The unusual situation created by the COVID shut-down allowed two of our staff members, Robert Archer and Joseph Thompson, enough time to complete their Instructor Training class with Eric.
Robert, who is usually traveling was home for a while so it provided the perfect time to reach one of his goals — to become an Open Water Scuba Instructor! And his partner in crime for the training, Joseph Thompson, who is an attorney, was able to devote his available time to the endeavor of reaching his goal as well.
“They had to learn to adapt to an ever changing situation” said Eric Keibler, their trainer. Their classes became virtual where they had to contend with family management as well as attending classes throughout the summer. They had to learn how to present their classroom sessions virtually as well and to keep the attention of their “students” at the same time.
Pool sessions were moved to backyard pools which had the added benefit of cocktails and snacks after class. As many of our Instructors will tell you, backyard pools present their own challenges. The deep ends are shallow, they are too small for more than one or two students and there is a lot more equipment maneuvering by the staff.
They came through it all with flying colors and this past weekend, they attended an Instructor Evaluation here in Houston and with a lot of stress and work, they completed the evaluation coming out as Open Water Instructors!
They are probably more prepared for this “Twilight Zone” world we are living in than any of our other staff since they have been both students and presenters while working with the new parameters and restrictions.
And lest we forget, it takes a village to run these events and we really appreciate all of our staff who assisted with the Evaluation and the dinner at the end. Thanks to everyone who worked hard to help the candidates succeed and helped with the event. “No offense, but I hope I don’t ever have to work with ‘Lee Madison’ again!” For those of you who have not met him in a stress & Rescue class, “Lee Madison” is Madison Lee’s alter ego for this type of training. Madison is one of our Assistant Instructors.
This weekend also marks the re-entry into scuba instruction for Alex Witschey. While Alex is now a practicing attorney with Thompson, Knight, he is now back teaching scuba on a part-time basis with Oceanic Ventures. Welcome back Alex!
