An Introduction to UMPA 

UMPA, Urban Modification of Project Adventure, began as a title IV C ESEA Project to Improve Local Education Practices. It was designed to demonstrate that “adventure activities could be successfully implemented system-wide in an urban school district, and as an alternative to traditional Physical Education activities. Just as Project Adventure adapted Outward Bound activities to meet the needs of urban school systems.

This project has grown from and idea in the minds of a few Cambridge Physical Education Teachers early in 1978, to a pilot program at the Longfellow and CAPS Schools, to a Title IV C project and finally to its present state – a city-wide non-traditional approach to Physical Education in the Cambridge Public Schools.

The overwhelming personal and organizational support that the UMPA staff has received at all stages of project development has been a major factor in the success of the UMPA project. The UMPA Staff and Curriculum Committee would like to say “thank you” to all the people and organizations who have helped make our ideas become realities for the children of Cambridge—possibly for urban youth everywhere.

Goals:

1. Respct and Support for each other
2. Increase self-esteem
3. Increase Agility, Coordination, and Physical Fitness
4. Group Decision making and Leadership
5. Appreciation and Respect for Differences
6. No Put Downs

UMPA Credits