaning each individual gets to decide how they would like to challenge themselves. Max started with small steps, and through slow exposure, experienced huge success on his own terms. What started with courage, ended with growth. Max is already signed up for more kayaking this summer, and we can’t wait to see all the ways he continues to grow!

Private Lessons Summer 2020

September 25, 2020/in Hiking, Kayaking, Open Enrollment, Past Programs, Uncategorized

It’s been a wild summer! Covid-times are hard times for sure, but the silver lining for us at Waypoint has been these private lessons! Check out pictures and some cool things we’ve noticed!

Participants are progressing in skills! We’ve been able to focus more on teaching directly to a participant’s skill set and learning style. On one kayaking lesson, we spent over 40 minutes with a participant near the shore breaking down the steps of kayaking very carefully and methodically – adding color cues to her paddle, arrows on white boards, writing out steps, and wading into the water next to her boat to practice the feeling of paddling. We just wouldn’t be able to devote that level of instruction in a group setting!
We’re developing closer relationships with our participants and their families. There’s a lot to chat about on a 90-minute lesson! We’ve seen fresh sides to personalities in a new one-to-one atmosphere and have learned so much about each person who has come out!
More people than ever are signing up that have never been on a Waypoint program! We’re getting calls and emails from all over the Boston area from people who’s school or program is closed and they are looking for something outdoors to do. People who have been on our mailing list for years and just never got around to signing up are doing so. And we think, partly, it’s desperate times, but for some people, they just thrive in a private-lesson setting as opposed to a group one.
We’ve been forced into trying new sites when parks were closed and they’ve turned out to be awesome for us! Some of our new favorites are paddling on the Concord River from Lowell Street in Concord, MA, the Ice House Landing parking lot in Maynard, MA which has access to the Assabet River and a great rail trail for biking, and we’ve used more than usual our favorite Cambridge kayaking spot, Magazine Beach!

New Partnership with Riverview School!

October 8, 2019/in Kayaking, Latest News

New partnership alert! We’re working with Riverview School now! Riverview is a private boarding/day school founded in 1957 on Cape Cod for students with complex learning, language, and cognitive disabilities. We’re working with the GROW Adventure Club – students in post-high school transition who are interested in adventure, challenges, and the outdoors. We’re thrilled by this new partnership and a new place to run programs on the Cape!

Four big adventures are planned for this school year with the goals of challenging students with new and exciting adventures, and also opening up places and opportunities they can come back to in their local community to experience again! Our kick-off to the series was this evening kayaking program, but we’re also planning a winter hiking-weekend, an outdoor rock-climbing program, and a summer camping/kayaking weekend! Check out our sunset paddle on Wequaquet Lake in Barnstable!

We were impressed by the teamwork and care for each other this community demonstrated. One pair in particular made huge strides. When they were having a lot of trouble steering their boat, they became so frustrated that they just stopped paddling all-together. The rest of the group stopped too and offered tips and advice! This pair listened well and got to calm down, and then slowly but surely, they began to keep their boat straight and work as a team without getting frustrated with each other!

On the way back to shore, one of the students said, “This was harder than I thought it was going to be and my shoulders are pretty tired, but I feel great about what I did and that we were finally able to keep the boat straight!” We love the grit this team displayed and we can’t wait to see this team grow through more “first-time” challenges and exciting adventures! Stay tuned for our Winter Hiking Weekend!

Thank you again to Riverview for allowing us to work with your students and the Town of Barnstable for letting use Wequaquet Lake.

Summer of “I Can”

September 9, 2019/in Kayaking, Uncategorized

The summer of “I Can” is all about discovering more. Discovering what you CAN do, what your community can do, what’s possible, and what’s fun. We’re proud to be back for another year of MA DCR Universal Access sponsored programs and are grateful to be using beautiful Walden Pond for most of them. Thank you Walden Pond State Reservation for accommodating us so wonderfully. Participants, Volunteers, and Families, you inspire us every day with your love for kayaking and appreciation for our diverse community. Check out pictures of our adventures!

July 13th Open Enrollment at Lake Cochituate in Wayland: See our Post “Summer of I CAN Kicks Off”

July 16th at Walden Pond with The Carroll Center for the Blind

July 16th Open Enrollment at Walden Pond (Watch Tim and Max do a Wet Exit!)

July 18th Open Enrollment at Magazine Beach – See our Post “One Program with Many Firsts”

July 23rd at Walden Pond with Cambridge Street Upper School

“This will be the most memorable trip of the summer!” The staff at Cambridge Public School’s summer program are calling it now. “They did so much better than I ever thought possible!”… To be honest, we were surprised too! In the pouring rain, the bus arrived and every kid got off and was ready to go! Sometimes we forget that the bigger challenges are the most rewarding. Rain probably isn’t your top pick if you could pick the weather for your kayak program, but life’s surprises and a community that’s up for an adventure together create moments to never forget. We could NOT have done it too without the stellar support of volunteers from LogMeIn. Thank you all for your love of adventure and for not being afraid of a little rain 🌧. We all discovered I CAN KAYAK IN THE RAIN!

