As the school director for ACRT Arborist Training, I spend my time setting training schedules for our instructors and clients, grading tests and videos sent in for certification, and working to refine our curriculum so it offers a good value for a modern tree worker. Being largely confined to my desk in a typical corporate office, I sometimes lose the bigger picture of what we do as a department – at least in the field. When I first started, I think some of the instructors took a secret pleasure in watching one of the office guys get out there in gear and climb trees (poorly, I might add). My climbing experience is limited to a rock wall at Kent State University, so it was no surprise that I snarled the rope in the foot ascender and got stuck. But it was a teachable moment, and I was sitting in the tree, fully sure that I would be stuck forever and die of starvation eight feet off the ground, I had an epiphany: this was not an experience I could have had online.
This story originally ran in Landscape Business. View the full article here.
