Students who are looking for a hands-on approach to learning and are interested in the outdoors can schedule an unusual learning experience for the upcoming semester.

Shaver's Creek Environmental Center offers a block of seven courses every spring for students interested in environmental education.

The courses are offered through the Penn State School of Hotel, Restaurant and Recreation Management as part of its Recreation and Park Management program.

Students in the program are taught by Penn State faculty Tuesdays and Thursdays at Shaver's Creek. The center is located in the Stone Valley Recreation Area, halfway between State College and Huntingdon.

The program does not provide transportation, but it gives students a chance to learn away from the hustle and bustle of campus.

About 20 to 30 students enroll in the program every spring.

Doug Wentzel, program director at Shaver's Creek, says there are many advantages to taking these classes.

"You can use the landscape around you to reinforce the materials you cover in class," Wentzel said.

He added that it is a "more reflective place" to work and study.

Recreation and Park Management 325 (Principles of Environmental Interpretation) is needed as a prerequisite.

Each semester begins with a discovery trip through the Northeast where students visit state parks and interpretation centers that provide environmental education to the public.

After the trip, students settle into a schedule of seven different courses, all offered at Shaver's Creek.

Some of the courses are designed around the seasonal changes of spring to give students a chance to learn about the processes of the outdoor environment as they unfold.

Students are also given a chance to teach others about the outdoors. They serve as teachers for an outdoor school held at Shaver's Creek for fifth- and sixth-graders.

"It really creates a community of learning where the students are also the teachers," said Ann Marie Taylor, marketing coordinator for Shaver's Creek.

At the end of the semester, students are required to do a hands-on exhibit for their final project. Taylor said that many exhibits become learning tools at Shaver's Creek, and that often these exhibits are given to other nature centers to promote environmental education.

David Hooke (senior-economics) said the program was "the most outstanding collegiate experience I have definitely ever had." He said he liked the hands-on aspects of the program as well as the leadership and real-life problem solving skills it offered.

Hooke said the program increased his confidence and made him realize he likes working on his own as an entrepreneur. He switched his major from recreation and park management to economics, got his real estate and insurance licenses, and now is a partner in an insurance business he helped start.

Attributing all of this to his experience at Shaver's Creek, Hooke praised the staff for being "genuinely interested in your needs as an individual," something he said could not be stated about classes on campus.

Phillip Gardner (senior-recreation and park management) agreed, saying that the group there is a "great, friendly community." People are always there for help, he said.

Students interested in the block semester program are directed to call Shaver's Creek Enviornmental Center at 814-667-3424.