PROJECT WET WORKSHOP (Nov. 7th-9th)
The weekend of November 7th, 8th and 9th found Amanda, Keith and myself in Broken Bow State Park. Amanda was there to become a Project W.E.T. facilitator. Keith and I were there to show educators from across the state how to incorporate fly fishing into their classroom curriculum. I know that may sound "fishy" to some of you, but even the doubting Thomas's out there must admit, who better to combine fly fishing with education than Keith and I.
When Keith and I started working out all of the details for the workshop, even we decided to bring in some help. The question was, "who to call?". The answer became very obvious, former Rogers County Conservation District (R.C.C.D.) employees. So we contacted Lisa Knauf and Brandon Reavis to lend their expertise for the weekend.
At the workshop we covered the education curriculum with interdisciplinary lessons spanning the education levels from Pre-K through adult. Topics such as; history, geography, economics, taxonomy, weather, creative writing, art, physical education, classification, observation, math and entertainment were some of what we covered. When the dust and rain settled, I think we did a good job. The participants had a better understanding of the topic and how it could be used across the education curriculum. Also, if that wasn't enough, they could tie some nice looking flies, sling a fly rod, and some even caught a trout or two.
Handling the education aspect of this workshop occupied the majority of Keith's and my time, so what about the food. Many of you have attended events where R.C.C.D. cooked the food. And without bragging too much, I must say we can put out some real good eats. However, even in this category Keith and I know when to go for great help. So we enlisted the services of the ladies from "Food With A Flair, LLC" for the weekend. These ladies came through in a big way and for that we say "Thanks!!!" We highly recommend them if any of you need an event catered.
It has been said that with enough notice we at R.C.C.D. can teach about anything and incorporate it back to conservation education. I hope this little snapshot into a typical day at the office for us can take conservation education to a another level for the rest of the world.
By: Robert Gibbs
RCCD Conservation Education Coordinator