The Student Voice: TIDES Club
Eleven members of the TIDES Club recently returned from their end-of-year trip to the Caribbean where they put to use months of scuba training and practice, accompanied by two teachers and two scuba masters. TIDES stands for Teaching InterDisciplinary and Experiential Science and is open to Grades 7/8 students. Diver Harrison Roth (7) shares his experience on this unforgettable adventure. “Even after all the studying, preparation and practice, I was nervous. As I jumped in the water for the first time with my gear, I noticed how quiet it was under the surface. The sounds of the boat engine, the birds and the waves disappeared. Once all the divers and instructors were in and had given the OK signal, we swam off and all my fears evaporated.”
Eleven members of the TIDES Club recently returned from their end-of-year trip to the Caribbean where they put to use months of scuba training and practice, accompanied by two teachers and two scuba masters. TIDES stands for Teaching InterDisciplinary and Experiential Science and is open to Grades 7/8 students. Diver Harrison Roth (7) shares his experience on this unforgettable adventure.
TIDES
By Harrison Roth (7)
TIDES is an amazing scuba diving club at Graland that is hosted by a scuba company based in Boulder called Ocean First. This year-long club culminated in a trip to the Grand Cayman Islands in April where each member had the opportunity to become open water scuba certified. Before getting the opportunity to travel to the Grand Cayman, we began our certification process in the classroom back in September.
TIDES
By Harrison Roth (7)
TIDES is an amazing scuba diving club at Graland that is hosted by a scuba company based in Boulder called Ocean First. This year-long club culminated in a trip to the Grand Cayman Islands in April where each member had the opportunity to become open water scuba certified. Before getting the opportunity to travel to the Grand Cayman, we began our certification process in the classroom back in September.
For several months we studied six different modules that taught us about different parts of diving. To advance to the next stage of scuba training, we passed a quiz at the end of each module:
- “Your body and the aquatic environment”
- “Using your life support equipment underwater”
- “Breathing gas and the effects on your body”
- “The value of a dive buddy and executing your dives”
- “The ocean and your diving opportunities”
- “Your scuba diving experiences and beyond”
TIDES prepared us for open water diving with two pool scuba diving sessions. We got some controlled hands-on diving experience about a month out from our trip, and we learned how to set up all of our gear and make sure it was safe. After setting up our gear and getting in the pool, we learned skills such as how to clear our mask if it fills with water or what to do if we run out of air.
Once on Grand Cayman, each day we went on two dives early in the morning. Even after all the studying, preparation and practice, I was nervous. As I jumped in the water for the first time with my gear, I noticed how quiet it was under the surface. The sounds of the boat engine, the birds and the waves disappeared. Once all the divers and instructors were in and had given the OK signal, we swam off and all my fears evaporated. I was amazed at everything that there was to see with all the different types of coral, fish and sea creatures. Our group spent 30 minutes underwater for that first dive and I was sad when it was over. I couldn’t wait to get back underwater again!
With all the dives and daily excursions like going to the beach and swimming in the hotel pool, there were a lot of experiences to track. We closed out each amazing day by coming together as a group, reviewing the day’s activities, writing in our individual journals and filling out our dive log books. These will be kept as mementos from this great trip.
The Grand Cayman trip was amazing, and it will be an everlasting memory for me. The entire TIDES program helped prepare me to become scuba certified, and I cannot wait to do TIDES 2 at Graland next year. TIDES 2 offers special skills and more information about sea life as you study fish, their behaviors, and why they look the way they do. All in all, TIDES was an unforgettable experience that I recommend to anyone who is fascinated by sea life or just loves the thought of being able to stay underwater for a long time without coming up!
Editor's Note: TIDES 2 is designed for students who have completed TIDES 1 and/or who have received their open-water SCUBA certification. This year-long elective focuses on ocean ecology, marine taxonomy, underwater digital photography/videography, and marine surveying techniques and provides an opportunity for students to apply their dive skills to augment the body of marine scientific knowledge. TIDES 2 students will transform from recreational diver to marine researcher. Financial assistance is available for families who might not otherwise be able to consider this course due to cost.
Editor's Note: TIDES 2 is designed for students who have completed TIDES 1 and/or who have received their open-water SCUBA certification. This year-long elective focuses on ocean ecology, marine taxonomy, underwater digital photography/videography, and marine surveying techniques and provides an opportunity for students to apply their dive skills to augment the body of marine scientific knowledge. TIDES 2 students will transform from recreational diver to marine researcher. Financial assistance is available for families who might not otherwise be able to consider this course due to cost.
Graland Country Day School
Graland Country Day School is a private school in Denver, Colorado, serving students in preschool, kindergarten, elementary, and middle school. Founded in Denver in 1927, Graland incorporates a rich, experiential learning approach in a traditional classroom setting, emphasizing the development of globally and socially conscious leaders who excel academically.
