Dallas Ecological Foundation Outdoor Adventures Education

The Dallas Ecological Foundation (DEF) is a qualified 501 (c)(3) charitable organization under IRS regulations. The DEF is currently sponsoring Outdoor Adventure Education programs in more than 170 secondary schools in Texas and four other states. Each school follows the Dallas Ecological Foundation’s Outdoor Adventures Education curriculum. Outdoor Adventures Education is a Proud Partner with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Outdoor Adventures Education is looking to partner with other wildlife conservation groups and State’s Department of Natural Resources. This partnership provides quality teacher training across the great state of Texas and vital resources for all of the Outdoor Adventure programs. The curriculum is now being offered to any public or private secondary school in Texas and across the United States.

Mission Statement Dallas Ecological Foundation’s Outdoor Adventures Education It is the mission of the Dallas Ecological Foundation to empower today’s youth with the awareness to appreciate and embrace all outdoor and wildlife conservation skills thus enabling them to be educated, accomplished and respectful stewards of the world’s natural resources and to instill them with the passion to pass their knowledge to future generations. The goal of the DEF Outdoor Adventure education curriculum is to provide and expose students and their parents to a wide range of outdoor activities. Research has clearly shown that: Students involved in extracurricular activities tend to engage in more appropriate behavior and perform better academically in school. Students who are actively engaged in the educational process have greater attendance and academic achievement. Students tend to stay away from drugs and other destructive behaviors when the parents are actively participating in activities with their child. Students engaged in outdoor activities: o Are healthier physically and mentally. o Do better in school. o Have higher self-esteem. o Have good self-discipline. o Feel more capable and confident. o Are good problem-solvers. o Are more cooperative with others. o Are more creative. o Feel connected to nature. o Are tomorrow’s conservation leaders (Lifesbetteroutside.org)

Course Accreditation and Curriculum The Texas Education Agency (TEA) Adventure/Outdoor Education course is found under physical education, Section 116.53. The Dallas Ecological Foundations Outdoor Adventures curriculum covers all of the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) in Section 116.53. The TEA’s PEIMS Service ID is PE AOE 03830102. TEKS for middle school courses are found throughout Section 116.23-24. Outdoor Adventures curriculum is aligned to the National Standards NPE K-12.1-7. The curriculum includes: 1) Complete Scope and Sequence 2) Course Syllabus – One semester or two semester options 3) Complete daily lesson plans for 18 weeks that include: TEKS, objectives, detailed lessons, enrichment opportunities, modifications, assessments, beginning class/bell work activities, assignments and end of unit exams. 4) Many lessons incorporate technology, cross-curricular opportunities, math, science, writing and STAAR applications. 5) Units include: a. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Hunter Education b. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Angler Education c. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department – National Archery in Schools Program d. Texas Parks and Wildlife Boater Education e. Orienteering and GPS Unit – Basic and Advanced f. Wilderness Survival Unit – Basic and Advanced g. Outdoor Cooking Unit h. Camping Unit i. Challenge Course j. CPR/ First Aid Unit 4) Resources and Equipment options

General Description of “Outdoor Adventures” Outdoor Adventures is a fun and exciting co-ed physical education course, local elective or Ag. Science Wildlife Management class. Students are taught life-long skills by using integrated curriculum of science, math, writing, critical thinking skills, and computer technology. The focus is on outdoor activities including: archery, orienteering, survival skills, first aid/CPR, trip planning, angling, tackle crafts, hiking, backpacking, camping, outdoor cooking, conservation/environmental issues and certifications through the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) and the American Heart Association. On campus activities include: archery, angling, CPR/first aid, survival skills, trip planning, tackle crafts, and orienteering.

Rationale and Justification The Outdoor Adventures curriculum is not your traditional PE course. Instead of teaching PE with basketballs and tennis rackets, we use rods and reels, and bows and arrows. The Outdoor Adventures course is designed to change young people’s lives forever by exposing them to the many great opportunities of the outdoors. With today’s accelerated curriculum, full of bench mark testing and academic pressures, students need a fun class that will motivate them to stay in school and concentrate on their studies. The Outdoor Adventures curriculum is being taught in over 170 secondary schools with numerous positive attributes associated with the class. School principals report improved self esteem, improved attendance, less discipline issues and improved grades for students while enrolled in the course.

No Boundaries Many students are not involved in extracurricular activities and the Outdoor Adventures program helps those students become engaged in the educational system. After school archery teams and fishing clubs have been created in some schools. There are no racial, physical, gender or socio-economic boundaries and therefore all students enjoy an equal opportunity to participate and become engaged in extracurricular activities. The curriculum encourages and invites all kids to participate.

