Finally done it!

[KiwiFi]

Kia ora from cold NZ
I've been a long time reader/stalker and greatly appreciated much of the wisdom on the board. Figured it was time to get honest and join up!

I am a high school teacher who has dived with school kids since 2009. In 2014 I decided to up the anti and got into running a scuba club, upskilling our student divers and giving them a safe place to dive with family members. Then I ran a school trip to Vanuatu where we were blessed to have an awesome and safe trip on the Coolidge.
Now I'm about to become a master scuba diver (whoop, whoop!) in addition to gaining my divemaster qual to ensure I can help school students nature their love of diving in a safe and enjoyable way.

I really look forward to being part of this board in a more visible way

 

[SIUegyptiandiver]

Welcome aboard! Better late than never, grats on your accomplishments and goals! I love working with kids, thanks for leading the next gen divers and helping keep this great sport alive and well.

 

[drrich2]

Welcome. Glad you get to share the passion with the kids.

Richard.

 

[Dizzi Lizzi]

I was watching an instructor with kids this weekend, he sure was enjoying it! Welcome and congrats for taking it to the next level.

 

[TMHeimer]

Welcome to the board. I too was a teacher and enjoyed my 4 years as a DM assisting with OW courses. It was nice to get a little bit back into the education life.

 

[KiwiFi]

Thanks for the welcome.

I am very passionate about getting young people diving, and then helping them to dive safely with their family members. It's a double whammy!
I'm still a teacher (science, maths, physics) and when I'm really lucky I get to organise weekend or holiday trips with kids.
I work with an awesome local diving shop that makes everything easy for me, and I'm doing my divemaster training through them too.

We have more than our fair share of diving deaths this year in NZ, and I'm all about helping kids learn good diving practices.
It's not ok to collect your last scallop when you feel the last suck of air......
It's not ok to take your gear off to go for a cray in a hole....

Plan your dive, dive your plan . I'm boring, but I love diving and I want generations of divers in my country to do the same!