Feature- Teacher Swaps Classroom For Canoe

After leading close to 10,000 students on CBF outdoor experiences as a teacher, Bill Bechtel joined the Chesapeake Bay Foundation as a professional educator and canoe instructor.

Bill Bechtel, a high school science teacher in Pennsylvania for 38 years, finally retired in June 2009 at the age of 60.

He wasn't tired of teaching, and he certainly wasn't sick of kids. He was worn down by what he called "the bureaucratic gobbledygook"—for example, teaching to standardized tests and taking teacher re-training courses in subjects he already knew.

So when Bechtel walked away from Selinsgrove Area High School, he decided to return to what he really loved about teaching. He joined the Chesapeake Bay Foundation) as a professional educator and canoe trip leader.

"One of the reasons I am so excited about CBF is that they have a philosophy I believe in—get the kids outside," Bechtel said.

Outside of the classroom Bechtel has taken close to 10,000 of his students on CBF outdoor experiences—canoeing, hiking, exploring, and learning—over the last 15 years. CBF named him Conservation Educator of the Year in 2006.

"When I went on canoe trips with CBF, the kids just loved it," Bechtel said. "They were in school, but out on the Susquehanna River. The kids who love the Susquehanna are the ones who are going to care about it in the future."

Bechtel grew up on the Susquehanna River and played in it constantly as a child.

His passion for nature inspired him to start and grow an outdoors club at Selinsgrove Area High School, about an hour north of Harrisburg. He taught the kids rock climbing, whitewater rafting, and back packing.

Now he's running canoe trips for CBF. He teaches students how to identify fish and invertebrates in rivers, and evaluate whether waterways are healthy or polluted.

"It's not a worksheet," Bechtel said. " It's being out there and experiencing everything."