Curriculum The Dallas Ecological Foundation’s Outdoor Adventures curriculum order form is available under the education tab: www.dallasecologicalfoundation.org. Contact Scot McClure for details on purchasing the curriculum. Curriculum is $1000.00 per school. There are a limited number of grants available to offset the curriculum cost if needed. The curriculum is a one-time cost to help ensure school accountability with the program. Additional curriculum for high school social studies courses is free and available in the North American Model for Wildlife Conservation tab.

Teacher Training The Dallas Ecological Foundation will assist with teacher training by certified instructors for each unit offered in the outdoor adventures education program. School districts and Outdoor Adventure teachers will benefit from the teacher training and it is the expectation the training will be completed. The DEF will organize teacher training but it is the responsibility of school district and the individual teacher to attend the trainings. There will be multiple training dates per semester and a week long training session each summer. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and other State DNR’s will provide 6 to 8 hour instructor trainings for Hunter Education, Angler Education, Boater Education and National Archery in Schools Program. The trainings for the other units vary in length and may be grouped together to maximize time. Some teacher training outside of the Texas can be organized depending upon locations and instructor availability. All teacher training is scheduled and organized by the DEF’s Outdoor Adventures coordinator, Scot McClure at [email protected].

Qualification of the Teacher – P.E., Ag. Science, Elective All teacher training for the specific units offered in the curriculum is free. Most high schools offer the Outdoor Adventures program as a regular physical education class utilizing a certified physical education teacher. Schools may offer the course as a local elective which will increasing the overall participation in the course. The schools that offer it as both a physical education and local elective course have over 300 students enrolled in the course, example: Keller High School, Allen High School and Coppell High School. The local elective course can be taught by any certified secondary teacher. At the middle school level, the course is usually a local elective course. Some schools use the Outdoor Adventures education curriculum in an Agriculture Science Wildlife Management course.

Credit Requested and Grade Level 2 Semesters or one full year and one credit 7-12th grade or 1 Semester (½ Credit) for 7-12th grade.

Texts The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department provides free textbooks and classroom instructional materials for the hunter education, boater education and angler units. All TPWD resources are available to all teachers who have completed their certifications provided by the teacher training opportunities.

Some of the Schools Using the Outdoor Adventures Curriculum High Schools Allen Argyle Arlington Bowie Arlington High Arlington Houston Arlington Lamar Arlington Martin Arlington Seguin Baytown Sterling – GCCISD Burleson

Burleson Centennial Byron Nelson Cedar Hill Chico Cody - Wyoming College Park –Woodlands College Station College Station Alternative Colleyville Heritage Coppell

Crowley North GPISD Crosswinds Dallas ISD Rangel Academy Dallas Skyline East Central San Antonio Electra Elkhart Flower Mound Marcus Garland Granbury

Grand Prairie th Grand Prairie 9 Grand Prairie Dubiski Grand Prairie South Grand Prairie South 9th Grapevine GCISD Bridges Greenville Grulla – Rio Grande City Happy Hill Farm Hardin Irving Irving Academy Irving MacArthur Irving Nimitz Justin Northwest Katy Katy Cinco Ranch Katy Mayde Katy Mortan Katy Seven Lakes Katy Taylor Katy Number 7 Keller Keller Central Keller Fossil Ridge Keller Timber Creek

Kountze Lake Dallas Lewisville Lewisville Harmon Lewisville Hebron Lewisville Killough Lexington Lovejoy Mansfield Career/Tech. McKinney McKinney Boyd McKinney North Mercedes Mesquite Mesquite Horn Mesquite North Mesquite Poteet Mesquite West Midway Paris Pasadena Pasadena Dobie Pasadena Memorial Pasadena Rayburn Pasadena South Houston

Plano Plano East Plano West Richland Robstown Rockwall Rockwall Heath Rusk San Antonio Christian Sanger Alternative Somerset Southlake Carroll Stephenville Sunnyvale The Colony Trinity HEB U. of T. Charter Schools Westbrook H.S. – Maine Wylie Wylie East

Pilot Point

Middle Schools Argyle Austin - Irving ISD Carroll Middle School Carroll Dawson M. S. East Central San Antonio Ennis Junior High Grand Prairie Fine Arts Academy Irving ISD – Austin Irving ISD - Bowie Irving ISD – Crockett Irving ISD – deZavala Irving – LBJ Irving – Lamar Irving - Travis Joshua Loflin Lanier - Houston ISD Lewisville Arbor Creek

Lewisville Creek Valley Lewisville Delay Lewisville Downing Lewisville Durham Lewisville Griffin Lewisville Hedrick Lewisville Killian Lewisville Huffines Lewisville Lamar Lewisville McKamy Lexington Maypearl Junior High Mercedes Mineral Wells Montgomery Junior High North Paris Lamar Prince of Peace Carrollton

