Getting 20 kids and staff from place to place is extremely difficult and can be stressful. It takes the whole group coming together and working as one to make it go smoothly. One way we try and make this is happen is by training students so we know how to work together. At the beginning of the school year David taught us how to load and unload the trailer efficiently. This saves us time and protects our gear.
Dave shows Fly how to load the trailer before heading out to the Siete Tasas. Photo by Colin Klein.
Even so, it is hard to travel with 20 people, 20-40 kayaks and all of our gear. This is why Dave also told us to pack light which helps a lot in our large group. Each student has his own backpack and a bills bag. A bills bag is an extra large dry bag with backpack straps. This is what we live out of for weeks at a time. I like using the bills bag because they are easy to pack, but it is not always easy to find things in them.
We share almost everything, we are a big family caring family. It helps that we are all close because we live so closely during the time we are traveling. This would be stressful, but we all know the routine so well it makes it easy to adapt to our new homes. That is how it goes super smoothly for a group of 20 traveling with kayaks in a foreign country.
Unknown: Ottawa paints the picture of born and bred Ottawa Valley rider Keegan Grady. His powerful voice narrates, while his enormous aerials and impressive river and creek lines remind us of the simple and pure essence of kayaking. Progression, passion, and the need to recognize and take action upon the ever-looming threats to rivers all over the planet are brought to life through the ardent soul of one of the whitewater world’s great Unknowns.
The flight into a foreign land is frightening. Not knowing what to expect or what you are going to see. The sights are breathtaking. The mountains are tall and steep and nothing like anything I have ever seen in the States. At first it is somewhat offsetting. But after a little bit you start to feel at home in this tough rugged land.
The air in the Maipo Valley is clean. You simply feel healthy living in such an amazing area. The food is all so fresh and the water is so cold and sweet. The people here are very friendly. They make you feel at home instantly. Even the stray dogs are friendly. It is hard to believe that just a 30 minute drive will take you back into a hustling city, crowded with loud cars and people. But here in the Maipo Valley, you don’t think about the city. You are just totally happy to be in location that is as beautiful as this.
The ” daily grind” here is not such a grind. It’s more of a vacation. On the average day here you wake up around 7:20 AM to go do a short workout that gets your blood flowing. Then directly after that you, and the rest of your classmates, head over to Carla’s house. She lives about a half mile away. To get to her house you have to cross two swinging bridges. The first bridge you must cross is about 40 feet above the, brown, fast, and breathtaking, Maipo river. Once you are across the bridge, you walk a short distance and you are at a far sketchier swinging bridge. It is over a small dried up creek, there is not much water in the creek but there are hundreds of beautiful yellow flowers growing on the banks. After walking very carefully across the second bridge, you walk about 100 yards and you are at Carla’s house and you can already smell the delicious breakfast Feilipe, our cook, has made for us.
After a delightful breakfast of fresh fruits, fruit juice, eggs, toast and various jellies and jams, you start your classes. Here in Chile you think it would be hard to concentrate on anything besides the breathtaking sites and the flowing rivers. But that is not the case. Being in an environment such as this it is easy to learn. Learning comes naturally. This makes the class work exciting. Every page of the books leads to something new and exciting, and this makes you eager to learn more! Even going down to the store to buy a snack teaches you something. You pick up on various Spanish words and phrases every time you interact with any of the locals. After your first four periods of school you take a short break for lunch. This involves embarking on an adventure across the two swinging bridges and back to Carla’s house where once again Felipe has prepared another fantastic meal to fuel our ever hungry stomachs. After the lunch we cross the bridges and begin the last 3 class periods of the day. The last three class periods feel like they will never end. Because at the end of our classes, we are able to do some of the best kayaking in the world.
The Maipo river runs fast, cold and brown. It is 100% snowmelt which makes the river somewhat brutal to paddle. You have to roll fast or you will most definitely get an ice-cream headache. Even with the harsh conditions of the Maipo, it is impossible not to fall in love with such a beautiful, strong, and mysterious river. Not knowing what is just inches below you, hidden in that brown muddy water, is part of the beauty of this incredible river. The other part of the Maipo’s beauty comes from the surrounding landscape. The rugged, dusty, rock mountains shoot up thousands of feet from the river’s edge into the great, blue, Chilean sky. It is safe to say that the Maipo Valley is a magical place.
When I tell people I am a math teacher I tend to receive the same sentiment every time: “I am so glad I never have to take a math class again” and “I hate math”. I sympathize. Even engineers and other science professionals struggle with math. This will inevitably persist because math is a difficult and abstract subject, but the majority of the reaction people have to math is the way that it is taught.
Ever have to memorize the times tables? Do you remember around 4th or 5th grade when you had to take a timed test showing your proficiency in multiplication? The feeling of anxiety and fear are probably already creeping up. The bottom line is that standard pedagogical practices such as this teach students that math is to be memorized by rote, and it is to be done quickly, without thinking. I am a math teacher and I honestly do not have the times tables memorized. I know the threes, fives, tens, elevens, and the perfect squares. From this I can derive every multiple up to 13 times 13. Take 9*6, that is 9*5 +9, 54. It has been shown that the most high achieving math students minimize the amount that they memorize by using strategies such as this. Many books encourage students to believe that memorization and short problem solving is the way that math really is.
