Delivering Workshops at Conferences

Call for Presenters

Orienteering-based education is good for kids. It teaches not only map navigation skills, but develops spatial awareness, physical fitness, self-confidence, and leads to improved academic and social outcomes. By enabling teachers throughout the country to lead orienteering activities in an effective way, we can greatly expand the number of kids who experience and benefit from orienteering.

We are seeking orienteers and others to spread the word to educators. There are many different types of educator conferences. These might include conferences for school administrators, teachers of various subjects, or organizations that advocate for children or sport.

If you are willing to present at a conference, Navigation Games will help you get started! We will provide:

• Assistance identifying nearby conferences and applying to present a workshop

• Detailed activity plan, slide deck, and list of materials

• Coordination with OUSA for a map of the venue and reimbursement of conference fees

• Outreach to the venue to deliver future orienteering events and activities on the conference map

Contact us for next steps!

What You Will Do as a Presenter

Time commitment

We estimate that it will take 8-15 hours of your time for a 1-day conference workshop, over 4-6 weeks:

• 3-6 hours prior to the conference: review & approve the workshop application; review & edit the activity plan and slide deck; pack materials; practice.

• 4-8 hours on the day of the conference: attend some sessions to network with other attendees (if you have the time); hang control flags; deliver the workshop; pick up controls. 

• 1 hours after the conference: meet with us to review how it went and talk about next steps.

Workshop content

You can use our activity plan as-is (see a typical plan below), modify it, or create your own. We ask that your workshop include:

• Information about the sport of orienteering

• An experiential component: getting participants to try out activities is much more engaging than pure lecture style.

• Collect contact information from attendees and send it to us for follow-up

• The Orienteering Development Model, with emphasis on stages 1 and 2 -- an experiential and progressive approach to teaching

• Navigation Games resources including free lesson plans and a teaching kit you can order from our website

• OUSA resources including events, the Youth Development Program, the Youth Mapping Program, the Development Model, coaching training, and resources for bringing orienteering to youth

An example workshop activity plan

For a detailed plan, see this page.

1. Introductions, "do now" activity, participant expectations and experience; collect attendees contact information

2. Clue sheet activity: use a clue sheet to find checkpoints in the room or outdoor space. Draw a map to communicate a checkpoint location to another person.

3. Information about the sport of orienteering

4. Geometric-O activity: use a map to visit checkpoints laid out in a grid. Keep your map oriented! (Freeze when the whistle blows, and start over from the beginning if your map is not oriented!)

5. Team Score-O

6. Reflection on the activities and adaptation of one activity to each participant's program

You are in good company...

The following orienteers, staff and teachers are some who have presented, or will present, at educator conferences coordinated by Navigation Games. Feel free to reach out to any of them to find out more about their experience at conferences.

1. Barb Bryant (Navigation Games, NEOC, OUSA Youth Mapping Program)

2. Evalin Brautigam (WCOC, OUSA coach & National Team Member): Massachusetts Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (MAHPERD, Nov 2024), Maine Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (ME AHPERD, Nov 2024)

3. Rich Parker (BAOC): Association for Experiential Education West Regional Conference (AAE West, Mar 2023)

4. David Landrigan (NEOC): Massachusetts Environmental Education Society (MEES, Mar 2023); MAHPERD 2023; Agenda for Children 2023

5. Ethan Childs (former National Team Member, Navigation Games board member): Several PE teacher conferences (MAHPERD, AEE NE 2025)

6. Deb Humiston (UNO): Deb has presented at environmental and physical education conferences in the past. She co-presented with Navigation Games at the NH Environmental Educators conference (NHEE, Mar 2024) and NHEE Annual conference (Mar 2025).

7. Don Fish (QOC): Co-presented at the Virginia Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (VAHPERD, Nov 2022)

8. Diana Aleksieva (QOC): VA Adventure Ed Conference (Feb 2025)

9. David Waller (BOK): AEE SE Regional Conference (Feb 2025) 

10. Emilee Vizenor (MNOC, Outreach Coordinator, OUSA YMP): American Camp Association (ACA) Winnekota Leadership Summit (Mar 2025)

11. Bridget Hall, (MNOC, NEOC, National Team Member), American Camp Association (ACA) Winnekota Leadership Summit (Mar 2025)

12. Erin Schirm (former OUSA Junior Team Coach): California Association for Environmental & Outdoor Education (May 2025)

13. Julia Doubson (BAOC, former National Team Member): California Association for Environmental & Outdoor Education (May 2025)

14. Maija Pratt (Navigation Games Executive Director, NEOC): MAHPERD (Nov 2023), MEES annual conferences (Mar 2023, Mar 2024), NHEE (Mar 2024) and SHAPE VT (Mar 2024, Mar 2025). 

15. Mikayla Moss (Navigation Games Program Manager, NEOC): NHEE (Mar 2025), SHAPE VT (Mar 2025)

16. Liz McNerney (Navigation Games board member): VAHPERD, Nov 2022

17. Libby Case (PE Teacher): MAHPERD 2023

18. Victoria Cavanaugh (7th grade math teacher): ATMIM 2024

19. Nuno Cossa (visiting orienteer from Mozambique): Agenda for Children Symposium 2023

20. Rob Tatro (PE Teacher): MAHPERD 2022

21. Ken Walker (CSU): SHAPE VT 2025

22. Jim Arsenault (UNO): NHEE 2025