Roma Berrera Royce City St. Mary's in Sherman Travis J. H. Paris Utley - Rockwall Weslaco Central

THE FACTS ABOUT OUTDOOR ADVENTURES The Dallas Ecological Foundation engaged Responsive Management, a premier survey analysis company, to conduct a research study involving a representative sample of 4,957 students. The 2013 survey results definitively and quantitatively support what Outdoor Adventures Education students report. “The material covered in Outdoor Adventures cannot be found in any other class. It gives students a different view on the outdoors and teaches them how important the world around them really is,” said a student of Arlington Martin High School. “I have learned more about the outdoors in the first six weeks than I have known my whole life,” said a student of Stone Middle School. The survey rating for each of the 10 overall sporting unit program elements and the OA in general proved the OA program to be highly popular with 90% of the respondents. A whopping 92% of students responded that the OA prepared them to hunt, fish, shoot, camp, or go boating on their own or with a family member. Over 90% learned “a lot” or “a little” about wildlife management, ethics, values and wilderness stewardship. More importantly, pre- and post-program survey comparisons indicated a positive shift from “good” to “excellent” when students were asked to rate their ability to participate in sports or physical activities, to develop friendships with other students, to maintain good relationships with their teachers, to stay out of trouble, and to get good grades. The retail outdoor industry will be thrilled to learn that the survey indicated a marked increase in all types of equipment purchased post-program.

THE FACTS ABOUT INDOOR ARCHERY NATIONAL ARCHERY IN SCHOOLS PROGRAM Occasionally, a school district administration will have some specific questions about the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s National Archery in Schools Program. The program is extremely safe and very popular with students. The following information is from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to help answer some potential questions: NASP began in March 2002, with 22 Kentucky schools. The goal was to start one school archery program in each Kentucky County (120) in 3 years. That goal was achieved in 13 months. In 2012, the program had grown to 46 states and four other countries, 2,200,000 students (4th-12th grades). More students were involved in NASP than Little League Baseball in 2012. 16,000 school teachers are ‘NASP Certified’ and teach archery. Most are physical education teachers but some teachers are math, science, language arts teachers. About 1/3 of the schools have an after school archery program. The 2012 NASP national tournament was the largest archery event in the world with more over 7000 participants. In a survey conducted by Responsive Management ® teachers told us: o NASP improves student self-confidence (84%) o NASP improves student motivation (78%) o NASP improves student behavior (73%) o NASP improves student attitudes (74%) o NASP improves student focus (66%) o NASP improves teacher/student relationship (70%) o NASP improves student performance in PE (43%) o NASP improves students learning skills (43%)

THE FACTS ABOUT HUNTER EDUCATION Occasionally, a school district administration will have some specific questions about the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Hunter Education unit. The following information is from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to help answer some potential questions:

Currently in Texas, there are between 750-900 public schools teaching this course. This safety course has been taught in public Texas schools since 1972. This safety course is only 10 hours of instruction. This unit is about 2 weeks of instruction time during an 18-week semester. This safety course requires that the first five chapters in the hunter education manual be taught in order to certify a student. Firearms are never brought onto a campus. You do not have to fire a firearm in order to become certified. At school, students are never taught how to load, unload or fire a firearm. Students are taught about SAFETY. Students are taught about ethics. Students learn about wildlife conservation and management of our land. While the Dallas Ecological Foundation encourages the Hunter Education unit to be included in all of their Outdoor Adventures programs, once a school district purchases a curriculum, it is the school administration’s option to choose the units of instruction their school will include in their Outdoor Adventures courses.

Certification Fees Certification for any unit of instruction is an option to every student/parent. Students that elect to become certified will need to pay the fees set by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Certifications that require fees: TPWD Hunter Education TPWD Boater Education CPR/First Aid The CPR/First Aid fee may be determined by the instructor and their campus due to consumable expenses.

Equipment The primary equipment needed for the Outdoor Adventures course is archery and angling gear. The archery equipment must be the NASP approved archery gear and the angling equipment can be any combination of rods and reels from various vendors. The Dallas Ecological Foundation has numerous grant opportunities available through outdoor conservation programs to assist schools with equipment needs. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department also has school sets of the NASP and angler gear available to schools for loan. Check with your local Texas Parks and Wildlife Department offices for the availability of the school sets.

Get Started Today If you have any questions or if you would like further information, please contact: Scot McClure Dallas Ecological Foundation Outdoor Adventures Coordinator 972-392-3505 office 940-465-0366 cell 972-980-9925 fax [email protected]

Support The Dallas Ecological Foundation is available for year around support and will do everything possible to see your school become successful with the Outdoor Adventures Education curriculum.