That is why this year NRA chose to overhaul it’s math curriculum. We chose a curriculum entitled cpm: College Preparatory Math. There are two fundamentally diametrically opposed approaches to teaching math. One is where the students are told math, and asked to repeat it. In the other students are given problems that require them to problem solve and in some way recreate math themselves. Each has it’s advantages, telling students math is very fast, and can lead students to be able to solve a variety of problems efficiently and accurately. Having students problem solve leads them to develop a general approach to solving problems, they are more self reliant and can be more critical of their own methods and strategies. CPM strikes a balance between these two extremes, students are asked to solve problems that are challenging and often wordy(much like real life problems). When the students get stuck the instructor can fill in gaps in knowledge to move them forward with their thinking and approach.
CPM has been shown to be effective through research and multiple studies. You can read the research and philosophical basis for the curriculum here. The main issues with this curriculum is that students have less procedural proficiency and they tend to cover fewer topics. This tends to happen because students cover each topic in further depth, giving students a better chance at retention. Does anyone remember what the law of sines is now? That is probably due to the fact that you were asked to learn it and then tested on it five days later, never to return to it. That is not the case with CPM. CPM has a review and preview section at the end of every lesson where students practice past and future concepts for homework.
So far this curriculum has been very successful with the students. We have done a number of group presentations, projects, and experiments. I wouldn’t set the goal of math to be for every student to love math, but a good gauge is how well people understand the math, and the effort that they are willing to put into solving a problem . Every student has shown improvement in there understanding of number relationships, functions, and graphs. They also tend to spend more time working independently to answer their own questions before asking the teacher(self-sufficiency will be key in later academic life). This I believe is math success, students who are willing to spend time solving problems, and change their strategies when they are not successful(pliability in problem solving), and are constantly evaluating their own processes to come up with better ones.
To finish up our time in West Virginia we took a day off to learn about ropes and knots. This ropes and knots safety day was lead by two highly qualified safety experts: Moose and Logan. They taught us about many different kinds of knots, systems, and practical uses for these systems. We started off the day with some simple knots such as the figure 8 followthrough, bowline, anchor, water knot, prusik, and double fishermans. A variety of these knots are necessary to any safety system that you will put together. One of the big systems we learned and practiced was the Z-drag. The Z-drag provides a mechanical advantage of three times, so you can do three times the work with the same amount of effort. To make a Z-drag you need an anchor, two biners, three prusiks, and a rope. You attach one end of the rope to the thing you are trying to move (boat?) and then you attach the rope to a biner that is attached to the anchor. Then you take the rope back towards the boat and attach a prusick to the rope attached to the boat and then the new end of the rope, making a V shape (half of the Z). After that you attach another biner to the end of the V and go back in the direction of the anchor, completing the Z. Some of the others things that we learned were how to use a car as an anchor, how to tie someone into a body board, and how to lift someone from a canyon. All of these skills will be very useful when we go to Chile because we will be in many canyons while paddling. A big thanks to Moose and Logan for spending the day with us and making the course so fun!
Learning and practicing some basic knots.
A prime example of an anchor for a Z-drag.
Moose demonstrating how to use a PFD as a harness.
Ziggy being lowered down a cliff by his classmates.
The small town of Fayetteville is a hotspot for outdoor lovers of all kinds, from whitewater kayakers to base jumpers. Like any other town, Fayetteville has signature locations, people, and even signs. These are things that people who have been to Fayetteville before would instantly recognize if they saw them.
For this photo assignment my goal was to capture some of these special locations in Fayetteville through photograph. I used different photographing techniques such as interesting angles, framing, leading the eye, and the use of colours to make photos of the town interesting. I captured to the best of my ability the essence of the town by taking photos capable of telling stories all around the town of Fayetteville.
New River Gorge Bride emerging from the fog early in the morning.
New River Gorge capturing the early morning clouds.
A popular destination for kayakers. Can you recognize the house?
This way to the park.
A gas station in Fayetteville.
Can you tell where you are on the main street in Fayetteville?
Anyone who has partied in Fayetteville has partied at Charlie's.
These friendly robots are found all over Fayetteville.
On our way to West Virginia we took two days off of school to stop in Niagara Falls. Not only did we get to see the magnificent falls from a helicopter but we did many other fun activities. We got a fun pass for the night in downtown Niagara and also got to go on a jet-boat whirlpool tour. Our night in Niagara was lots of fun with all the different activities on our fun passes. There was a great outdoor mini-golf course which was a main attraction for our group. There was also a huge wheel from which you could see the falls. In the morning we headed towards the falls for our helicopter tour. At first I was really nervous to be going up hundreds of feet in the air in a small, loud, enclosed space. After many horror stories from the boys and a lot of nervous energy burned I was up in the air in the first helicopter with the owner Rudy as our pilot. It turned out that I survived the ride of a lifetime. Soaring high above the class 6 rapids of the Niagara Gorge was a very exhilarating experience and seeing the falls for the first time in my life could not have been better from the ground. Right after our trip to the falls we got in the van and moved on to our next adventure. We flew up and down the class 6 rapids that we saw from the helicopter in a huge jet-boat. With 20 foot crashing waves it was almost as exciting as the helicopter ride but it still did not compare to seeing the falls from that unique angle. Thanks to Joe Kowalski and the Droujkos for making these fun-filled few days possible.
