Lynchburg College professor launching scuba class

Though the dates are still being finalized, Stern plans to offer more scuba classes this fall. For more information, call (434) 544-8224 or e-mail him.

“It was an amazing thing ... the vastness of the ocean, the complete unknown and looking down at a world I could never have imagined in my mind,” says Stern, recalling a family trip from his boyhood.

The experience sparked a lifelong passion for Stern, 55, a Forest resident who runs the New Horizons Outdoor and Leadership Program at Lynchburg College. This fall, Stern launched a scuba certification class for students and community members, rounding out the college’s offerings in outdoor adventure activities like hiking, rock climbing, camping and kayaking.

His courses combine classroom lessons with pool sessions at the Bedford YMCA and Randolph College. Students learn skills like how to breathe underwater, how to maintain a constant depth or “neutral buoyancy” beneath the surface, and how to de-fog a mask. Once they master the basics, they head to the open water at the New River near Radford or Lake Rawlins, an old quarry near South Hill to test their skills.

It is not uncommon for dive schools to exist in inland areas for people who wish to earn their certification before going on a big trip to tropical waters. TheLynchburg area once supported a dive shop on Waterlick Road, called Scuba Schools of Virginia, but it recently closed.

Stern’s classes are associated with Diving Enterprises, a dive shop in Salem. Money earned from the classes will be used to support other students programs at LC, he says.

Though Stern has been a serious diver for more than 10 years, he says that earning his teaching license from the Professional Association of Dive Instructors was harder than earning his master’s degree. He learned everything from the physics of diving to how to teach underwater. After a year and a half of training, he is certified to teach four levels of classes: advanced, rescue, dive master and assistant instructor.

The floor of Stern’s small office at LC is scattered with outdoor gear: climbing helmets, backpacks, ropes. His skin has the sun-kissed glow of man who spends a lot of time outside.

This summer, Stern and his wife took a dive trip to Curacao, a small island off the Venezuelan coast, one of their favorite destinations due to its beautiful waters and relative affordability. Bonaire, an island near Curacao, also ranks among their favorite diving spots. There, the license plates read “Diver’s Paradise.”

Stern’s most memorable underwater sighting was of a 30-foot long whale shark during a trip at Playa de Coco, Costa Rica. He floated just 10 feet away from the mammoth fish.

“They are very smooth moving, just placid. You’d never know he was there unless you looked up.”

Though diving has taken Stern all over the world, his roots are now in Central Virginia, where his primary job is to teach college students outdoor leadership skills. He also runs the LC’s challenge course and serves as an adjunct faculty member for the outdoor minor.

For Stern, it’s a dream job that combines his love of nature with his love of teaching.

“I love working here,” he says. “If you wrote a job and said what would you like to do with your life, this is it.”