What advice would you give to new schools starting a fishing club next year? As you probably know, F3 recently learned that they did not receive funding for the 2009/2010 Physh Ed program. Although we are presently applying for funding from other organizations, we are trying to give advice to the schools that applied for grants. Help us help them start a small program by giving suggestions on finding local donors/sponsors, starting a fishing club, getting local training, and any other advice you think that might help.
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Schools and school programs never have enough money, so what is new? Well, one thing that is reasonably new is that you may have a school within a reasonable distance from you that has a program in fishing. Whom ever is running that program probably has ideas on what works in your climate. They may already have activities in place that you could "ride along" on. Things like a list of people who are willing to come in and explain fishing subjects to kids in school. There may already be contests and things set up that you and your students would be welcome to join in on. It is possible that the other school might share equipment with you, especially things like fly tying equipment have may not break as easily as fishing rods or tangle like fishing reels.
Lesson plans are probably still available from F3 or if not teachers who already have programs would probably be willing to see you got a photo copy of theirs. Some of the lessons are very basic and require very little in the way of equipment. Some of the basic equipment like the "pop can" fishing outfits are easy and cheap to make.
Let me give an example. For the golf game that we had demonstrated at training, I used the big cans from the school cafeteria as targets and soda cans as markers for starting points. Masking tape on the soda cans was labeled with the "hole number" and a arrow on the can point in the direction of the target. Score sheets are made up and run off like anything else we use in school. The cost for the golf game is mostly just in the rod and reel. To get around that for basic instruction the "pop can" outfits could be used and the distances between start marker and target could be kept short.
Based on the number of tangles I am still seeing in fishing reels, I might even just get kids started with cane poles and bobbers being the students first "real" fishing equipment. Kids could have some really fun fishing experiences using a simple cane pole and a can of worms and fishing from a dock or bank on a small pond.
Maybe, start everyone on the cane pole idea and encourage kids with the resources to purchase rods and reels. The rods and reels wouldn't have to be expensive ones if panfish were the targeted game. You might even get a local store to give kids a discount on the equipment if they have one of their parents buy a fishing license at the time the equipment is purchased. And, don't forget that fishing equipment is probably already available to many students because their parents already have equipment.
Most of us have a budget for equipment and we could use part of that to get started. Many yard sales and flea marts have used fishing equipment available, and cheap. The trick is to make sure that the equipment is still in good working order. One of the first things to do after purchasing the equipment is to strip off the old line and replace is with new line.
One the subject of line, that is one place that I would invest. Not necessarily put a lot of money into the best line, but have lot of line. We are constantly replacing line that kids have somehow "messed up."
Looking back on things, I really think the ideas for what we are doing is more important than the money or the equipment. Any school that wants to include a few fishing activities for kids could do it, it just takes a little thinking on the part of the teacher. Every great teacher I've ever known has come up with simple ideas that work-----that is why they are great teachers!
It is kind of quiet on the website, I am hoping that there are more people reading than writing. (Hey, my principal says I never "sugar coat anything", and I just proved him wrong, there was a lot of sugar in that openning sentence.)
Anyway, for those that are still with me, I've missed chances to do things and probably could have done some things better with the fishing program.
I kept thinking a fishing club would have been a good idea but I never got around to forming one. I have a core of kids that could have started a active club. I tried to include everyone in my classes and encourage everyone, and that has merit but some kids just aren't into fishing.
I think now, looking back on it, that I could have started a club with a small number of students that had a high interest in fishing and they would have brought in more kids as the year progressed.
We have had the problem of only having 7th graders in our building. So each year we start with an entirely fresh group. There are some good things about that but every year things have to start totally from the beginning. If I could have had 7th graders that stayed in the fishing program as 8th graders it would have given me a good base for a club. Many of you are probably in a better situation and have students over several years and a club would work especially well for you.
Kids that have an interest in fishing often have equipment already or would get some. Storage is a problem. I have my rods standing against the cabinets on the side of the room. It works, but isn't a place that kids could bring in their own equipment and leave it. Looking back on things again, if a teacher had a good organized place to store equipment (which school budgets will often pay for) I think that most of their equipment problems would be solved. If a teacher had a small number of rods to demonstrate with, I think the kids that were really interest would bring in equipment of their own, if there was a place to store it safely. I know that some very poor communities might not have the resources so I am not blind to poverty either.
I don't think I was wrong using carp as my target fish. I read an article that said the average freshwater lake contains 85-90% carp and sunfish. Why not take the kids out to fish for what is there?
I worried too much about boats and thinking kids couldn't fish without a boat. I think teachers would be wise to look for locations with plenty of bank space to fish. Fishing from the bank just has to be safer, and it takes fewer adults to watch over the students. (I am not forgetting that some of you are trying to set up boating and canoeing programs. That is great, I just haven't had the energy, nor funds to tackle that yet myself.)
