Clip Into Adventure
Registration Fill out the Printable Registration Form and mail to the Jefferson Service Center
Check the Calendar for the latest COPE and Mountaineering schedule.
The Northeast Georgia Council of the Boy Scouts of America offers the Project C.O.P.E. program at Camp Rainey Mountain in Clayton, Georgia. C.O.P.E. is the acronym derived from Challenging Outdoor Personal Eexperience. The program is composed of group initiative games, trust events, low-course events and high- course events. Some activities involve a group challenge, while others develop individual skills and agility. Participants climb, swing, balance, jump, rappel and devise solutions to a variety of problems. Most participants achieve much more than they imagine they could.
The stimulating activities and events of Project C.O.P.E. are designed to meet the needs of people of all ages who are seeking ways to challenge and expand their physical and mental abilities. As a noncompetitive program, Project C.O.P.E. permits every participant to be a winner, and the underlying goals of Project C.O.P.E. preserve the objective of the Boy Scouts of America. The group activities are ideal for enhancing the leadership and teamwork of Scout units and activities challenging individuals can be used to bolster self-esteem and promote personal growth.
There are seven major goals that the Project C.O.P.E. program emphasizes:
- Teamwork
Teamwork is the key that allows a group to meet a C.O.P.E. challenge successfully. The C.O.P.E. experience makes it clear that each individual can accomplish more as a member of a team than by going it alone.
- Communication
Project C.O.P.E. encourages real learning of critical listening and discussion skills important for any group attempting to accomplish difficult tasks.
- Trust
Participants completing difficult tasks on a C.O.P.E. course develop trust in C.O.P.E. staff members, the safety of the course and each other and themselves.
- Leadership
Leadership is given and assumed naturally, and it can be expressed in many ways. Team members attempting to solve problems on a C.O.P.E. course have many opportunities to develop and exercise leadership skills.
- Decision Making
Project C.O.P.E. requires groups to make decisions by developing one or more solutions to a problem, considering the available resources and alternatives, and evaluating the probable results.
- Problem Solving
Project C.O.P.E. challenges groups and individual to develop solutions to interesting problems. Participants can then test their solutions and evaluate the results.
- Self-Esteem
Meeting the challenges of a C.O.P.E. course allows individuals and groups to develop self-esteem and encourages them to adopt challenging, attainable goals.
As was mentioned before a Project C.O.P.E. experience is composed of initiative games, trust events, low-course activities and high-course activities. What are these?
- Initiative Games
Initiative games are used at the beginning of each C.O.P.E. session to help participants learn to work together through communications and trust to achieve their goals. For example, Punctured Drum challenges a group to fill a perforated 55-gallon drum with water as quickly as possible. The Challenge can be made more difficult by blindfolding participants or prohibiting them from speaking.
- Low-Course Events
Low-course events do not require participants to be on "belay" (use of a safety line to protect against falls on events six feet or more above ground). While individual coordination and strength are helpful, participants accomplish the low-course activities with the support and combined efforts of their group.
- High-Course Events
A C.O.P.E. activity is considered a high-course event if participants must be on belay. High-course events also tend to focus on individual initiative rather than group problem solving. For example, Caving Ladder and Zip Wire can only be accomplished one participant at a time. However, these events must be completed with group support and safety belays.
Who can participate in Project C.O.P.E.? Based on current policy for the Boy Scouts of America and the Northeast Georgia Council, Project C.O.P.E. is open to all individuals who are 13 and older as of January 1 of the year they plan to participate in the program. Project C.O.P.E. is open to both boys and girls who are registered with any Boy Scout unit such as a Troop or Explorer Post.
When can my unit participate in a Project C.O.P.E. program? The Council's Project C.O.P.E. Team has set the open C.O.P.E. weekends throughout the year. Check out the latest [an error occurred while processing this directive] schedule.
Additionally Project C.O.P.E. is offered as a part of the Camp Rainey Mountain summer camp program in a week long adventure for more information about this version of the program please see the summer camp leaders guide. The Open C.O.P.E. weekend program is designed to participate in initiative games and the low-course on Saturday and the high-course on Sunday. For reservations please pickup a reservation form at any of the Northeast Georgia Council Scout offices or complete the registration form here.
For more information, contact the Senior COPE Director.
All participants must complete and sign a Medical Screening/Liability Release form in order to participate.
Click the appropriate link to download theAdult or Youth screening/release form.