By Brie Cohen, staff writer

Scott Hanna always knew he learned better doing things hands-on. When he found that people were using it as a trend in education called experiential education, Hanna was on board.

Most people know Scott Hanna as a captain of the Albert Lea Fire Department, but Hanna is also the manager of the Rock Gym in the Brookside Education Center. At the Rock Gym Hanna teaches canoeing, leadership training and team building through experiential education. Experiential education is a hands-on way of learning, and Hanna believes that everyone learns better this way. Hanna tries to teach communication in different ways and how to pay attention to what people are saying. He plays games with groups of people that challenges them to converse in new ways to solve problems.

A native of Albert Lea, Hanna only left town when he went to college at the University of Minnesota. When he was young, he was part of the summer science program that Albert Lea offered.

It was an outdoor program that is no longer offered, but Hanna is trying to bring this style of programing back in a different fashion with his experiential education in Albert Lea, a town he is proud to be a part of.

&8220;I have a really strong feeling for the community. The people here are fantastic,&8221; he said.

Because Hanna loves spending time outdoors, he likes that in Albert Lea, he can go walk by lake after the sun goes down. Where as when he was in the Twin Cities, he said the rules all change after dark.

His love for the town might be part of the reason everything he does in his free time seems to help out the community.

&8220;I like to have multiple benefits when I do things,&8221; Hanna said.

Besides fighting fires and helping kids live positive lives, Hanna is training for tracking. Tracking is a way of searching for missing people. Hanna thinks it is important for our county to have a search and rescue team so people can go out and help if anyone goes missing. Hanna goes all over for tracking training. He has been to Duluth, Warren and Wisconsin. Tracking all starts with the missing person&8217;s footprint in the place they were last seen, and hopefully in the end Hanna or another tracker can locate them.

Hanna&8217;s favorite people to keep on track at the Rock Gym are kids, or those groups that have an impact on kids, such as the YMCA day camp councilors. Hanna said when kids grow into adults, they will do what they did when they were young. So he likes to show kids a healthy lifestyle so that lifestyle can be continued on when they get older. But because these kids groups are unable to support the Rock Gym financially, Hanna does private industries, like various workplace groups.

Hanna said that he wouldn&8217;t be able to do it all without his staff at the Rock Gym.

&8220;If it weren&8217;t for the staff, I&8217;d go insane,&8221; Hanna said.

His staff feels just the same about him. Lead Rock Gym staff member Rachel Garcia said, &8220;Scott is great because he has a lot of passion for it. He would do anything in his power to get people to try it because he believes in it.&8221;

To try it out for yourself or to schedule an event such as a birthday party or corporate team building day with Hanna at the Rock Gym, call community education at 379-4834.