Shepard students earn SCUBA licenses

For physical education teachers Bob Peck, Jason Perch, and Dylan Shaughnessy, summer plans always wait. The end of the school year does not bring a break, only weeks of very long days.

As SCUBA teachers at Richards, Shepard, and Eisenhower high schools, the three begin their summers hauling students in mini-buses down I-57 to Haigh Quarry in Kankakee.

It’s not as glamorous as it sounds.

After nine months of instruction, dive practice, and safety drills, the teachers lead students through open water dives that earn Professional Association of Diving Instructors certificates so they can SCUBA anywhere in the world.

Dive days mean focus, energy and sweat. It’s a form of graduation, with students earning their PADI licenses so they can SCUBA safely on their own.

This year, nearly 75 students – a record – earned PADI certification in District 218.

Shepard students earning basic certificates included Erin Adkins, Hamzah Alkhatib, Sergio Alvarez, Wade Bittner, Brenna Braasch, Dwayne Dawkins, Allison Elzinga, Nathan Fisher, Kody Gibson, Paige Harkabus, Andrew Hite, Nathan Hughes, Jaron Jackson, Brenna Koepp, Ieva Kondratas, Jill MacDonald, Lauren McHale, Tom McInerney, Dakota Morris, Ellen Mueller, Eryk Nowak, Andrew Smith, Haley Vasil, Hannah Vasil, and Angelina Zamora.

Shepard students earning advanced certificates included Hannah Horstmann, Andrew Choragwicki, Anthony Crespo, Maggie Frausto, Theresa Hartl, Michael Jokubauskas, Tim Kruse, Grace Spindler, and Chloe VanWitzenburg.