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The ropes course at Rehoboth was built in 1996 and 97 with a generous gift by Robert and Laurie Smickley of Brookfield, Wisconsin. The course was built with the help of a group of students from Calvin College who came back to build the course with Don Tamminga after spending a semester here at Rehoboth in the Calvin extension program in the SW. The climbing tower was built the summer of 1996 and the rest of the ropes course was built over a two week period during the summer of 1997. The course consists of four separate high units including a climbing tower, a pamper pole, a unit called the dangling duo, and the pentagon which has ten elements or initiatives on it. The high elements are designed to focus on individual challenges and learning. The course also contains 10 low elements which focus on group work and cooperation. The course has been used in a variety of ways in the past ten years with no doubt the most significant being leadership development among Rehoboth students themselves who are trained to be facilitators on the course leading other groups from within the school and groups from the outside including other schools, Juvenile Probation, police officers and cadets, church groups and some staff development among businesses and government agencies. The ropes course has been a catalyst for other outdoor adventure based programs here at Rehoboth and has inspired numerous students to pursue careers or avocations in the area of outdoor leadership and education, as well as numerous interests in climbing.
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