"St Augustine students take the plunge at MBAC

High school students spend winter break at MBAC expanding horizons

Students from St. Augustine High School, an all-boys private Catholic school in San Diego, will be spending their winter intersession at MBAC learning a wide range of activities from surfing, to sailing, and even cardboard boat building.  The course is part of an innovative program conducted by the school, where students are given a “third semester” and are encouraged to push beyond the constructs of curriculum fashioned for University entrance.

“We want to help students develop a passion for learning, and sometimes that is difficult to accomplish in traditional college prep classes,” said St. Augustine School Principal James Horne. “Our Intersession has sparked a curiosity and inquisitiveness in our students that has energized the campus and stimulated their desire to learn.”

Students can choose from a wide range of course offerings including, scuba, automotive mechanics, rugby, small business management, sailing, cooking, and digital photography.  The courses are areas of the school curriculum not likely to position a student for entrance to a University, but the students have indicated they are not short on interest in them.

Francisco Botello, now a senior at St Augustine, was a junior when he took his first Intersession Aquatics Class at MBAC last year.  He was looking for a class where the learning happened outside the classroom.

I live in San Diego so I have surfed and kayaked before, but I always thought sailing would be really tough.” said Francisco. “I was interested in trying it, so I signed up.”

Last summer he used the skills he learned in the program and took his friends sailing on a Hobie Cat.  He has returned this intersession to take the advanced course and further his sailing education.

While most administrators often succumb to pressures to choose subjects that are perceived to be more useful for university admission, Deacon Dick Hardick, a veteran teacher at the school who is in his 42nd year of teaching at St. Augustine, saw the value of a broader educational philosophy.  Upon being tasked to create an intersession course, he contacted MBAC.

“I wanted to find something that the boys would really enjoy,” explains Deacon Hardick, known by his students as “Deke”.  “If they’re not taking advantage of these aquatic recreation activities living in San Diego, they’re really missing out on a wonderful chance to enjoy our beautiful bays and ocean.”

Deacon saw an opportunity for the boys to learn something of their choosing, and therefore have a more vested interest in studying hard and feeling the value of the learning experience.
“This really is a life skills program,” says Deke.  “The ocean skills our boys acquire at MBAC they will be able to enjoy throughout the rest of their lives.”

Christian Da Luz, another long time teacher at the school, shares Deke’s love of the water. They have worked closely together to develop and improve the Ocean Aquatics Course since it was created last year. Both Dick and Chris are graduates of Saints. This year there are 42 students who chose to spend their intersession hours at MBAC. This number is up from thirty-one last year which was the inaugural year for the winter intersession program. Seven are returning students who are participating in an Advanced Ocean Aquatics Course which builds on what they learned last year.

The St. Augustine course begins at 9:00 am and ends at 2:00 pm each day beginning on January 4 and concluding on January 29 this year. Each program starts with classroom instruction before the appropriate skills are demonstrated and practiced in and on the bay and the ocean. The Aquatic Center’s Instructors are highly competent professionals who are experts in the field they teach. In order for the Ocean Aquatic students to develop competence and understanding quizzes follow each and every classroom and water activity. The questions are designed by Dick and Christian with the guidance and expertise of the center’s instructors.
This year’s seven advanced students, affectionately known as the “Tiger Sharks,” are learning an extremely impressive array of water skills. Their program includes: laser sail boating, keel boating, paddle boarding, wake boarding, wind surfing, bay kayaking, sea kayaking, surf kayaking, rowing and card board boat building.

Before setting sail in this year’s exciting marine adventure first time students must become certified in the Aquatic Center’s Boating Safety program. Those who meet the requirements of   this course receive a California Boating Safety Certificate. In order to facilitate learning this group of neophytes is divided into two groups, one group is known as: “Swordfish” and the other as the “Marlins.” The basic program they follow teaches the following courses: sabot sailing, holder 14 sailing, Hobie Cat 16 sailing, surfing, kayaking, tubing and cardboard boat regatta. Normally each activity is studied and practiced three hours a day for four days.

For the second year in a row Dr. Kevin Shaw, pulmonologist and a Saints graduate from 1996 along with his cousin, Robert Clay, an emergency technician and a life guard, have spoken to the class to illustrate and explain medical and safety issues involving ocean activities.               

With much appreciation Dick concludes by saying, “our students are definitely privileged to be involved with the dedicated and supportive instructors and the marvelous expansive resources offered at Mission Bay Aquatic Center.”

For more information about St. Augustine High School, or their winter intersession courses, please see their website at http://www.sahs.org.