The
National Eagle Center (NEC), Wabasha, Minn., has been chosen to be a recipient
of a $5000 2011 Take Me Fishing grant.
The grant award was received through the National Recreation and Park
Association (NRPA) in partnership with the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF).
“We
are extremely pleased with the national scope and reach of our new education
grantees,” said RBFF Education Task Forc
Education Task Force is thrilled about growing RBFF’s education grants program
and getting kids and their families out on the water to experience all the
wonderful hands-on opportunities that the new grant recipients are offering.”
Take
Me Fishing is a national initiative to grow participation for recreational
boating and fishing for youth ages 6-15. The program as presented by NRPA
and RBFF allows local agencies an opportunity to reconnect kids with the
outdoors, provide education on environmental conservation and highlight the
benefits of angling and boating as a lifetime sport.
Grant
award winners for the ‘Take Me Fishing’ program were selected based on criteria
such as past program participation, demonstrated outcomes that engage youth in
outdoor programs, demonstrated ability to provide an inclusive program, and
ability to deliver resources to underserved populations within the
community. Each agency that was selected will receive resources to
benefit the program.
“I
am very excited to introduce youth anglers to the Upper Mississippi River
through fishing and canoeing,” said Heath Sershen, NEC’s eco-tourism planner.
“With this grant we intend to make access to river based activity participation
less difficult through community partnerships and programs.”
-font-family:”Trebuchet MS”;color:#262626″ mce_style=”mso-bidi-font-size:
14.0pt;font-family:Times;mso-bidi-font-family:”Trebuchet MS”;color:#262626″>Sershen
has previously worked as an independent trout guide in the Driftless Region and
is seeking a Master’s degree in Outdoor Education from Winona State University. He is working closely with Bucky Flores,
NEC’s Associate Director of Program Development, to administer the proper use
of the grant award.
“Throughout my association
with Heath, I have known him to be an avid fisherperson who has a passion for
sharing his vast amount of knowledge about the subject,” says Dr. Lorene Olson,
Winona State University Recreation, Tourism and Therapeutic Recreation
Chair. “I believe all of Heath’s
professors in the Recreation, Tourism and Therapeutic Recreation Department at
Winona State University would concur with my assessment of Heath’s love of
fishing and his desire to introduce others to this leisure pursuit. We sometimes
lightheartedly joke with Heath that he can find a way to connect fishing with
every class project and/or assignment. “
Sershen has developed and
implemented programs that introduced hundreds of Winona State students to fly
angling. He has also been a volunteer
with Project Get Outdoors, which engages at risk and underprivileged youth with
the outdoors. He says that one of
his greatest accomplishments is providing canoes and paddle routes for over 100
paddlers in one day at Winona’s Prairie Island boat launch.
“What can I say? I have a passion for the outdoors and
fishing that runs deep. I
understand that there are barriers to the outdoors that limit participation to
outdoors activities. This
understanding allows me to identify those barriers in the community and to find
ways to engage and include participants that may have otherwise never
recognized the Mississippi River as a leisure resource,” says Sershen. “I love guiding strangers to nature
based discoveries.”
Take me Fishing programs
through the NEC will begin this fall.
For more information contact Heath Sershen, heath@nationaleaglecenter.org, 651-565-4989, or visit
the NEC on the web, www.nationaleaglecenter.org.