Marine Biology March 2014

Mission: To provide an opportunity for high school students at Rimbey Jr/Sr High to learn about Marine Biology and become certified open water SCUBA divers, in a tropical setting for a reasonable cost.

SCUBA

Student participants attend 4 evenings of SCUBA training during December, January, February and March. Each evening starts in the classroom at 3:45pm and at 6pm we hop on the bus for Ponoka to do the Pool sessions. Back in Rimbey around 10pm. Students will be taught 20 standardized PADI scuba diving skills in the pool. They will also need to pass a written test at the end of the training in February.

The group will travel to an all-inclusive Caribbean destination over the March break to do 5-7 tank dives to complete their open water diver certification.

Cost of the Program•Actual cost per student is approximately $2700. However, by successfully completing the Marine Biology Project/Boating Safety and passing the SCUBA training, which we expect all students will do, each student will earn a $1000 subsidy, reducing the cost to approximately $1700.

•Students will also need to pay $50 to take the online boating safety course (included in the $1700 estimate).

•This dollar amount of $1700 is based on 20 student participants (our maximum) and an estimated cost of the Caribbean trip being $1550.

•Each student will also receive a dive quality mask and snorkel to keep.

•So students pay• $750 SCUBA diving fee with

registration• $50 – online boating safety course fee• $750 payment due September 4th

• Final payment (approx. $150) due Feb 3rd

• Total cost = approximately $1700

Marine Biology

•Students attend 1 classroom session in May to receive instruction regarding their Marine Biology project- they will receive an assignment pack that needs to be completed by September 4, 2013. •Please note that students will only receive funding for modules they pass.

•Participants will also need to take an online boating safety course.

Marine Biology/SCUBA Program Details

The Caribbean Trip

We will have four adult supervisors travelling with the group, as well as our dive master from Rocky Mountain House.

Students will be required to have a valid passport in order to travel.

Students must be able to swim and be in good general health.

Down south, students will participate in 5-7 tank dives, and will also have the opportunity to snorkel on days when they are not diving.

We will likely participate in a day long excursion, to be determined by the group at a later date once we know our destination- options include Xel-Ha in Mexico, Catamaran Day trip in Cuba etc…

Signing Up for the program

If you want to be a part of the program, please take a registration form.

For current grade 10 and 11 students, registration forms will be accepted at the office, along with your first payment of $750 made payable to Rimbey Jr/Sr High School, beginning tomorrow, Wednesday, April 17th.

For current grade 9 students and students wishing to do the Advanced Open Water diver program, registration forms will be accepted beginning on Thursday.

Students already certified wanting to do the “Advanced Open Water Diver” program, can sign up as early as Thursday, April 18th.

Once students are registered in the program, we will then meet with our group of (up to) 20 students in early May to talk about the project, and plan when our SCUBA sessions will happen in December, January, February and March and talk about the boating safety course.

Final payment of $950 will be due on January 2nd, 2014.

We still need to apply for permission from Wolf Creek School Division, but will have done a SCUBA trip 5 times, and have already received verbal support from our Superintendent.

Students must be in good standing in their classes to participate.

Questions? Don’t hesitate to call Tim Lekas or Kandy Froehlick at the school (843-3761) or email us at tlekas@wolfcreek.ab.ca or kfroehlick@wolfcreek.ab.ca

This presentation and the registration forms have already been posted on our school’s website- http://rhs.wolfcreek.ab.ca/

Other Information