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Dear Educator,
Wow, what a year it has been. As most of you are
aware, the Arizona Game and Fish Department has been working to improve
the services it provides to its customers – the citizens of Arizona. And
the hard work is paying off.
Recently, the Department was recognized by a number
of organizations. The Arizona Quality Alliance awarded us the Pioneer
Award for Quality Excellence for our successful establishment and
deployment of fundamental quality systems. We received the Federally
Assisted Civil Rights Award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for
the access that our programs and services have for our diverse public. And
who could forget our bald eagle program that received three awards from
Arizona Clean and Beautiful. The Bald Eagle Management Program won the
Governor’s Pride Award for Media Leadership while the Southwestern Bald
Eagle Management Committee received an honorable mention for Environmental
Education. Plus, the Monofilament Recovery Program, which encourages
anglers to recycle fishing line so that it doesn’t wind up tangling and
injuring wildlife, received an honorable mention for Recycling.
We don’t want to forget about our own
environmental education program, Focus: Wild Arizona. We have been off and
running, adding new materials as soon as they become available. When the
school year started, we had a vision but limited resources available. At
the time of this writing, we have six different units of study, three
wildlife booklets, a cultural teaching guide, a biotic communities
reference page, and much more available for free on the Internet. In
addition, we had a very successful Elk Natural History workshop, have
distributed copies of the Critters of Arizona to over 10,000 fourth grade
students (have you ordered yours yet?), and traveled all over the state
conducting teacher workshops. And we have no plans on slowing
down.
Within the next few months, we will be publishing
new lessons, hosting more workshops, and improving our web site. Make sure
you keep in touch. You will not want to miss the future of Focus: Wild
Arizona.
Sincerely,
Eric Proctor
Karen Schedler, Environmental Education
Program Manager, (623) 236-7238, kschedler@azgfd.gov
Eric Proctor, Environmental Education
Coordinator, (623) 236-7245, eproctor@azgfd.gov
Sam Huselton, EE Outreach Coordinator, (602)
789-3370, shuselton@azgfd.gov
Sandy Cate, Wildlife Center, (623) 582-9806,
scate@azgfd.gov
Sharon Voiland, Information, (623) 236-7220,
svoiland@azgfd.gov
Check out these recent wildlife related news
stories:
Gould's turkey making record comeback in Arizona
2005 marks record year for Arizona’s
endangered ferrets
Where do Arizona’s eagles go for summer
vacation?
Our newest curriculum to hit the web has been
generating a lot of publicity,
particularly in Tucson and Flagstaff where we held special media events.
Now is your chance to check out Mountain Lions
in Arizona, a unit for sixth through twelfth grade students. The
lessons start with some general natural history about this wild cat and
culminate in a dynamic role play in which students become involved
citizens! Tres Rios is back
Be sure to join us and other nature lovers at the third annual
Tres Rios Nature Festival. Located at Estrella Mountain
Regional Park in Goodyear, this event will include live wildlife, free
fishing clinics, hikes and entertainment. Mark your calendars for March 11
and 12. You do not want to miss this.
Another Natural History
workshop?
We
are in the middle of planning our next exciting natural history workshop.
Details will be coming soon to our website. Be sure to check back
often because space will fill up fast!
The Bats of Arizona poster has just been reprinted and it looks
great! This full-color poster contains all 28 species of bats found in the
state along with some common bat anatomy. Contact Sharon at svoiland@azgfd.gov or (623) 236-7220 to order your free copy
today.
State-Fish Art
Contest
Wildlife Forever is pleased to announce a
call for entries for the 2006 State-Fish Art Contest. Students nationwide
have the opportunity to win recognition and prizes while learning about
their local state-fish and the conservation of aquatic habitats. The
annual competition is open to students in grades 4-12 and entries must be
postmarked by March 31, 2006. For complete details, check out the
State-Fish Art website.
Schoolyard Wildlife Habitat
Contest
Are
you interested in creating a schoolyard habitat but you don’t have the
funds to get started. The Schoolyard Habitat Foundation is sponsoring a
competition for Phoenix-based schools. All you need to do is fill out the
Entry
Form and have your students complete a short essay. See the flyer
for more information. Hurry: deadline to enter is March
1.We want to hear from you. Have you used some of our
materials? Tell us about
it. We strive to develop
quality materials for teachers but always appreciate your feedback. Do you have a resource need? Let us know. We will do our best to get it into
your hands. If not, then we
will put you in touch with someone who can.
So share your stories, share your success.