Students back on the ground after their helicopter ride.
Are you a freestyle kayaker born between ’95 and ‘98?
If you answered yes then you’ll want to read this article about preparing for the 2013 Freestyle World Championships on the Nantahala River.
Courtney Kerin wins the silver medal at the 2011 World Championships. Congratulations Courtney!
Most parents and students think you want to train hardest just prior to a Worlds event. While this is true there is something even more crucial to consider, qualifying for the event.
How does a junior kayaker qualify for a national team?
A national team trials is held the year before the world championships. Meaning the trials for the 2013 World Championships will be held sometime during 2012 at the Nantahala River.
Coach Stephen Wright is the world's best coach. Your training and coaching this year is the best prep you can have for trials in 2012.
To best prepare for the 2013 World Championships a junior will want to train for the team trials held the year prior. The point we are trying to share with you is that a year of training with New River Academy during 2011-12 is a tremendous advantage to making your national team.
What are the age qualifications? The following reference is taken direct from the International Canoe Federation regulations page.
3.5 The first year a competitor can compete as a junior is the year in which his/her 15th birthday falls. The last year a competitor can compete as a junior is the year in which his/her 18th birthday falls.
If you are born ’95 to ’98 then you are the right age for the next junior world championships.
Why is a year of training with New River Academy the best preparation for making a national team in 2012?
• Coaching includes world bronze medalist Stephen Wright. David Hughes as an Associated Press awarded coach has coached multiple international champions. Sponsored professionals Brian Jennings and John McConnville join the team this year too.
• Training at the Nantahala feature. If you’re serious about making the prestigious Team USA then you’ll want to train at the feature. Whoever is best at the feature will make the team.
• Weekly mock rodeos best prep athletes for mental game.
• Competing with your peers. If you rise to the top of New River Academy team then you’re going to make the national team. It’s a proven fact.
Past New River Academy Champions:
Courtney Kerin- 2011 Runner-up World Champ.
Coach Stephen Wright- 2011 and ’09 Bronze Medals in World Champs
Jason Craig- 2009 World Champ
Todd Baker- 2005 Bronze Medal World Championships
Pat Keller- 2003 Runner-up World Champ
Ali Wade- 2003 Runner-up World Champ & ’02 World Cup Champ
Emily Jackson- Two-time World Champ attended New River Academy for her fall 7th grade semester.
Mike Quinif- 2002 World Cup Champ
Can you still apply for 2011-2012? Yes. You can still apply. Click to learn about our “Easy to Apply process.”
How can you learn more about New River Academy academics and training? You can call or email David Hughes to learn more.
C- 304-640-1001 or email: hugeh2o@yahoo.com
John McConville here, the replacement coach for Tino. Although I’ve only had a short time to work with all the kids, I feel its been a super productive week. Bringing forth new inspiration with an “out of the box” kind of view for the NRA program, I’m honored to work with these amazingly talented students. The kids are always expressing the will to learn and progress which makes for an extremely productive learning environment.
Since May 1st we’ve all run 6 different sections of whitewater in 3 different states. Ranging from easy class 3 to hard class 4 the students have excelled in every form/style of river running and freestyle. Some of the river’s paddled include runs like the Big Sandy, Cheat River Race and the Upper Yough. I’ve especially put forth a lot of effort making sure the World Freestyle team competitors have been getting the competition training they need. Putting the pressure on a bit with timed comps and strict routines. One step at a time these competitors are progressing with style! Group discussions have sparked new idea’s in all of the students minds with different technique’s to progressing basic skills which round out even the best of paddlers. Stepping it up a notch, all the student have shown great knowledge when it comes to setting safety on the river. Everyone in the group knows how to set up a Z-drag (mechanical-advantage), do simple rope work, tie useful knots, and are always positioned where safety is needed most! Above and beyond that, everyone’s decision making has been in the interest of longevity. As a kayaker, One of my personal goals is to remain healthy both physically and mentally to insure a lifetime of paddling. After relaying this message and continuing to make good decisions I feel the students have a bright future awaiting them.
Speaking of a bright future, the sun is out and the warm summer air feels great here in Ohiopyle, PA today. Morning work outs are over, chocolate chip pancakes in our bellies, and a full day of class’s both on and off the water will round out an exciting day. Excited for the day and excited for tomorrow, we are living the dream!
Here is a short video made by Jacob Slobodian in New River Academy Video class. The requirements for this project were to include timelapses, text animation, and interviews.
