Lester Middle School students
dive right into this after-school class
Story and photos by Mark Oliva,
Okinawa bureau
Leilani Fields, a
seventh-grader at Lester Middle School, surfaces during an after-school diving class. |
CAMP LESTER — Laura Votipka found a way to get kids excited about staying after
school at Lester Middle School.
All it took was a pool, a few borrowed sets of scuba gear, some help from a dive
instructor and children’s natural curiosity about what happens under the water.
She started Scuba Club, an after-school activity that introduces young teens to what
she labels as "discover diving," an introduction to the deep, without leaving
the school grounds.
"It was the perfect place to do it," Votipka said, standing poolside.
"It’s open to anybody and there’s no need to be certified."
Votipka, a Lester Middle School counselor, combined her passion for diving with a need
to give students more opportunities for constructive activities outside the classroom.
"If you can get kids hooked on a good activity, maybe it will keep them away from
the bad ones," she explained. "I love diving, so it was a natural step for me to
do this."
Laura Votipka, left,
a counselor at Lester Middle School and head of the school's Scuba Club, give a
quick lesson on underwater cameras to Kayla Nymeyer. |
But she’s not doing it alone. While Votipka is a seasoned and certified diver,
she’s not qualified to instruct dive courses. So, she enlisted Rich Ruth, of Fathoms
Dive Shop, an off-base scuba instructor, to donate time, equipment and air.
"Laura called me up and I jumped at the chance to do it," said Ruth, a former
Marine. "It’s a lot of fun to see the kids’ faces. That’s why I teach
diving — to see the excitement."
Scuba Club is enjoying more success than Votipka envisioned. Starting the club, she
counted on only a handful of students showing interest. But at her first club meeting,
nearly two dozen students attended, some already dive certified.
"We had a huge group," she said. "The idea got around through kids
talking to their friends. We’ve even got some students coming up from Camp
Kinser."
Scuba Club’s "discover diving" program is more a quick introduction to
diving, rather than the nuts and bolts of technical diving. Classroom instruction
introduces the children to the gear, basic physiology and what is expected when they enter
the pool.
Laura Votipka assists
Kalya Nymeyer with her scuba gear. |
"A lot of kids have no exposure to go with," Votipka explained. "A lot
of them think it’s a bunch of weird, funky equipment. Now, they’re saying
it’s easy and fun. It takes the mystery from scuba."
For the most part, the kids take to diving quickly.
"They have a lot of questions," she added. "Most kids aren’t
afraid, though. They’ll put in the regulator and they’re gone."
But for the young divers, slipping beneath the water is attractive simply because they
can cheat the laws of nature.
"I like it because you can breath underwater and see underwater," said
Jessica Butler, a seventh-grader. "I was excited when I knew I’d be able to do
this. My mom was jealous."
"I just like the breathing part," said Kayla Nymeyer, also a seventh-grader.
"It’s cool because you’re able to stay under that long."
Jessica Butler, left, and
Leilani Fields make final checks on their regulators before testing their newfound scuba
skills. |
Votipka said diving offers a good alternative to other sports because of its reliance
on individual skills and partnership in working with other divers.
"They’re on equal ground. They don’t have to be ultra-cool to be a
diver. They don’t have to rely on being good at basketball or know how to play a
guitar well to work with other kids. It’s an individual skill where they work
together. Here, they can be mini-experts and that becomes an incentive."
The students have only about another week of pool diving before the pools close for the
season. During the off-season, Votipka plans on sharing photos the students have taken
with underwater cameras and dive videos to keep interest peaked.
"Our hope is in the spring to have a dive day for all the certified kids and take
them out to some of the local reefs to do this outside the pool," she said.
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