Class combines outdoor adventure with classroom instruction

For the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, as well as its Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Studies, this academic year represents a milestone: 60 years since its establishment at IU.\nSince its founding in 1946, the school has offered classes, programs and organizations that allow students to live by its motto that a “sound body provides for a sound mind.”\nRecognized as one of the top three departments of its kind in the country, the HPER’s Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Studies has admitted 115 students into the program this year, increasing the total number of students involved with the department to more than 600, a department secretary said.\nBill Ramos, lecturer for Careers in Leisure Services, explained the importance of occupations like managing state parks, amusement parks and hotels.\n“Anything people do in their lives for leisure, we provide,” Ramos said.\nOne of the department’s classes, R110: Outdoor Adventure Leadership Skills, offers specialization to students interested in outdoor recreation and resource management. The course teaches students basic camping skills, group dynamics and “leave-no-trace” conservation techniques. Though the class does have a two-week period comprising eight classroom hours, more emphasis is placed on the “main activity,” which includes trips of various escapades.\nThe trips consist of a variety of activities, including backpacking in Bradford Woods in Martinsville; boating, canoeing and kayaking on Elkhorn Creek in Kentucky; rafting on the Nantahala River in Bryson City, N.C.; and rock climbing at the Red River Gorge, located in Kentucky’s Daniel Boone National Forest.\nIn conjunction with this class is the IU Outdoor Adventures organization, which is based out of the Indiana Memorial Union but partially funded through HPER. The group offers about 50 trips, ranging from night caving in the 3,000 caves south of Bloomington to snorkeling and kayaking in Honduras.\n“It’s a form of staying fit for life,” said professor David M. Calvin, a lecturer in the department and the program coordinator for Outdoor Adventures. \nCalvin was one of two graduate staffers who began working at Outdoor Adventures – originally called IMU Outfitters – when it opened and has been the program coordinator since 1993. He said the benefit to the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Studies and IU Outdoor Adventures is that they teach “lifelong habits” for sustaining healthy, adventurous lifestyles. \nBradley Blankenship, a graduate student and former Outdoors Adventure student, said the program teaches great life lessons in teamwork and communication skills. \n“It’s a humbling experience that takes real team effort,” Blankenship said. “You learned to trust everyone.”