- " The course was very successful. Sammer was engaging, patient, and thorough in his teaching and also in his question answering. The visual aids were very helpful, and the the coaching throughout the rescue scenarios was likewise clear and applicable. I would happily recommend this course to anyone." - student from a 2 Day Swiftwater Rescue course. |
|
- " Very skilled sailor... most competent sailor I've worked with. Sammer puts the safety of the boat and students first." - fellow sailing instructor |
|
- "Sammer is an excellent instructor with exceptional skillsets in technical knowledge, teamwork, leadership, as well as a great positive and reinforcing attitude toward life." - student from a leadership sailing expedition. |
|
- "I was so struck by the presentation and workshop on Instructor Judgment that Sammer delivered to peers and supervisors that I felt compelled to write this brief critique... Sammer began the workshop by having us play a game of his own creation that helped set the tone for one of the main contentions of his presentation: that we make judgments based on how we are conditioned by our experiences. As the workshop progressed Sammer shared diagrams, anecdotes, evidence and his own theories, as well as theories of others in the field to help participants understand the dynamics of instructor judgment on new and varying levels. Towards the end of the discussion, Sammer facilitated a second game, using dominos to both figuratively and experientially help participants think and converse about the consequences of our decisions. It wasn’t just an idle activity, thrown in for the sake of creativity and time killing, rather it was an impactful and memorable device to help us all go a little deeper into our personal experiential investigations of our own decision making tendencies and capacities.
I was impressed throughout with how well Sammer had thought about, planned for and then delivered this workshop. And most importantly, I was impressed with my new found facility to think about the genesis, the possibilities generated and the ultimate likely consequences of my judgments as an outdoor instructor." - Anna Lauer Roy, student from a Leader Judgment workshop. |
|
- "It was great. I loved how Sammer allowed for discussion amongst the participants when they were relating topics to a specific operation. Of course the experience of the water activities are awesome and so crucial to seeing how our team works together, I was also very happy that Sammer was clear about us choosing our level of challenge and presenting scenarios where there were different levels of intensity". - Heather Kowalewski, Owner of All Adventures Rafting, Custom Swiftwater Rescue course for raft guide team |
|
- "Sammer is brilliant... an extraordinary teacher." - student from a leadership course. |
|
- " He is a calm and rational leader. He looks out for the group and relates well to students. He is courteous to everyone and treats students equally." - student from a leadership/sea kayaking and navigation course. |
|
- "Sammer Elias taught two swiftwater rescue classes for the Rocky Mountain Canoe Club (RMCC) in the spring of 2010. He ran a very useful class for us in a competent manner. He covered the basic safety and rescue skills with practice on the river, including swimming over a strainer, swimmer self rescue, boat rescue, and foot entrapment excerise. The teaching and implementation were excellent." - Jim and Karen Baker-Jarvis, RMCC presidents. |
|
- " A good range of knowledge, covered a lot of material, didn't go to fast with anything. Made sure that everybody understood the material before moving on. Good scenarios." - student from a swiftwater rescue course. |
|
- " Sound/prudent judgment. Sammer exceeds expectations in all regards." - sailing course assessor. |
|
- " I found the course very informative, and with my little experience it was a nice refreshment on some topics." - student from a swiftwater rescue course. |