Aversano, Doug  

Aversano is a really awesome professor, one of the best that I've had in the NRM department so far. He is extremely experienced in the field of wildland firefighting, and it shows. He is a strict teacher, meaning that showing up to class and completing assignments is mandatory if you want to pass, but that's how it is in the real world so it makes sense that he would teach the class that way. Even though he is strict, though, he is a very nice and approachable guy who will answer any questions you have. The lectures are interesting and the labs are VERY hands-on. You'll do everything from lighting small fires with various firing tools (drip torch, fuzees, etc) to digging a fireline and completing hose lays. You even get 5 certifications that qualify you to begin work in the field of firefighting. If you have even the slightest interest in anything related to fire or firefighting I highly recommend you take this class with Aversano.

Doug Aversano is the man! A typical sentence from him could be "oh and there was this time we were completely surrounded by fire, and we almost died... but it's not a big deal." He's a great teacher, and pretty much knows all his stuff from experience as a firefighter. His lectures are awesome; half the time is him telling stories of firefighting incidents and about all the crazy things he's done in the wildfire game. He takes attendance every class, so go to class, which isn't hard cause the classes are a lot of fun. The labs are even better. He really puts an effort to get fire engines to the labs so the class can play with all their cool toys. All in all a great guy and a great professor.

Dude knows his shit and lives for fire fighting. You can tell he misses it badly. If you do the reading and take notes/pay attention in class, you'll learn a lot. His enthusiasm/attitude rubs off on you.

During this entire quarter all I could think about was how this professor reminded me of that small little dog that runs through the back of scene 23 in The Incredibles by Pixar. Seriously, if you look it up you will only be able to see it...

Mr. Aversano is a great teacher- he has a lot of field experience and is very professional. While it seems a lot of students that are taking this class already have previous experience in it, Mr. Aversano presents it in a clear and easy way to understand. The class it totally lecture based- so all of the information for the quizzes and final are from the activities (two-hour lab) and the lectures. The activities include field-trips are super fun and movies that are very relevant to the class. There are also a few books that you have to read, especially the books for the book reports which do not have any summarized reviews to use, so you actually have to read them to answer the prompted questions. I did not really have any experience with fire, but I feel like everyone should take this class. Not only is it interesting, but I feel that there are a lot of information and messages to take home. Great teacher, great class, if you participate and just do the work and study for the quizzes and final, it should be an easy A. If you miss one lecture though, your grade will definitely suffer.

This is a great class. It's interesting and class time goes by quickly (isn't boring). We go on field trips once a week to different fire stations in the area, and a hike to Bishops during dead week. Take this class for a D5, it's an easy A/B, interesting and fun!

I can't speak to his teaching ability. But be warned that he doesn't care if you are a graduating senior who needs just that class to graduate, he will kick you out if a sophomore decided he wanted to last minute enroll.

If u want to get on deans list take this class. Biggest joke ever, most of my classes in high school were harder than this class. Easy 4 unit A if u show up to class every day and study for 10 min before every quiz

If you are looking for an automatic A, this is the class to take. This class is super easy to get an A in if you go to class. No tests, just quizzes and papers. The class before the quizzes he tells you the quiz questions. The papers are on fires you can easily research (although they are supposed to be based on the books he assigns). Labs are super easy. They are either films in class or field trips to fire stations. Aversano is a great guy and you rarely stay the full time.