About High 5 Adventure Learning

Who We Are

Front row l to r: Todd Brown, Dave Klim, Gary Hillsgrove, Middle row: Chris Ortiz, Ian Doak, Melissa Fitzgerald Back row: Jennifer Stanchfield, Jennifer Ottinger, Nicki Hall, Jim Grout,
Todd Brown
High 5's resident authority on design, construction and inspection of challenge course facilities, Todd has built more than 335 challenge courses and has been active in the drafting of industry building and inspection standards.
Jim Grout
Jim is the director and one of the founders of High 5 Adventure Learning Center and a veteran of more than 28 years in the adventure education field. Jim’s extensive knowledge and avid commitment to the power of adventure learning are evident throughout High 5’s programs. He began his adventure career in 1979 and since then has trained thousands of people in the art of adventure. Jim presents regularly at AEE, ACCT and AAHPERD conferences, regionally and nationally. He currently serves on the Certification Standards Committee of the Association for Challenge Course Technology. He has co-authored two books on adventure learning, The High 5 Guide: Challenge Course Operating Procedures for the Thinking Practitioner with Nicki Hall and Back Pocket Adventure with Karl Rohnke. He has also written numerous articles for various publications in the field. He holds a Masters in Education from Salem State College in Salem, MA
Melissa Fitzgerald
Melissa is our Office Coordinator and it's her voice you usually hear when we answer the phone. A true multi-tasker, Melissa is responsible for Open Enrollment Workshop registration and logistics, catalog orders, and keeping track of the comings and goings of the rest of us.
Nicki Hall
Nicki is a 27-year veteran of adventure education. She is one of the founders of High 5 Adventure Learning Center and continues to facilitate training workshops for both beginner and advanced level practitioners. During her years at High 5 and Project Adventure, her keen eye and thorough approach have been instrumental in developing techniques for assessing the technical skills of practitioners. Her skills as a facilitator and her knowledge of adventure education have helped countless programs develop and thrive. Whether she is leading a workshop, designing adventure curricula for schools and community groups, or facilitating team-building workshops, her passion is in helping adventure practitioners develop programs that are rich in spirit, practical in application and technically up to quality standards. She holds a Masters in Education from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA.
Jennifer Ottinger
Jen is our Business Manager and has 20 years of marketing and business management experience. She currently oversees our challenge course construction department where she is instrumental in customer service, new course development and scheduling.
Jennifer Stanchfield MS
Jen is High 5's training and program design coordinator and curriculum specialist. She began her professional involvement in Experiential Education in 1989. A focus of her work has been training facilitators, designing experientially based curriculum for schools and treatment programs and working directly with students and teachers. Through these experiences Jen has developed a repertoire of activities, tools and tricks that she enthusiastically shares with other facilitators in her byline “Facilitator’s Toolbox” and numerous conference presentations and workshops. She is co-author of: A Teachable Moment: A Facilitator's Guide to Activities for Processing, Debriefing, Reviewing, and Reflection and author of Tips & Tools: The art of Experiential Group Facilitation. She earned her undergraduate degree at the University of New Hampshire and holds a Masters of Science in Experiential Education from Minnesota State University Mankato. Jen currently serves as a board member of the Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT).
Chris Ortiz
Chris is a part of the training and program design team at High 5 Adventure Learning Center with more than 12 years of experience in Adventure Education. During that time he has developed and directed adventure programs and trainings in a variety of settings throughout the northeast, including day and resident camps, public and private schools and universities. These experiences inform his work in training challenge course program staff with the practical, technical and facilitation skills needed to provide quality programs. Chris has presented at numerous conferences both regionally and nationally where he has shared innovative tools and activities for facilitators and is currently working on putting his activity ideas into print. He has a degree in Recreation and Park Management from the Pennsylvania State University.

Return to Top