Taking to the water

Mike Sciacca

It’s not your typical physical education fare, this new class

offered at Laguna Beach High, yet several students certainly are

taking to it like a duck takes to water.

For the second consecutive school year, a scuba class is offered

as part of the physical education curriculum at Laguna Beach.

Instruction is offered five periods a day, Monday through Friday,

Athletic Director Mario Morales said, and instruction is offered in

the classroom and the school pool.

Students have been catching on to this nontraditional form of

school physical education, he said.

“It was a pilot program a year ago, and in our second year, the

numbers of students participating has gone up,” Morales said.

“It’s a class offered to all physical education students, and they

offered this class as an option and in addition to their regular

requirements.”

At the end of the four-week class, students receive a grade, which

is applied to their final overall physical education grade, he said.

Freshman student Dylan Sachse took the class to brush up on his

scuba skills.

The 15-year-old, who participates in the early morning class --

the first of the day -- said he became a certified scuba diver two

years ago in Hawaii.

“I haven’t dived in a couple of years and took this class as a

refresher course,” said Sachse who, at 6-foot-1, 280, played right

tackle this past fall on the school’s freshman football team.

“I’m already certified and wanted to get my advanced

certification,” he said. “This is a class that is for everyone. It’s

a fun and exciting class to take.”

The course is taught by John Sims of Ocean Gear in Huntington

Beach.

Sims offers classroom and pool instruction to Laguna students.

They get into the school pool up to two times per week.

Although this is just the second year scuba has been offered at

Laguna Beach, Sims said that the high school program has been in

effect since 1976, noting that Edison and Marina highs in Huntington

Beach have offered the physical education course for the past 24

years.

At larger schools, Sims said he deals with between 150 and 180

students per day.

At Laguna Beach, the smallest public school in Orange County, he

says, about 50 students take part in the program.

“The program is designed to introduce students to the ocean and

scuba diving. It’s an alternative to traditional physical education

classes offered and the students who are participating in the program

are really enjoying themselves,” he said.

“It’s a well-rounded program. Our goal is to teach all levels of

scuba, from the beginner and basic instruction, all the way through

instructors. I’ve had several former students go on to become

instructors.”

Sims noted that students also have the option, at a fee, to

continue the program away from the classroom and school pool by going

out to the ocean to “see, learn and take part in scuba diving and

earn certification.”

Sims said that another plus to the scuba program extends beyond

the benefits of physical education.

“This program also implements different subjects students might

learn in the classroom,” he said, adding, “We take subjects such as

physics, physiology and marine biology, and combine them to make it a

very interesting class.

“That is our goal -- to make this both an enjoyable and

educational experience, a class students want to sign up for and have

fun with,” Sims said.

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports for the Laguna Beach Coastline

Pilot. He can be reached at 494-4321 or by e-mail at

michael.sciacca@latimes.com.