What’s more rewarding than catching fish? Inspiring that appreciation in a kid.
In the science of angling, success can be measured in various ways. Most often it is by quality and/or quantity of the species being targeted. But there are many factors that contribute to an angler’s overall success. The obvious range from understanding the winds, tides, moon phases, and locations to proper gear utilization. Less obvious factors include an angler’s financial situation, health, and time outside of responsibilities one can actually invest. All aspects should be examined and improved to truly optimize one’s chances at success.
The same can be said for success in life. Whether life-success is gauged by monetary value, influence, and/or situational contentment, achieving it is helped by having the cards stacked in one’s favor. One critical factor here is having role models and mentors early on in life. In research-based literature, it is established that quality mentoring relationships have powerful positive effects on young people in a variety of personal, academic and professional situations.
The American Journal of Community Psychology for example has many instances demonstrating that mentoring connects a young person to personal growth and development, and social and economic opportunity (Schwartz and Rhodes et al., 2016). Unfortunately, one in three young people will grow up without this critical asset (Bruce and Bridgeland et al., 2014). Low income areas in particular are considered to have more at-risk youths whose chances for aspiring to attend college would greatly increase with a mentoring program.
Overcoming Obstacles
There’s been an effort by higher education and other institutions to create youth mentoring program. An example is the program Hooked on Fishing-Not on Drugs (HOFNOD), developed by the Future Fishermen Foundation, and sponsored by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Division of Fish and Wildlife. This program teaches kids fish biology and angling skills, ecology, stewardship, sea-to-table, food security, ecotourism, and life skills. This is accomplished in part through its vast resources that include experts in various fields, training facilities, angling gear, associated textbooks, activities, specialized access to relevant sites, and teaching models/tools.
One of many benefits is that young adults who face an opportunity gap but have a mentor are 55 percent more likely to be enrolled in college than those who did not have a mentor (Mentoring.org).
HOFNOD’s past success and future potential have attracted separate organizations to be the mediators of these youth mentorships. Stockton University is at the forefront of this initiative. It has recently acquired property in Atlantic City whose school district serves a high-needs, highly diverse population of children. In collaboration with both the NJDEP and Atlantic County Sheriff’s Office, Stockton is striving to create bonds between the Atlantic City school children and its own University community. These relationships will foster a positive environment and combat negative feelings that at-risk youth may develop around formal education.
This collaborative project, New Angles for Success, entails Stockton faculty, staff, and college students, whom have been trained in the HOFNOD program, to mentor at-risk youths. Various pedagogical techniques such as crossover learning, computational thinking, embodied learning, adaptive teaching, context-based learning, and think-pair-share will be employed. Ultimately, this will benefit both the college student mentors and their at-risk mentees, strengthening the path to higher education.
There are 10 elementary schools in the Atlantic City School District. The target population will consist of selected children in grades 5 and 6 (when research on at-risk children shows that they are forming dispositions towards formal education). Even as each college student and participating faculty member serves as an inspirational role model for a potential future college-seeking elementary school child, those children will be teaching the Stockton community members how much we all share in common, and how their own diverse perspectives can help to broaden that of the mentors.
A City on the Sea
This new Stockton beachfront campus is conveniently located at a major gateway to Atlantic City. It includes apartment-style dorms (for housing over 500 students) and a shuttle system for students travelling to/from the Galloway main campus. A wide variety of courses will be offered in the new academic building. These include classes in hospitality and tourism, social work, business, general studies, and education. Local elementary schools are within near proximity to the campus, providing increased opportunities for collaborative community engagement programs such as HOFNOD. One of the nearest, The Richard Avenue School, will be among the first whose students benefit from the New Angles for Success program.
To celebrate the launch of the New Angles for Success program, a fall event was held in mid-October on the Atlantic City boardwalk and beach adjacent to the Stockton AC campus. Various stations and demonstrations given by experts and trainers of the HOFNOD program helped teach the attending youths aspects of fishing from knot-tying, proper rod casting, fish filleting, and beach reading, among others. It will also provide stations and educational hands-on activities about the local marine ecosystem, watersheds, ecological interactions, human impacts and more.
New Angles for Success will also be collaborating with associated Stockton programs. For example, the Science Enrichment Academy at Stockton (SEAS) is a summer program for high school juniors and seniors interested in continuing their education in the sciences. Similar resources, pedagogical techniques, experienced instructors will be shared amongst these programs in the future. As a Stockton professor myself (and avid angler) I’ll also be teaching a course on ecology and saltwater fishing. With a focus on striped bass fishing, this course is being offered this year for the first time at the new AC academic center. This class’s students, some of which are HOFNOD-trained, will also be helping to instruct local youth.
Such interactions will not only inspire and educate young people, but also provide high school and college students instructional opportunities to teach. It will also help to foster relationships among communities, and the later students to develop professional networks.
Ultimately, projects like this will develop partnerships that create pipelines from K-12 schools in the diverse school districts to institutions of higher education. In our present times the need for conservational advocates and outdoor enthusiasts is most dire. Fostering youths to appreciate and respect the environment will likely mold future leaders on this front.
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MORE INFORMATION |
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For additional information on New Angles For Success, the SEAS program or other Stockton University environmental and ecological initiatives, contact the authors: Dr. Adam Aguiar: [email protected] Dr. Claudine Keenan : C[email protected] Danielle Martin: [email protected]
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