AGFC accepting applications for schools to enroll in new outdoor education program

In-class curriculum will be similar to this presentation at Sherwood Elementary, where educators presented the role pollinators like the monarch butterfly play in agriculture and conservation. Photo courtesy Melody Carson.

Applications are open for schools to enroll in a new program to offer outdoor education opportunities. The program, developed by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) alongside the Governor’s office and the Natural State Initiative Advisory Council, will offer these opportunities within curriculum and can be seamlessly incorporated into lesson plans throughout the school day.

Thirty schools will be chosen from across the state to participate in the program during its first year. If the program is successful, the partnering agencies will prepare for a statewide launch.

This program is set apart from previous attempts to get outdoor education into the classroom by incorporating it into existing curriculum rather than adding additional workloads for teachers and students.

Mary Beth Hatch, AGFC Chief of Education, says “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. 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 workloads, 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.”

School administrators interested in applying for the program can apply through the AGFC’s School of Conservation Leadership program and can send a letter of intent to marybeth.hatch@agfc.ar.gov.

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