Instructor Appreciation Night
All Member and Guest Event
DATE: Wednesday, 17 NOVEMBER, 2021
TIME: 6:30 pm
WHERE: Oceanside Yacht Club
COST: Per/Person $15
Sign-up CLOSED
Each year we honor our instructors for the outstanding jobs they do. A tremendous amount of time and effort is put into each and every class, for no monetary compensation, only the joy they derive from passing on their nautical knowledge.
Come and show your appreciation for our instructors. Cost of $15 - Menu will be provided at a later date.
A special tribute will be given to Van Diehl. A video of his contributions will be played. Below is a tribute to Van from one of his closest and best friends in the squadron, Adriaan Veldhuisen, SN.
Instructor Appreciation 2021
P/D/C Wanderley “ Van “ Diehl, SN-ON
The year was 2011 when I was the Education Officer for District 28. That year I had the privilege to recommend my friend, P/D/C Wanderley “Van” Diehl, for the Chapman Award for Excellence in Teaching. His peers had chosen Van that year as the best instructor in all of our District, maybe one of the best in all of USPS. I have worked with Van ever since he transferred into our Squadron in the year 2000 while I was Squadron Commander.
Van was one of the best teachers/instructors I have ever met; not necessarily by following the common model. No, Van approached the coursework in his unique way, adding and subtracting material as he saw fit. Education in a volunteer organization can be a highly challenging job. For most, being nominated for the Chapman Award would be the end goal; for Van that was only the start of it. We have been blessed with another nine years of teaching, building programs, coaching new instructors, and leaving many knowledgeable students in his wake.
He started San Luis Rey on the path to on-the-water training, long before this became a popular program at USPS Education Department. Now on-the-water training is an element in nearly every course that we teach. For example, Van wrote and helped with an OTW exercise for Cruise Planning. He sailed from Pier 32 Marina to Mission Bay with students onboard where they anchored and spent the night. Van wrote OTW for the Navigation Course. (100 miles offshore cruise where the Junior Navigation and Navigation graduating students will have the opportunity to practice what they have learned about offshore cruising in the classroom.
We have attended numerous new seminars, taught by Van Diehl, where his wealth of practical experience inspired us to take subsequent classes. Van truly got behind the material at hand and was genuine and convincing as a teacher. Van was also tireless in his quest to make sure that the student understands the material. Completing a course with a passing grade was never enough when Van taught the course.
If Van would have still been with us, he would stand before you, dressed in full uniform, with a humble and shy grin on his face. He may even take the mike and explain that we should not teach any course unless it had an on-the-water component in it. He would still ask for more volunteers, challenging our members to “take a dare, give it a try.”
Respectfully submitted: P/D/C Adriaan Veldhuisen, SN