Students taking PHED 309, Methods of Teaching Outdoor Pursuits and Adventure Education, went rock climbing on Friday at Planet Rock, Ann Arbor, as part of their course.
The course is newly required for the sports performance and fitness entrepreneurship major.
Stan Dinkel, 32, a physical education teacher for elementary students, was asked to teach the course as a guest instructor because of his extensive knowledge and experience with outdoor activities. Stan has two bachelor’s degrees from Eastern Michigan University, in special education and physical education.
He said he is grateful to have the opportunity to teach the course.
PHED 309 fall activities include cycling, hiking, team building, technology apps concerning fitness, orienteering, trust falls and kayaking.
In the winter course there will be weather-appropriate activities such as skiing and ice fishing.
The purpose of the course is to provide students a wider range of skills in the outdoors and be able to have them pass that on to future participants.
Dinkel begins his classes by asking how the class is feeling before the planned activity for that day and giving everyone pointers and encouragement for the event. They always begin with the proper safety and instructions to ensure everyone is prepared. He said trusts his class to be responsible and well informed, while also having fun and learning new things.
Dinkel said he believes that while younger children are into regular sports, there are not enough who are introduced to outdoor activities aside from sports.
“The outdoor community in Brighton is really big, there are endless possibilities,” Dinkel said.
He said he believes that the way to encourage people to learn and choose outdoor activities as a profession is to start them from a young age. Dinkel is trying to implement a similar course into Brighton High School as an elective for juniors and seniors. He also hopes that one day PHED 309 will be open to non-majors just for the experience.
“The uniqueness of this class is that it’s allowing Eastern Michigan students to go into the business world and allowing the students to see what other businesses are doing," Dinkel said. "To me, that’s a really positive approach that I would also like to see in a high school setting. It’s nice that we can be seen as a class being active in the community."
After the initial safety procedures, students could go off on their own and explore what their bodies could do.
“It’s an exciting course,” Brittany Granowicz, senior, said. “You get to do a lot of uncommon things. My favorite activity was kayaking.”
She said she hopes it’s available to non-majors soon and encourages people to take it as a good way to get out of their comfort zones.
Landis Robichaud, senior, said she is hoping to go into sports rehab for injuries.
“My favorite activity was kayaking and hiking," she said. “I love Stan as our instructor. He has a passion for being outdoors and gets fired up for all of our activities.”
The course will be taught by Dinkel during the winter 2015 semester as long as ten students register for it.
