Technical Center diving class provides diverse career opportunities for students

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To further prepare their students for any career path they choose, the Huron Area Technical Center instituted a new diving program during the 2021-22 school year. And next school year, those who passed will have the opportunity to further advance their training for career opportunities in law enforcement.

The class was initially created to give students a general understanding of diving and water safety.

“You’re not far from a lake, stream, or pond in Michigan,” explained law and public safety instructor Ryan Swartz, who also taught and developed the class.

Swartz went through a scuba diving class when he was 16, giving him the training he needed to work with the Huron County Sheriff’s Department and teach the class.

The class gave students who took it a diving certification from the National Association of Underwater Instructors, verifying that they have basic diving knowledge and are certified to dive down to 60 feet.

However, juniors who took the class will have the opportunity to advance their knowledge and become rescue divers with the next class during the 2022-23 school year. The class will focus more on the first aid side of diving, like carrying someone in the water. It will also certify them to dive down to 90 feet.

The certification from the advanced class will tip things in the students’ favor if they’re looking for public safety jobs, especially since it will keep whichever department they’re applying for from having to pay for training. Full-time diving teams for public safety departments like the Michigan State Police handle things like underwater rescue, evidence recovery, and dive training for potential officers.

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