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Staff Bios

Who Does New River Academy Employ?

Working for a high school that travels the world seeking the best cultural, educational, and whitewater destinations seems like the perfect job for an educator. But is it?

When Andy Kirby was interviewed to become the mathematics instructor he was asked, "What is the most important aspect of teaching?" Andy summed it up with four words, "You have to care."

Lets not kid ourselves. Traveling with a dozen teens in a communal environment is demanding. Staff have to be educators first, care for their students, be a role model, and be a part of a team. Teaching is not always easy. But with the right employees New River Academy students develop into impressive ambassadors and gain acceptance to the best universities.

Meet Your Teachers

David Hughes, Executive Director

David is the founder and director of the New River Academy. David still actively leads programs, coaches, and teaches courses as trips allow.

David began his educational career as a wrestling coach and science teacher for Walker County Schools, GA. As a former NCAA Division I athlete David has always had a drive to succeed that is fostered in Huge Experiences programs. During his first year as head coach the Georgia Associated Press voted David as the Coach of the Year. “To this date the coach of the year honor was my proudest single moment.”

During David’s university studies he adopted a positive reinforcement philosophy of education that would become the foundation of the New River Academy learning model. David founded Huge Experiences in 2001 as the nations’ top kayak training camps for juniors. The following year Huge Experiences would claim 9 of 10 junior seats on the US team including 2 national champions. The next year would bring two-runner-up world champions, more national champion medals, and the winning tradition had begun.

David states, “Back then we would drive the short bus from one event to the next and the kids were taking every medal. I was traveling, coaching, and running the school on the road for 10 months per year. There was not much budget, but the experiences are something I will always be proud to share.” Huge Experiences was growing at a fast pace, and David opted for something most fast growing businesses miss. Faced with the decision of running a successful high school and leading training camps David chose to downsize and focus on the education division.

Huge Experiences had began as kayak camps and now was evolving into the prestigious New River Academy. David states, “I was telling myself for years that I could not wait until things got easier, but as we won events the camps and school kept growing as did my workload. We killed the camps to focus on New River Academy and began recommending our campers to the best kayak programs.” This networking became our model for giving back to the kayak community.

“And that has made all the difference.”

Matt Smink

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.

Andy Kirby

Andy Kirby was born and raised in Franklin Pennsylvania. He graduated from Slippery Rock University, class of 2004, with a major in mathematics and a minor in philosophy. During undergrad Andy tutored math, worked with the outdoor club and ran a Wednesday night roll clinic.

Andy went directly to graduate school for mathematics at the University of Kentucky, where he gained much of his teaching experience. During Grad school Andy received the Algebra Cubed Fellowship where he worked with middle school students and teachers in Eastern Kentucky. One of the main goals of the program was to stress a conceptual rather than a procedural approach to math education. That idea became an important part of Andy’s teaching philosophy. After getting his masters Andy went on to teach at Colorado Mountain College in Leadville.

Andy’s experience with kayaking began in middle school with a kayak he built with his grandfather. Not long after this, he began white water boating with his father. Andy started guiding whitewater at 18 and has guided rivers commercially for 9 seasons in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Colorado. During his time guiding Andy was teaching beginning to intermediate kayak clinics as well.

Andy’s other interests include playing guitar and fiddle, mountain biking, hiking, canoeing, sailing and wooden boat building.

Kara Ware, Academics Coordinator

Kara graduated from Ohio University with a bachelor of science in communication and a minor in business.  Kara’s organization skills will further enhance the administration division of New River Academy.  Kara is personable, attentive, and shares the NRA positive reinforcement philosophy of education.

A Focus on Community

Kara is a certified yoga instructor involved in the Anusara Teacher Training Program, has developed a senior citizens yoga program for New River Health and Marshall University, and is a consultant to universities and businesses.   Kara is the co-owner of Fayetteville’s first yoga studio, Kula Yoga Studio. 

Kara established and co-coordinates the New River Gorge Earth Day Celebration.  The Earth Day Committee successfully lobbied with Fayetteville and Oak Hill mayors to pass the US Mayors Climate Protection Act.  This Act gave birth to the GREAT Team (Green Advisory Team).  The GREAT Team is currently working with Fayetteville to reduce carbon emissions.

Family

Kara and her sons Cazh and Jax, ages five and three, live on 15 acres bordering the Gauley National Forest where they regularly hike to Lost Paddle and the confluence of the Meadow and Gauley Rivers.

Tino Specht:  Coach, Video Media Instructor and Wilderness Survival Courses

Tino Specht is our Video Media instructor and kayak coach. Tino is a former student of NRA who began his career with NRA as an intern student.  After performing on the highest level Tino became a full time educator and leader.  Tino give personal attention to each students athletic needs.  His videos are utilized as a coaching tool that will give you an advantage in your mastery of kayak technique.

Tino has a wealth of knowledge and experience for students wishing to produce kayaking films. Tino teaches the Final Cut Pro editing software, and motivates students with a variety of creative projects.  Tino is sponsored by Team Bliss-stick, Snapdragon, and Level Six gear.

Melina Coogan

Melina Coogan is a native Vermonter. Lured to the West Coast by the Cascade mountain range, she attended the University of Washington on a partial scholarship for fiction. She earned her degree in English with an emphasis on Creative Writing, and gained a fascination for the written word and the influence of literature on society.

Melina played Ultimate Frisbee for Seattle’s elite women’s team and coached two public high school teams to national championship victories. After graduation, she spent every spare moment on the rivers of the Pacific Northwest and writing for Seattle Raft and Kayak Company and Paddler Magazine. She has more than a decade’s worth of experience crawling up rocks and mountainsides in some of the best climbing locations worldwide.

Through coaching and her own educational experience, she has witnessed firsthand the transformative power that challenging athletics and an experiential approach to education can have on teens. She is supremely excited to be joining the faculty at New River Academy.

Aleah Dinny

Growing up exploring the mountains of West Virginia sparked Aleah Dinny’s interest in the natural world.  Aleah attended West Virginia University where she was the vice president of the Student Sierra Club and active on the Recycling Committee in the Student Government. 

After intensive course work specializing in Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Ecology Aleah earned a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife and Fisheries Natural Resource Management.  Through her laboratory work in quantitative sciences and her work experience with the New River Gorge National Park Service Aleah obtained the knowledge to create an exhilarating, hands on learning experience.

While working as a teacher and tutor in Asheville, North Carolina, Aleah discovered her passion for education, which inspired her to take her education to the next level.  Aleah continues to pursue her Masters in Secondary Education through correspondence courses at Western Carolina University.

Eight years as a professional whitewater rafting guide and video boater has lead Aleah to running and working on many different rivers in West Virginia, Colorado, Utah and California.   Off the river, Aleah enjoys, rock climbing, mountain biking, strumming her guitar and teaching snowboarding.

Julia Fisher

Julia Fisher attended the University of Tennessee where she majored in Spanish and minored in Latin American History. Julia additionally studied in Monterrey, Mexico. Julia states, “One of my goals is to help students gain confidence in their verbal communication in Spanish.”  Julia has enjoyed being a leader with an experiential education program in Maine.

Julia has worked in whitewater for four seasons as a raft guide in Tennessee and Maine. Julia shares this quote, “It is a great mistake to try to look too far ahead. The chain of destiny can only be grasped one link at a time.” -Sir William Churchill