Course Update - May 13th

33 days until our high season.

In the field, Tri-Country is on their fifth day of their surf course in Playa Tulin, which is good timing because the rangers at Tulin have a lot of projects they could use help on. They wil be at Tulin until the 14th and will finish out their surf course at Manuel Antonio for seven days.

Canyon School flew in Saturday night and were shuttled to Las Rejas Sunday morning. They arrived at their first homestay at the Lopez house a little after noon on Monday.

Leadership is down in the cocina for day 4 of their WFR course with Phil Perez. They will be doing the WFR until the 19th.

What is a WFR, you ask? The WFR, Wilderness First Responder, is a certification combining the Emergency Response Certification with additional hours of curriculum and practice for application in the wilderness setting. The ERC (a 48-hour DOT course certification) is required for police, athletic trainers and firemen in the USA, and it is administered by the American Red Cross (ARC). Due to the remote nature of our courses our lead field staff are required to have successfully completed the WFR course. Certification from ARC and CRROBS is valid for 3 years.

From One Forest to Another

Apart from an abundance of oxygen, what do the redwood forests of California and the rainforests of Costa Rica have in common? This week, a group of five 8th graders from The Canyon School in California and their principal, Chris Kerrigan will have the opportunity to find out for themselves as they compare the rich and unique ecosystems of Costa Rica with that of their home town in Northern California.

Canyon is an exemplary school that takes a unique approach to education, providing an intimate learning environment for kindergartners to 8th graders and fostering a diverse classroom environment. Students are divided into three classrooms, one for K-2, one for 3-5 and one for 6-8, allowing them to help and learn from one another.

During their time in Costa Rica this group of students will be led by Costa Rican Instructor Santiago Lopez and Foreign National Instructor Rob Wyrwicki on an 8-day multi-element expedition, including trekking, homestays, surfing, rafting and zip-lining. They will return home with a broader understanding of the world and a greater appreciation for the environment.

NAUI Scuba Certification

This week two of our courses, Leadership and Tri-Country, are in Panama getting SCUBA certified by our very own Executive Director, Jim Rowe, PhD.

So what does it take to get SCUBA certified, you might ask (especially if you're a parent, wondering what your child must go through in order to get such a gold stamp)?

First of all, all of our students' certifications are backed by NAUI (National Association of Underwater Instructors) Worldwide, the world's most respected, largest non-profit diver training organization in the world. It was established in 1959 as a membership association and organized solely to support and promote Dive Safety Through Education.

The course lasts 3-5 days, and it looks like this:

* Contained Dive: This usually happens in a pool or very shallow water to practice standard rhythmic breathing and buddy breathing.
* Open Dive #1: Students descend in water approximately 10-20 feet for 45+ minutes or more, always with an instructor. They must apply a few practical emergency skills, such as mask clear and retrieval of regulator. Hand signals are also practiced.
* Open Dive #2: Students again descend in water with their instructor about 10-20 feet for 45+ minutes. Practical challenges consist of Dive #1 tests in addition to a few more.
* Open Dive #3: Students descend for another 45+ minutes with their instructor, this time about 20-30 feet. Practical challenges include those of Dive #1 and #2, and the instructor will add a few more, such as equipment removal and reapplication.
* Open Dive #4: This is the final 45-minute dive with their instructor, and students must quickly be able complete all practical challenges as well as troubleshoot fake emergency situations.
* Free Dive: Students are allowed to explore always within sight of instructor.

And lastly, SCUBA - for your trivia lesson of the day - means Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.

Course Update - May 4th

Off to Panama!

Two of our current courses are in Panama together this week, becoming SCUBA professionals.

Leadership left this morning after an educational weekend at a pool getting their Lifeguard certification from the Asociación Costarricense de Guardavidas (Costa Rican Life Saving Association). Leadership has one more month to go! Well done, estudiantes.

Tri-Country left yesterday from base, after an exciting day busing/hiking up Volcan Turrialba on Saturday. After picking out some fresh fruit at our local Feria (our weekly farmers' market), they were bused two hours outside of San Jose to see the active volcano in Turrialba. Because of gases releasing from this active volcano, officials force visitors to depart after only 20 minutes of taking pictures and staring in amazement into the crater. On the way home, the group stopped at a local queso (cheese) shop - an important stop since the Turrialba area known for its fresh cheese. They worked it off in the afternoon with a vigorous game of volleyball at base.

Course Update - May 1

Happy May Day! While most Costa Ricans are resting today, our students are working hard out in the wilderness. Here's the scoop:

Tri-Country students will leave tomorrow to hike Volcan Turrialba (an area known for its incredible tico cheese) which is about two hours outside of San Jose in the Cartago province.

Leadership students are celebrating the completion of their Technical Ropes & Rescue Operations (TRRO) certification. They are getting geared up for more leadership education as they head into Lifeguard Training this weekend in San Jose or Tres Rios.