LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is accepting applications from school administrators to join in a pilot program developed with Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ office and the Natural State Initiative Advisory Council that will offer outdoor education opportunities within curriculum that can be seamlessly incorporated into lesson plans throughout the school day.
The pilot project, announced at a press conference held by Gov. Sanders at the Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center June 4, will be a partnership between the Arkansas Department of Education and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, and will help equip students for a future career in outdoor recreation.
Thirty schools will be chosen from across the state to participate in the program during its first year. If successful, the partnering agencies will prepare for a statewide launch. School administrators and teachers interested in elevating outdoor education opportunities on their campuses can apply through the AGFC’s School of Conservation Leadership program and complete a letter of intent to AGFC Chief of Education Mary Beth Hatch at marybeth.hatch@agfc.ar.gov.
Natural resource agencies have worked for years to develop additional curricula and lesson plans for educators to bring the outdoors into the classroom, but Hatch says this new program takes an entirely fresh approach, working with teachers to develop pathways into regular coursework instead of proposing additional workloads for teachers and students.
“As a teacher with 13 years of experience in the classroom, I know how educators are constantly asked to add this ‘one more thing’ into their curriculum, and that those additions add up to an overwhelming and unachievable task,” Hatch said. “What we’ve designed is a playbook to truly incorporate outdoor education in your school, not just as one more thing a teacher has to add to their already taxed workload, but as something that integrates seamlessly into science, social studies, math, language arts, art, PE and a variety of elective courses. It’s not one more thing; it’s a new way to present what’s already being taught that’s been developed with the help of professionals in the outdoor recreation and conservation industry.”
