Hunter Education in the Schools Program……Promoting Safe, Responsible and Ethical Behavior in the Outdoors………..Kansas Wildlife and Parks

November 8, 2006 marked the official kickoff of the Hunter Education in Our Schools campaign. Specially designed portfolios containing a variety of National Shooting Sports Foundation firearm safety education and conservation/wildlife appreciation pamphlets, a Kansas Hunter Education student manual and a copy of the Kansas Hunter Education in Our Schools DVD produced especially for this endeavor were distributed to 126 Kansas elementary, middle and high school principals attending the Kansas Association of Elementary School Principals/Kansas Association of Secondary School Principals (KAESP/KASSP) Conference. Many of those receiving the portfolio expressed a great deal of interest in the program. The DVD also provides a glimpse of the Laser Shot Hunting Simulator. The Laser Shot is a firearm safety training system that can be taken into the schools. Many educators saw the Laser Shot as one solution to the problem of giving firearm safety education in the schools.

The Hunter Education Division of Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks has plans to participate in vendor displays at conferences of the Kansas Association of Middle School Administrators (KAMSA), Kansas Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (KASCD) and United School Administrators of Kansas (USA). Its goal is to increase Hunter Education in Our Schools participation in more middle schools starting next fall. Kansas school systems now actively involved in teaching hunter education in the school include Burlington, Tonganoxie, Wellsville and Central Heights. Programs in these schools have been well accepted by students and parents alike.

For more information concerning this program, please contact Monica Bickerstaff, assistant Kansas Hunter Education Coordinator at 1-620-672-0767 or 1-620-672-5911. monica.Bickerstaff@ksoutdoors.com