TEAM BUILDING & YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

TEAM BUILDING/LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

“Football is not who you are; it is what you do.” Cris Carter

Let’s Move! Travois plans and directs team building and leadership development workshops for employee groups, athletic teams, adult and youth ministries and students of all ages. Travois founder David Graham draws upon his personal experiences as a successful athlete, a recovering substance abuser and renowned river guide as he encourages workshop participants to empower, move, build-up and support others. The process of self-discovery and risk-taking achieved by breaking the rules: Don’t Talk, Don’t Trust, Don’t Feel, is our singular guiding principle – one that sets us apart from many other team building organizations.
Too often, managers or coaches plan an activity with no real thought or goal in mind. This tends to be a waste of time – and the organizers risk losing the team’s respect when they plan an exercise that doesn’t actually help those involved.
Travois team-building activities utilizing Talk * Trust * Feel can be a powerful way to unite a group, break rules, address feelings, learn how to take care of feelings and adopt strategies for dealing with problems – but only if the exercises are planned and carried out strategically in a safe and nurturing environment. . In other words, there has to be a real purpose behind your decision to hold the workshop. According to Graham; “once I began to ‘break the rules (by talking, trusting and feeling),’ I was on my way to learning who I was and how I could make a difference in my life and be helpful to others.”
After participating in a Travois team-building session, David Goethals of Bonney Lake, WA remarked that “David Graham has the rare ability to teach team building skills of developing trust in one’s self and others, while encouraging people to step outside their comfort zones in order to develop confidence in their abilities.”
Jayne, a Human Resources Manager, had this to say about Travois and Graham: “David has a passion to empower people. He explains each activity clearly and starts with the least uncomfortable exercise to ease people into the process and gain trust from each person attending. At the end of an activity he will check in with the group to see where they are at and tie the activity to taking risks and trusting each other. His style is supportive and encouraging.”
A.J. Robinson, a former NCAA Division II quarterback and current HS football coach mentioned that “Groups that David works with will leave a closer unit and a more unified team. He is a special man with a special program and he is an extremely positive and effective team builder. David and his program played a large role in the winning of a HS state football championship in 2013.”
David Graham was a certified facilitator by Project Adventure for high and low element Ropes Challenge Courses and holds current certification from Synergo. In addition, he was a credentialed Chemical Dependency Specialist III by the Native American Rehabilitation Association. “I prefer to lead by example, setting high standards for others as well as myself. I pay attention to detail and work hard to be positive and service oriented enabling people to feel comfortable in their relationships with me.”

A few more words from some happy clients:

David and his crew are an amazing group of people. Their concepts of team building will help any group come together towards a common goal. I would highly recommend any team or business interested in creating a positive culture and a family atmosphere to contact David Graham.

Howard Rub
Head Football Coach/Athletic Director, Astoria High School, Astoria, Oregon

As a coach, you hope that the experiences in sports competitions help prepare your student-athletes for more than just games, but for life. Travois does a tremendous job of casting a vision for what life can be like relying on the same principles of success (carried over) from the field of competition. I would strongly recommend Travois (if you are seeking) a top-notch leadership training, team building and team-bonding experience!

Isaac Parker
Assistant Football Coach, Lewis & Clark College/Former Head Football Coach, McNary High School, Keizer, Oregon

TEAM BUILDING CLIENTS SERVED BY TRAVOIS

West Albany HS, Albany, Oregon Football Team and Coaching Staff	Auburn Riverside HS, Auburn, Washington Girls’ Basketball Team (3-day clinic)	McNary HS, Keizer, Oregon Football Team and Coaching Staff
Oregon City HS, Oregon City, Oregon Football Team and Coaching Staff	Astoria HS, Astoria, Oregon Football Team and Coaching Staff	Western Oregon University Football and Volleyball Teams

EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION AND INTERVENTIONS FOR AT-RISK TEENS

Programs are large enough to create opportunities for bonding and team building yet small enough to allow for individual instruction when appropriate. A planned outdoor adventure is one of our greatest allies in treating teenage problems. Leaving behind the distractions of computers, television, social media and negative peers, teens are free to shed their ‘look-good’ and connect with themselves in a deeper way.

The teen participants are actively engaged in every aspect of the outdoor adventure, from team-building activities – games, initiatives, problem solving and paddle team member – to camp set up and meal preparation. We challenge participants to be vision focused and “masters of their own destiny!” Unfortunately, too often therapeutic recreation service consists of practitioners doing ‘for’ the clients rather than creating a climate where they are encouraged to do ‘for’ themselves.

Independent outcome studies confirm that wilderness teen therapy programs are highly effective in providing help for troubled teens.

YOUTH ORGANIZATIONS & COUNSELING SERVICES SERVED BY TRAVOIS

	Chemawa Indian School
	Salem Boys & Girls Club
	Salem-Keizer School District Gubser Elementary, Whitaker Middle School and Other Schools Ongoing
	Nanitch Sahallie Residential Adolescent Treatment Center
	Salem Family YMCA
	Willamette University Counseling Services & Residential Life
	Abiqua Academy