A Course to Remember

Last summer I took part in Arrowhead’s Adventure Gym summer course and an adventure is exactly what it was. I, among many students, got the opportunity to participate and enjoy over $500 worth of summer activities for free and received a full gym credit at that. The class was led by three of Arrowhead’s athletic instructors. Those instructors being Kari Sagal, Del Kaatz, and Claudia Kelm. From the beginning they ensured us that the class would be tough yet challenging, and it was.

From scaling the side of a “mountain” at Devils Lake State Park to biking over 25 miles in the rain, the class gave me and the rest of my peers a run for our money. This was not your ordinary gym class-a warm up followed by an hour or two playing a team sport and then coming back the next day for the same thing all over-no this was nothing like that. The class was seven, eight hour days, spread out over a two week span. And everyday was something new and more exciting than the day before. We started out our adventure on the Arrowhead ropes course, learning how to belay a climber and the safety involved. This really helped us as we moved into the next few days.

One day at Adventure Rock, rock climbing, and the other at Devils Lake State Park, where we not only got to swim and kayak but climb some real rocks too. Some other fun we had was hiking on the Glacial Drumlin State Trail, catching a variety of fish at Ottawa State Park, and canoeing through the Horicon Marsh. Thankfully mother nature was on our side, giving us beautiful weather for our adventures, apart from getting a little wet while biking. Eight hours of gym can be a lot but to me this adventure was the perfect way to start out my Summer and I would encourage all Arrowhead students to sign up for the course and start their next adventure with Adventure Gym.