2008 Woodie Awards
Teaching outdoor survival
Students take a class to learn how to suvive in the winter
Chris Adams
Issue date: 3/21/07 Section: Campus Life
Lulek is pleased with the present state of the program and stated that the primitive survival skills and the winter camping and mountaineering classes are becoming very popular, often filling up before any other classes at the college.
Castleton State College junior Jarrod Pulsifer recently took the primitive survival course and had a great experience.
"The entire course was just awesome," he said. "Obviously we learned a lot in the classroom, but the best part was being able to get out in the woods and apply what we were taught. For our final exam we were dropped off in a remote section of a local forest and forced to make it through the night without any tools or supplies."
"We had to use the resources around us to make our fire and create necessities like our lean-to shelters and spruce bough beds. I am pretty lucky to have been able to take the course and would highly recommend it to other students," said Pulsifer.
When asked about the rewards of the program, Lulek displayed his passion for teaching outdoors education in his answer.
"The best part for me is seeing the smiles on the kids faces after they complete a task. They have a real sense of pride and accomplishment after they use what they have learned to succeed in the outdoors," he said. "A lot of the kids who take the courses don't have any outdoor experience and we not only educate them, but we take them to some of the most beautiful and remote areas around, places that they normally would never see."
The Outdoor Education Program instructor described a story of a recent Castleton graduate who took one of his classes and was forced to apply the skills he learned there in a real world situation.
"The student called me recently and told me about how he was driving and came upon a bad accident. While he couldn't carry out any advanced procedures, he was able to provide basic treatment and instruction to those involved, skills he said he picked up during his time in the outdoor education program," said Lulek. "Stuff like that provides satisfaction and makes us feel good about what we are doing here at Castleton."
Castleton State College junior Jarrod Pulsifer recently took the primitive survival course and had a great experience.
"The entire course was just awesome," he said. "Obviously we learned a lot in the classroom, but the best part was being able to get out in the woods and apply what we were taught. For our final exam we were dropped off in a remote section of a local forest and forced to make it through the night without any tools or supplies."
"We had to use the resources around us to make our fire and create necessities like our lean-to shelters and spruce bough beds. I am pretty lucky to have been able to take the course and would highly recommend it to other students," said Pulsifer.
When asked about the rewards of the program, Lulek displayed his passion for teaching outdoors education in his answer.
"The best part for me is seeing the smiles on the kids faces after they complete a task. They have a real sense of pride and accomplishment after they use what they have learned to succeed in the outdoors," he said. "A lot of the kids who take the courses don't have any outdoor experience and we not only educate them, but we take them to some of the most beautiful and remote areas around, places that they normally would never see."
The Outdoor Education Program instructor described a story of a recent Castleton graduate who took one of his classes and was forced to apply the skills he learned there in a real world situation.
"The student called me recently and told me about how he was driving and came upon a bad accident. While he couldn't carry out any advanced procedures, he was able to provide basic treatment and instruction to those involved, skills he said he picked up during his time in the outdoor education program," said Lulek. "Stuff like that provides satisfaction and makes us feel good about what we are doing here at Castleton."
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