July 23rd Open Enrollment for kids at Walden Pond

July 30th at Walden Pond with Newton North High School’s Community Connections Program

July 30th Open Enrollment at Walden Pond

August 3rd Open Enrollment for Adults at Malibu Beach in Dorchester: See our post, The Biggest and the Farthest

Aug 6th at Walden Pond with Young Life Capernaum

Aug 6th Open Enrollment at Walden Pond (Watch the Video of the Launch)

Aug 13th with Newton South STRIDE at Walden Pond

Aug 13th Open Enrollment at Walden Pond

Aug 20th with Burlington Recreation Department at Walden Pond

Aug 20th Open Enrollment at Walden Pond

Aug 22nd Open Enrollment at the Woerd Ave Boat Launch in Waltham

Summer of “I CAN” Kicks Off

July 19, 2019/in Kayaking

A few years ago, a woman named Kamisha came kayaking with Waypoint on the Charles River. It was a full day and the afternoon’s wind picked up making it a big challenge for everyone to get back to the dock. As she was rounding the last corner, she told a Waypoint staff, “This is great for me because this reminds me that ‘I Can!'” It was the perfect summation of what Waypoint is all about: Moments of accomplishment to remember when facing other challenges in life.

Since that time, Waypoint has been implementing research plans and handing out participant surveys and a few key outcomes keep coming to the surface… one of them? Self-Efficacy – one’s belief in their own abilities to complete a task or reach a goal. You CAN!

And this year, we’re all about that. “I Can” moments are happening on programs and it’s continuing to shape people self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-efficacy! Check out pictures of our “Summer of ‘I Can'” kick-off on Lake Cochituate in Wayland.

It’s A Wrap! Somerville 2019

June 12, 2019/in Hiking, Kayaking, Past Programs, Rock Climbing, Ropes Course, Schools, Series

24 Programs! Our biggest partnership ever! What an awesome year it has been with the thriving Special Education Department of Somerville Public Schools. Thanks to a Cummings Foundation grant the Somerville SPED Department received and the tireless efforts of Wellness Coordinator and friend, Caitlin Kelly, Waypoint was BACK in Somerville for the 2018-2019 school year designing and facilitating quality adventure-education programs for 19 different classes across the district. Social-Emotional Learning was happening on these programs: students immersed in problem solving scenarios, supported by the process of learning and community, and given the right to take on challenging experiences and we saw it in action – the perfect recipe for character building come to life.

These programs were not just work for us. The buy-in from teachers and administrators made this series a joy to facilitate. We even had volunteers come out on one program and come back again and again and again because of how much fun they had just being a part of these days! Shoutout to Jim Bradley, Sylvana Weinstein, and some awesome repeat groups from Definitive Cares and The Shady Hill School. This community is vibrant and excelling because of your support!

You HAVE to peruse some of the pictures below. It felt like a family photo album putting these together and laughing about ridiculous things that happened on programs and awesome students, teachers, and volunteers we met along the way. Here are some snapshots from all of the programs we ran with Somerville during 2018-2019:

10/25/18 Ropes Course at Hale Reservation

11/14/18 Hike in the Middlesex Fells

12/19/18 Indoor Rock Climbing at Central Rock Watertown

1/9/19 Indoor Rock Climbing at Central Rock Watertown

1/11/19 Hike at Prospect Hill in Waltham

1/15/19 Indoor Rock Climbing at Central Rock Watertown

1/23/19 Hike at Ward Reservation in Andover

1/30/19 Indoor Kayaking at the Kennedy School in Somerville

2/5/19 Hike at Ward Reservation in Andover

2/13/19 Indoor Kayaking at the Kennedy School in Somerville

2/27/19 Indoor Kayaking at the Kennedy School in Somerville

3/19/19 Hike at Harold Parker State Forest in Andover

3/27/19 Indoor Kayaking at the Kennedy School in Somerville

3/28/19 Indoor Rock Climbing at Central Rock Watertown

4/2/19 Outdoor Rock Climbing at Hammond Pond in Newton

4/10/19 Hike at Breakheart Reservation in Wakefield

4/24/19 Hike at Lynn Woods in Lynn

5/1/19 Indoor Rock Climbing at Central Rock Watertown

5/15/19 Hike at Lynn Woods in Lynn

5/16/19 Hike at Prospect Hill in Waltham

5/23/19 Outdoor Rock Climbing at Hammond Pond in Newton

5/24/19 Hike at Breakheart Reservation in Wakefield

5/29/19 Indoor Kayaking at the Kennedy School in Somerville

6/5/19 Kayaking on the Charles River in Allston

We can’t thank our site partners from Central Rock Gym, Paddle Boston – Charles River Canoe and Kayak, Kennedy School Pool, and Massachusetts DCR enough for supporting this programming. THANK YOU!

And THANK YOU to all the students for participating, and the teachers and administrators that helped coordinate transportation, get forms filled out, opened the pool, and made sure adventure programming fit seamlessly into your curriculum. We believe it’s so important and it’s encouraging to see others agree. Looking forward to next year!

Inclusive Adventure Club 2018

November 27, 2018/in Backpacking, Kayaking, Rock Climbing, Series, Special Events, Uncategorized

Our Inclusive Adventure Club kicked off this 2018 and it’s been an awesome year for this pioneer series! Our vision for these adventures is that all people regardless of ability would have the opportunity to share in the costs and rewards of challenging experiences together. We recognize that the thrill and fun of rock climbing or hiking or paddling can be even more rewarding when done alongside a diverse community!

Two kayaking programs kicked off the series this summer. The second one being the WETTEST Waypoint Adventure of all time! What a day! Then in September, 8 adults packed in food, stoves, tents, and gear to the remote Sawyer Pond in the White Mountains for an overnight backpacking experience. One woman said, it was the weekend that changed her life! And we capped off the series this fall with some Indoor and Outdoor Rock Climbing. Check out pictures of our adventures and sign up to join Inclusive Adventure Club 2019! We’ve got some awesome trips planned!

Kayaking at Lake Cochituate in Wayland, MA