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About: Matt
- Website
- http://newriveracademy.org
- Profile
- Matt Smink grew up in Pennsylvania where he discovered whitewater on the Youghiogheny river. He earned his bachelor degree from Edinboro Pennsylvania where he studied Applied Media arts and History. Matt went on to work a variety of whitewater and outdoor jobs in the past ten years which included Raft Guiding, Video Boating, Ridgerunning on the Appalachian Trail, Ski Patrolling in the mountains of Utah and being a wilderness river ranger for the forest service on the Middle Fork and Main Salmon Rivers of Idaho. Matt returned to west virginia to work as a videographer and web developer with WELD in Fayetteville, WV. He has joined the team at New River Academy as the Media Specialist/ Marketing Director, as well as the Social Studies Teacher.
Posts by Matt Smink:
Author Archive
New River Academy in Hornopiren
Saturday, February 27th, 2010
Kayak School Academic Report | Do you know what your media students are doing?
Friday, February 19th, 2010As the New River Academy Media Specialist I have to juggle a lot of projects and assignments with the kayak school. It also gives me the opportunity to torment my students with an endless barrage of assignments that continually challenge them and improve their technical media skills as well as concept driven visual communication.
The Video II students have been working there fingers to the bone on a documentary style series of videos for Chile Rivers.org, a service learning project that intends to promote ecotourism to the rivers of Chile. This is an ambitious project that hopes to help halt the damming of Chilean rivers by stimulating another use of these resources: tourism. When this site is finished it will become a comprehensive guide for tourists and kayakers looking to explore the rivers of Chile.
The photo students are busy developing their skills in visual communication. After spending a semester learning the technical aspects of photography, photo students are moving into the next step of the trade: concept photography. Students will be given focused assignments such as lifestyle photography, landscape photography, whitewater photography, and abstract photography. Each student will produce a final project of their choice.
Stay tuned to the NRA kayak blog to see what our media students are producing.
See you on the water!
Images from NRA Logistics Trip Slideshow
Thursday, February 18th, 2010This is really just a shameless attempt to show of the NRA blog’s new slideshow component.
These images came from the Kayak Schools logistical research trip over winter break. It gives everyone a glimpse of the epic destinations to come!
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Kayak School Academic Report | Us History Civil War Project
Friday, November 6th, 2009Well the kayak school is back in session, and we hit the ground running. The students in my US History class are about to start studying one of the most pivotal moments in our countrie’s history, the Civil War. We spent all week analyzing the causes of the civil war and next week we will study the war itself.
Students will research the major battles of the Civil War and use this research to create a series of battle maps. Each map will describe a major battle of the war in order to help students understand how the war moved across the eastern US.
In addition to the map, students will create a comic strip style narrative, which will explain how the battles developed and were resolved. My students are always encouraged to be as creative as possible with their work and I am looking forward to seeing what they come up with.
New River Academy | Do You Know Where The Kayak School Has Been?
Saturday, October 17th, 2009The Students at New River Academy have been around. This map illustrates the adventure our kayak school has undertaken during our first quarter. Your New River Academy geography students will be creating maps like these for every river we explore in Chile.
Click on the red Points of interest to see geotagged photos for each point. Or click the link to see more detailed information about our travels.
NRA First Quarter POIs
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Geography at New River Academy | More than just maps.
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009When this kayak school studies geography, it becomes an immersive experience. It wouldn’t be enough to simply look at maps all day and memorize countries and capitals. At the New River Academy your student will make their own maps that document their travels.
Matt Hill took the geography elective this year and he will be creating an interactive GIS (Geographic Information System) in order to provide other kayakers an exhaustive resource of the rivers we will paddle in Chile.
In order to prepare him for this arduous task, I have given Matt the assignment of mapping the Gauley River. He will be using the kayak schools own waterproof GPS to track the river, mark and label each major rapid, photograph the rapids, and finally write a description of every marked waypoint.
All of this data will be compiled using Google Earth, to create a tour with photos and descriptions, which correspond with every waypoint on the river.
After Matt has accomplished this, he will take these skills and apply them to the Rivers of Chile. Matt will create some of the most detailed online river guides to date, and make them available to paddlers all over the world. Eventually this database of Chile Rivers will be the number one online resource for traveling whitewater enthusiasts, and all thanks to Matt Hill and the amateur GIS team at NRA.
New River Academy | Kayak School goes subterranean
Sunday, September 20th, 2009
New River Academy Student Matt Hill and Instructor Andy Kirby explore a side cave
After two solid weeks of playboating on the Ottawa River, NRA needed a day off the water.
That means… field trip!
We set out in the morning for Lusk Caverns in Quebec. It is a natural marble cavern that sits on the southern perimeter of the Canadian shield.
The Canadian Shield (for all you non-geologists) is a massive layer of precambrian rock centered over the Hudson Bay and covered in shallow layer of topsoil. This shield was scraped almost clean of fertile soil by the glaciers of the last ice age; leaving an acidic layer of soil which is mostly covered by swampland.
After a two hour drive and 4.5 kilometer hike we arrived at the Cave entrance.
The caverns took us through an underground creek that cuts through solid marble. There were a few side caves that required some climbing.
Matt Hill is a cave Troll
Afterwards we took a dip in Lake Phillipe, and headed back to the Ottawa.
First Day of Kayak School with New River Academy
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009We started class today at Go Huge at our beautiful riverside accommodations courtesy of Wilderness Tours. We had a 7:00 am morning workout called the 21 gun salute mainly consisting of push-ups and sit-ups. Then breakfast at 7:30 followed by a full day of class starting at 8:00 am till 3:00 pm.
David Hughes teaches Spanish Class at New River Academys Ottowa Outpost
The school day flew by, the sun came out and soon it was time for our kayak training.
Andy Kirby teaches Calculus to Matt hill
The first lesson of the day was core lesson: The Shove-it. It was a technique which requires the student look upstream while initiating a wave move.
While a simple move on it’s own, the “head discipline” will be a great asset to students wanting to achieve mastery of more advanced moves.
Steve Forester Takes his lesson to the next level on the Corner Wave
Eric keeping his eyes upstream... I guess someone was paying attention.
New River Academy Students learn firsthand about Hydrology
Monday, August 31st, 2009
Haakon goes to the front of the class at the Kayak School.
Amongst our busy curriculum here at The Center for Huge Experiences, is a physics class taught by Andy Kirby. But the river provides it’s own lesson in physics, called hydrology. Kayak School requires combining classroom lessons with real-life experiences. For example Students Stephen Forester, Clay Whittaker, and Haaken Samuelson learn what it’s like to be just another drop of water…
Stephen Forester Taking Phil's Hole Right Down the Guts
But he doesn't quite make it...
So he takes a ride...
Clay decides to join him...
Together they form a hydrology study group..
Kayak School In Canada with the New River Academy
Monday, August 31st, 2009
Kayak school in canada. Go Huge crosses the border.
The new river academy just arrived in Canada to start their 1st Fall Quarter on the Ottawa River. With our fine accommodations at the Keeners kayak camp, we can put in at the front door of our school house.
It is a cold weekend in Canada as the Go Huge Experiences crew set up the school building and went out for our first session on the corner wave. Fortunately the water is warm, since Hurricane Dan has brought a cold front along with all of it’s rain.
Now the weekend is over but the adventure has just begun. New River Academy starts class tomorrow and we will very busy with our new schedule. But that won’t keep us from updating our posts!
New River Academy
Rt. 2 Box 245
Fayetteville, WV 25484
(304)- 574-0403
Fax: (304) 513-2247
New River
Academy
