 |
Christine Rolka Director of Education |
Future farmers, shooters, hunters and conservationists of America
I listened in awe as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia addressed the masses at the 2006 NWTF Convention and Sport Show, during one of the evening banquets. He recalled his high school days, when he was on the school's shooting team and carried his gun to and from school on the New York City subway.
"I grew up in a time when people were not afraid of people with firearms," he said.
That certainly wasn't the case nearly 40 years later, when I attended school in Manhattan. And it doesn't stand true now.
When we hear of guns and schools in the news, it's hardly ever a positive story. It's as if the mass media doesn't know what we know. We've witnessed firsthand the awesome impact of engaging young people in the shooting sports in an environment that fosters safety, ethics and responsibility. It happens all the time though programs like Boy Scouts and JAKES, and even after school at 4-H gatherings.
What if I told you there was a program in schools that not only turns young people into responsible shooters, it also teaches them hunter education and wildlife management? Several Texas high schools have adopted the Ag Clays 381 program that incorporates class work and field study to create teenagers who are savvy in wildlife conservation, hunter education certified and active participants in the shooting sports.
And kids are excited to enroll.
Teachers have reported that the ag science classes that offer this program fill up fast, and many schools are looking to add more to accommodate the demand.
I am excited to see how many conservation education-based organizations and agencies have a hand in the program's success. It's the brainchild of Charlie Wilson of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Hunter Education Program. Ninety percent of the students enrolled in the program are FFA members. And so many of them cut their shooting teeth in 4-H.
It's a no-brainer that the NWTF would get involved and spread the word about this excellent effort in the Lone Star State.
Ag Clays 381 has many layers; let's take a lesson from biology and dissect its many parts. Read about Drucilla Meier's journey through the program on the following page to see the positive impact this course already has had on students. Then learn about ways to get involved.
"I hope the hunting culture can be preserved," Scalia said to the convention crowd. "The hunting culture, of course, begins with a culture that does not have a hostile attitude toward firearms."
Ag Clays 381 is a fine place to start. — Christine