|
This is the first semester in over 20 years
that Eastfield has not had a Kayaking and Canoeing class. However,
it will return next fall semester.
"We had to find a different way to
present it because of the low numbers of participants,"
Mike Henry, a Professor of Physical Education said. "Probably
in the fall it will be condensed into a fast track three-week
course."
In the past there have always been two separate classes of white
water kayaking and white water canoeing offered. Classroom and
pool time is required before the trip at the end of the course,
where students take a "river trip."
"We take the beginning students to San Marcos because I
know it'll always give them adequate water flow," Henry
said. "Though advanced students we sometimes take to rivers
in Arkansas, some in Oklahoma, we never know about the trips,
except San Marcos, because it all depends on the level of the
river and water flow."
Mike Henry has been teaching kayaking and
canoeing for 25 years. In his calm and quiet manner Henry said,
"I enjoy it myself. I enjoy kayaking in my own leisure time."
A common fear of canoeing and kayaking
is of rolling and tipping over. "We learn the Eskimo roll
in class," Henry said. "Students had to expect being
upside down."
Though it is not anymore dramatic rolling than over in a pool,
in a river can be a different story.
"Students can get a little spooked
the first time they roll on the fiver trip," Henry said.
"But this is about learning, and they always do very well."
Schools like Eastfield are unique, because
they offer students the experience something they might not be
able to if it were not for the school.
"These classes give students the chance
to kayak where they might not have any other place but here to
try."
And for many, this is a first- time activity
as well. "Most of the students have never done this before,"
Henry said. "And some have made it a lifetime recreation
for themselves after [this class]."
For more information about the classes,
contact Mike Henry at (972) 860-7140 or MikeHenry@dcccd.edu.
|
