Things like indoor skydiving, archery, ziplining, learning how to survive in the wilderness and outdoor rock climbing all sound too adventurous and even unachievable for most people. Not for students in Adventure Education 2.
Fondy High’s Adventure Ed 2 class started this semester strong with a class of 35 people. Students learn a variety of physical skills, including longboarding, snowshoeing, archery, outdoor cooking/survival and more.
Linda Diedrich is the only Adventure 2 teacher this year. She’s been teaching for 24 years, and loves teaching Adventure 2. “Adventure Ed 2 students are always the ‘cream of the crop’! They are students that loved Adventure Ed 1 and are committed to the class enough to take the Adventure 2 block,” she said.
Adventure Ed 2 is offered to juniors and seniors who passed Adventure 1 with a B or higher. The class takes place during second semester and takes up one and a half class periods. Because of this, students in the class take half a lunch period like the ones assigned to sophomores and freshmen instead of the full period offered to upperclassmen. This way, they can easily fit the class into their schedule.
Senior Anika Buechel is one of those students. “I really enjoyed Adventure Ed 1 and the challenge of pushing myself every day because I like to stay in my comfort zone, so it forces me not to do that,” she said.
Along with the physical skills they’re taught, students in Adventure 2 also learn skills that can be applied to other areas of life. “We are starting out the semester with team building, and then the students are selecting a team building activity to lead the class in,” Diedrich said. “We will then move into the Rock Climbing and Ropes Course Unit once we have built some good relationships in class.”
Team building is a large part of the Adventure 2 curriculum, as it’s crucial for the students to trust each other when they start to do things like rock climbing and the ropes course. Some team building activities include partner tag, trust falls and counterbalances. In one activity, the class was reminded of the importance of thinking about other people before yourself, according to Anika.
“We’ve done a bunch of team building activities, and I’ve formed some good relationships,” Anika said. “It’s really fun to see people that I wouldn’t otherwise interact with and see them in a new light.”
There are plenty of things that make Adventure 2 a special class. “You get to go out and experience so many unique things, and there are so many opportunities that I know kids at other schools don’t get to experience like the rockwall, the ropes course and the field trips,” Anika said.
There are high hopes for Adventure 2 going into the semester. Students in the class are passionate about the activities and challenges they are presented with and put in the work to participate.
“This is my favorite class to teach because every student is there because they want to be and has earned it by doing well in Adventure 1,” Diedrich said. “These kids are ready for any adventure and make it a blast to teach!”
