How A School In The White Mountains Is Training Students To Work In The Growing Outdoor Tourism Industry

A high school in New Hampshire's White Mountains offers outdoor recreation classes to help students find jobs in the region's booming outdoor tourism industry.

The Mount Washington Valley Career and Technical Center, located at Kennett High School in North Conway, began offering wilderness first aid courses, whitewater rescue certification, and mountain bike and road bike repair courses.

Virginia Schrader, director of the Center for Engineering Education and Careers, plans to expand it to a larger program this fall.

“So many students participate in outdoor recreation but don't realize – and that's the point – that they can have a career in any sport they love,” she said.

One of the goals, Schrader says, is to provide students with industry-recognized certifications in a variety of recreational activities. Tourists flock to the surrounding mountains for skiing, snowboarding, and mountain biking, as well as hiking, snowmobiling, and rafting. Many ski resorts, Schrader says, no longer want to rely on an assortment of seasonal workers and hire year-round workers to fix mountain bikes in the summer and make snow in the winter.

Chris Darling, who teaches science and coaches the mountain bike team at Kennett High School, will teach the program's first cycling class this semester. Darling received training to teach the course from Project Bike Tech, a California-based organization.

He said the course appealed to a wide range of students, from "enthusiastic cyclists" to students interested in mechanical engineering and others curious about the career.

The school worked with the University of New Hampshire and researchers from CAST, a Massachusetts-based university learning organization, to assess how its outdoor recreation program could strengthen students' STEM skills.

Schrader said he hopes the initiative will identify the potential impact of STEM on students, who may initially be drawn to their program because of their love of outdoor sports.

"They don't know it, but they learn a lot of math, science, and engineering skills by learning how to build and fix bikes."

This story is a production of the New England News Collaboration. Originally published by New Hampshire Public Radio.