DALLAS With a professional background in secondary schools education and athletic training as well as a personal passion for outdoor recreation, Scot McClure is well suited for his job of managing and coordinating outdoor education programs for the Dallas Ecological Foundation, an affiliate of the Dallas Safari Club (DSC).
At this week's DSC convention, Scot is hosting seminars on the importance of educating today's youth about hunting, shooting, fishing and conservation. He took a few minutes to summarize the group's efforts for ESPN Outdoors:
ESPN Outdoors: What is the Dallas Ecological Foundation (DEF) and what is its relationship to DSC?
McClure: The Dallas Ecological Foundation was created by DSC as a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation, which offers beneficial tax advantages to conservation- and education-minded donors. DEF and DSC share a common mission to protect and conserve wildlife and habitat, and to educate youth.
ESPN Outdoors: Why is youth education important to DEF and DSC? And why should "Joe Deer Hunter" care, too?
McClure: Today's youth are not being taught the values of wildlife and habitat in traditional, public school settings. They're also not being exposed to the tremendous benefits that outdoor activities such as hunting, fishing, camping and hiking can provide to both people and the environment. DEF and DSC believe reversing this current trend will protect our heritage, wildlife and habitats. If hunters and anglers don't take the initiative to share their outdoor passion with young people today, who will do it? We all have to get involved!
ESPN Outdoors: How do DEF and DSC carry out the education part of your mission?
McClure: We have two education curriculums available to all secondary schools in the United States. The first, Outdoor Adventures Education, is a physical education curriculum. The second, The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, is a social studies curriculum that was distributed to over 1,300 Texas high schools this fall.
We also offer DSC's S.A.F.E.T.Y (Shooting Archery Field Excellency Trials for Youth) events, which provide 250 youth and 250 parents with one-on-one instruction in shotguns, rifles, pistols, muzzleloaders, bows, crossbows and safety skills exercises.
Finally, our youth outreach programs provide children with outdoor adventures in Alaska, Africa and all over Texas. Together, DEF and DSC have helped convert thousands of Texas youth into budding sportsmen and women and conservationists.
ESPN Outdoors: What is the reach of these programs?
McClure: Since 1997, our Outdoor Adventures Education program has tripled in size. We now have 60 secondary schools using the Outdoor Adventures Education curriculum as a local elective or physical education course. This year we will have reached 5,700 students with a total of over 28,730 students impacted since we started the Outdoor Adventures Education program. We also are anticipating 14,000 students to learn about the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation this year.
ESPN Outdoors: How are students impacted by these efforts? Can you share individual success stories?
McClure: Student's lives are impacted in countless ways. We often see improvement in their self-esteem, discipline even attendance in school! A teacher at Rockwall (Texas) High School shared a story where a father purchased a bass boat so he and his daughter could spend quality time together after she discovered her love for fishing in one of our Outdoor Adventures courses.
Or, the young lady from Coppell High School who started shooting skeet with her dad because of the new skills she was taught at one of our S.A.F.E.T.Y. events.
Or the young man from Stephenville High School who had no arms but was so determined to shoot firearms at a S.A.F.E.T.Y. event. He learned to use his feet to hold a rifle and his toes to squeeze the trigger.
These kinds of experiences change youths', parents' and our own volunteers' lives forever.