I went for buying most of my equipment, it works for me and with the grant I was able to afford some equipment. But, loaner equipment is available (Federal fly fishing, as an example) and that is something that we could all take advantage of with some careful planning and scheduling.
We are going to have a fishing contest between schools this Saturday. As I once again think about things, Shelly and I have mostly people helping out from our communities not our school systems. The local bass club is going to have boats available for kids to fish from. Prizes are being give (supplied) by a local bait and tackle shop. Some good heart carp fishermen from as far away as Detroit are coming to help kids to learn how to carp fish. (I am so happy that I found the carp fishing website, there are so many great people on it that want to encourage my kids.) We have a local boat store that is sending a couple of boats, and it cost them plenty for the insurance necessary for the day. But, people that sell boats want to see people on the water, so we are in the same club if you know what I mean.
There is even an auto repair shop furnishing the hot dogs. So many good people out there want to help our kids. I am guessing that you have good people in your community too.
The grants and training that we got has made my year and my students year so much better. But, it wasn't so much the money as the change of attitude that it developed in me. It encouraged me to get out and do something that was a little further out of my box. Don't you want to get out of that box too? You might be surprised how much you can get done with a smile and a handshake, there are some really nice people out there, go look for them.
I agree with Vance, there is never enough money for our school programs. We just completed our second fishing trip this year. The students had so much fun and learned so much. It's always quite an undertaking to pull an event off with the amount of funding we have. However, once you see a kid catch their first fish,every bit of work is well worth it. In Katy, we do pool alot of our resources. A Katy ISD Anglers group was founded by Mark Fobian. As we receive grants, we buy fishing equipment that we store at Katy ISD's Kenneth D. Welch Outdoor Learning Center. This provides other schools who are starting a fishing program with equipment and it helps to sustain our programs. In looking for money to help fund a program, we rely on other grants such as the Target grant and also community business partners such as Rotary Clubs and local businesses. For certified instructors, we provide opportunities throughout the year for volunteers to become certified anglers through the Texas Parks and wildlife department. Sharing lesson plans, as Vance said, has also been a valuable resource for us. Also, networking with other anglers through foundations such as Future Fisherman and blogging are useful tools.
I am just taking a little break here. I just had a class of kids cooking outdoors. Nothing fancy today but no one left hungry. I heard one student say that he had just had his 6th hotdog. Filling as that sounds, he still seemed to room for the apple cobbler I made in a outdoor Dutch oven with legs.
I had a new boy join my class today. He didn't go hungry either. I was busy helping kids prepare their food and didn't have much time to talk to the new boy. I did say a little something to him at the end of the hour, and he said he had a great first day in class. He was really looking forward to being here tomorrow! I gave him a hug and sent him on his way to his next class.
I just went out to check on the 20+ lbs of pork I have smoking. Pulled pork sandwiches will be on the menu in a day or two.
I got to thinking about this morning, as I checked the smoker. With so many kids dropping out of school, isn't it nice that we can offer things that encourage kids to come back to our classes. Yep, good food, smokey smells in the air, and a hug seems to get kids thinking positive about going to school.
The fishing that we did in class the other day wasn't world class either. Just a little river runing through a city park, and not that many fish to be had either. But, I have had so many kids mention the fishing trip since we took it that I know the kids enjoyed it.
Anyway, I look forward as much to the experiences the kids and I share, as they do. Aren't we glad we are teachers?
We all agree that there is never enough money, which is all the more reason to make what you have go far. One resource for people to check out was shared early on by Steve Walsh and it saved me considerably. Shakespeare offers great prices on fishing rods and reels. Contact Roxanne Coleman at roxanne@shakespeare-fishing.com or call 1-800-334-9105 ext.3146.
I would tell them to get ready to have fun and learn from the kids. I had a whole unit planned out and hit many obstacles. My next year will be great. So my suggestion is to make a plan and expect some changes. It has been fun for me however I needed to make the program not so difficult for the first timers and allow the "pros" as we call them help the others. The most difficult part of the process is trying to decide where to spend my money and how to make it go the furthest.
Wayne
I may have talked about this before, but if anyone is in Iowa, the DNR's program, Fish Iowa!, is exceptional. You can get trained in the program in just a couple of hours and you get a curriculum guide for free, which includes the F3 Hooked on Fishing, Not on Drugs. Can't beat that! Also in Iowa, contact the Conservation Board in your county as most of them have fishing poles available on a check out basis, and naturalists who would be excited to help with a new fishing group.
This may sound easier than it is but if money is an issue try connecting with another program in your school that might have some and is looking for new programs. We connected with the special ed program who has agreed to sustain our program with field trips as well as the fishing club who is able to make lures and likely has several fishing poles they wouldn't mind lending to your classes. We also borrowed equipment from the conservation program. Another avenue might be finding money elsewhere. Lesson plans accepted by PE Central receive gift certificates for PE equipment. Fishing is still a pretty innovative idea in PE and a good fishing lesson plan could probably get you $50 to start.
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