BIG PROGRAM NEWS!!

Beginning with the Fall 2013 semester, the Outdoor Education program will be operating on a Block Semester Format.  The new FOCUS Semester, Focusing on One Course for Ultimate Success, will operate by offering one class at a time.  The students will take one class for 3-4 weeks, spending 5+/- hours a day focusing on that single course for the 3-4 weeks.

This will alsow for multiple benefical outcomes.  First, the students will only have one class to put their attention towards, not the classic 5-6 classes at the same time.  This allows for attention to be devoted to the one subject without taking anything away from other subjects.

Second it opens up the possibilities of how courses are taught.  The program will be based much more on an experiential model where the students will be in the traidtional classroom much less, and in the field practicing and learning new skills and knowledge.

We will also be starting some new classes.  Some of these include Backcountry Traveler where the students will spend two week learning backcountry skills followed by 10-14 days straight in the field.  What better way to learn about Outdoor Education and leading groups in the field than actually being in the field.

Unlike many programs that have one semester or a summer class that is spent outdoors, NWC students will spend their entire time at college with a focus on the outdoors.  Each semester will have classes that will spend time in the backcountry. 

The General Education courses will also follow the same format.  In many cases, those Gen Ed calsses will also have more of a focus on Outdoor Education, making them more practical and related to the students degree.

Part of the new program will also incude a partnership with the National Park Service in Lovell, WY at Bighorn Lake National Recreation Area.  Students will spend their OEPR 1550 course actually working with professionals in the aprk service out in the field.  They will have the ability to learn first hand about the Park Service, Forest Service, BLM and Game and Fish by working with them.  This will give the students the benefit of seeing what areas within those agencies might interest them as well as a foot in the door for future career oppertunities.

Out students will also be working with the Park Service to implement their new Water Ways program where Park Service will be starting a new program to increase non-motorized water travel on Bighorn Lake. 

This will be an exciting new adventure for the Outdoor Education program and students.  The new format should allow for better retention and more directed to the area(s) of interest for our students.

Also, keep an eye out for the new A.A.S. Outdoor Recreation Leadrship degree we are developing for the program.  Our planned implementation date is Fall 2013.  This will be ideal for the students that plan to start their Outdoor careers immediately following graduation from Northwest College.