The Adventure Center under the Department of Recreational Services at 5X recently hosted a two-day American Canoe Association instructor certification workshop. Funding for the workshop titled, “Level 2: Essentials of River Kayaking Instructor Certification Workshop,” was part of a 2012 Boating Safety Education Grant to provide training for two staff members of the Department of Recreational Services.
However, rather than send only two of its instructors out of state for the training, the Department of Recreational Services decided to bring the Instructor Trainer Educator (ITE) to Kent to conduct the training locally. This allowed them to provide training for five Kent State staff members, as well as five staff members from other agencies around Ohio who are also current or past recipients of a Boating Safety Education Grant. The agencies include the Cleveland Metroparks, The University of Akron, Youngstown State University and Wright State University.
Mike Aronoff, owner of Canoe, Kayak, and Paddle Company (CKAPCO) of Vienna, Va., which was the first pro-school through the American Canoe Association, conducted the training as the lead instructor. Aronoff is one of the top Instructor Trainer Educators in the United States and is a current and past chair of several national committees, including the Introduction to Paddling Committee and the River Kayaking Committee.
The workshop began at the Mogadore Reservoir with a paddling skills assessment of the instructor candidates and continued with stroke refinement, maneuvers and rescues on flat water. The Instructor Certification Workshop took advantage of the area’s local natural resource— the Cuyahoga River. The second day was spent on moving water at the Cuyahoga River in class 1 rapids, working on strokes and maneuvers, and discussing associated topics regarding paddling and teaching on moving water.
Participants learned the American Canoe Association model of effective instruction, as well as paddling, rescue, group management, leadership and various other aspects of paddle sport and the river environment.
In addition to providing the instructor certification training for the 10 instructor candidates, Bill Staiger, Northern Region manager for the ODNR Division of Watercraft, assisted with the workshop to update his L2: ERK Instructor Trainer Educator certification. Furthermore, Dave Herpy, Outdoor Adventure coordinator at 5X, and Amy Dingle, Outdoor Recreation Coordinator at Five Rivers Metroparks in Dayton, both Level 1: Introduction to Kayaking (L1:IK) Instructor Trainers, assisted with the workshop to begin their L2: ERK Instructor Trainer certification processes, as well.
The L2: ERK Instructor Trainer certification helps increase the number of certified instructors who will be able to provide river kayaking instruction and instructor certification training to others in the state of Ohio, which has more than 60,000 miles of inland streams, rivers and other waterways.