Amalia C.
To any freshmen at the Harbor School,
Your freshman year of the Harbor School is coming to an end you are left with one decision that will stick with you for the next three years. Deciding on a CTE is instrumental to your high school experience, especially if you choose diving. It will occupy a lot of time and dedication till you graduate. Which is why you should be informed of all the Professional Diving Program has to offer before you take the next step into the rest of high school.
One, the diving program requires students to attend weekend dives every Saturday. You will be waking up early to meet at the Battery Maritime Building and traveling to Dutch Springs, Pennsylvania. Dutch Springs is where the Sophomores will complete their first certification: Open Water Diver. Other diving will be scheduled at sites like Bushwick Pool in Brooklyn. Just remember that your Saturdays will be taken up by diving. During school time the sophomores are required everyday to show up to class at the MAST Center located on Governor’s Island. It is about a ten minute walk (rain, sleet, or snow). At class you will learn a bunch of exciting new things, my personal favorite was Fish Identification. The kids attending the Bahamas will use what they learned from class in the open water. You will also learn CPR and First Aid, and have the opportunity to listen to Lenny repeat many of his jokes.
The Professional Diving Program is a team effort. Which means working together is essential for the program. Coming in off the 7:30 ferry in the mornings to wash gear, and staying after school at Diver Support Meetings are few things that help our program. Washing gear and unpacking is mandatory and expected from every student to help out. Our diving is very gear heavy and consists of lugging around heavy tanks. But with everyone helping the process goes a lot smoother. DST meetings is a newly run program in our diving family that comes up with ways for us to do activities, and spend time outside of diving. We recently just had an afterschool party to introduce the sophomore divers to the upperclassmen. Other things we look forward to is camping trips, and the overnight at the MAST Center.
To conclude, as you are coming near to your Freshman year making a CTE decision is very important. I didn’t even know what I wanted to choose until I went on the Diving Field class. Scuba diving iss a beautiful experience that puts you out of your environment into a new world full of discovery. Hopefully you have that same experience with whatever you decide to choose, and we look forward to seeing you as a diver at the Harbor School.
Professional Diving 