A Curriculum of Values

article by Ariana Tourneur

photos by Sheldon Frissell

Some parents fear the thought of their children field dressing an animal or learning about firearms. But perhaps something to fear more is not safely exposing their children to the natural world and realistic elements of risk.

To enhance young people’s lives—and truly, the future of our province—the Alberta Hunter Education Instructors’ Association (AHEIA) has worked hard to incorporate Hunter Education into 700 schools. Officially added to curriculums in 1964, the program now trains over 100,000 students annually.

“Any school in Alberta—public, private or separate—has the ability to deliver conservation and hunter education and fishing education programs,” says Bob Gruszecki, AHEIA president. The programs are offered through the Alberta Education curriculum within the Careers and Technologies Studies option, Natural Resources (NAT) Program, or Careers and Technology Foundations programs for Grades 5–9.

“It’s not always offered, but every school can,” explains Gruszecki. “If a parent asks the school for their child to be certified in Hunter Education, then it must be delivered.”

Most of the time though, a teacher is inclined to deliver the program because of a personal connection to the outdoors. AHEIA provides free training, including a special teachers’ workshop at the Alford Lake Training Centre. “Teachers have plenty of resources right at their fingertips,” says Gruszecki. “They can get support they likely wouldn’t otherwise have—principals aren’t usually able to provide a teacher with 30 ice fishing huts!”

Sheldon Frissell took advantage of AHEIA’s resources, teaching outdoor education at a rural K-12 school for his entire career. “I knew I wanted to start teaching it right from the start, and I also knew I needed help putting together a curriculum that fit our farming community,” he says.

Frissell remembers asking his classroom to identify who had firearms at home and every hand went up. “Every single hand!” he exclaims. “At that time, there was nothing being taught centred around firearm safety, yet having a relationship with firearms was a reality of every one of my students.”

The appeal of teaching outdoor pursuits on top of it made it a nobrainer for Frissell and he connected with AHEIA straight away. “Once I learned about AHEIA’s mandate of making wildlife and wild places part of everyone’s value system, I was hooked!”

Junior high is when kids are rapidly developing their value systems for the rest of their lives. “How they talk, how they treat each other; it’s when they start to figure it all out on their own,” says Frissell. “They make personal choices based on what they’ve learned. I thought, what a great time to start discussing wildlife and wild places, when their brains are busy forming their values.”

Normally, schools might deem hunting and firearms dangerous; but as this is AHEIA’s specialty, rigorous standards, continual assessments, insurance, and protection ensure the delivery of a safe, comprehensive program for students.

UnlikeFrissell’s rural students, there are those with little to no experience in the outdoors. Adding it to the curriculum gives kids exposure to wild places that they wouldn’t otherwise get. “Inside cities and larger communities, it’s a slower uptake,” says Gruszecki. “But it’s getting more and more well known, especially with us delivering other programs—Report A Poacher, Trapper Education, Fishing Education, and more. We have a plethora of programs for teachers to take hold of, opening a whole new world for teachers and their students.”

Hal Ziprick, a teacher in Smoky Lake, influenced, and now leads many of these programs, including the extremely popular National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP). He also pushed to deliver a practical wildlife module of hunter mentorship.

“Every year, I take 10 to 15 kids out hunting,” Ziprick says. “I do a fly-in fishing trip with Grade 11, a hiking trip to Lakeland Provincial Park, and of course, round it out with many AHEIA programs, which the kids get credit for. In our archery program alone, we have 120 students this year!”

To Ziprick, the extra effort is more than worth it. “I get to take kids who have never had these opportunities before,” he says. “To see firsts through the eyes of a kid again is incredible.”

Those firsts prove to be everlasting. “On a recent trip, four of the volunteer mentors went through my program as kids,” says Ziprick. “Seeing how important it is to them now makes me realize the impact.” Talk about full circle.

Directing the program since its beginnings, Gruszecki understands this impact in a big way. “Conservation is largely a sense of being and at AHEIA, we’re about making wildlife and wild places part of people’s value systems,” he says. “When we help students understand their life is better because of these wild connections, they will do what it takes to make sure these connections continue to exist. If they don’t have these interactions with nature, they’ll never understand this. We’re here to create more and more of these interactions.”

Interactions are often exciting and always memorable, like when Frissell took his Grade 8 class to see the sharp-tailed grouse dance. “It was jaw dropping and eye-popping—the kids were at a total loss of words! ‘I can’t believe this happens here!’ and ‘we had no idea!’ they said.”

Frissell will never forget the conversations that followed. The kids talked about their pastureland and that they needed to make sure their parents kept it and took care of it. “To see young minds figure out the value and importance of habitat, and that they have control of how we impact these beautiful things in nature…what more could I ask for as a teacher?”

WHY AHEIA?

“Our Hunter Education is the most successful outdoor education program of its kind in North America, and probably the greatest collaborative project between government and volunteers. We’ve graduated nearly three million students at zero cost to the government. At the same time, the rate of people gathering into the cause and loving wildlife and wild places is growing and growing. But what is most underrated is the people who deliver these programs. Volunteers are key to it all, and we’re so lucky to have them.” ~ Bob Gruszecki