2013 Brass Bluegill Award

Each year the Iowa Department of Natural Resource’s Aquatic Education Program honors an individual for their efforts in helping Iowa’s youth become skilled anglers and advocates of fishing and natural resources conservation. Dan Anderson, Science Teacher at MFL MarMac High School in Monona, is the 2013 recipient of the Brass Bluegill Award.

Anderson has established an outstanding local program that exemplifies the goals of Fish Iowa! He has taught a fishing and aquatic education unit for nine years. “I usually work with about 20-30 sophomores through seniors ever year in my Natural Resources Science class. I then use my high school students to help teach the kindergartners and 3^rd graders casting and a unit on fishing.”

Dan takes students to the DNR fisheries management station in Guttenberg where they actually assist with electro-fishing to sample walleye and sauger populations. “The students that go with have a lot of fun and find it hard to believe that people actually get paid to do such a fun job. Most of these kids are hoping for a career in the Iowa DNR.”

Anderson’s class has been involved with various other projects related to Fish Iowa! and Iowa’s  aquatic resources. His class won the Fish Iowa! Video Contest in 2010 & 2011. His students put together three to five-minute segments on different chapters of the Fish Iowa! module. The segments were then put together to create a comprehensive fishing instructional video. Dan’s class also participated in the clean-up of a two-mile section of Sny Magill Creek and Recreation Area with staff at the DNR Big Springs Hatchery.

“I teach Fish Iowa! because I believe we need to get more kids involved in outdoor activities and away from their iPods^® and computer screens. Kids who spend a lot of time outdoors value our natural resources and have a greater respect for nature. My dad took me fishing all the time when I was a kid, and those days were the best memories I have of childhood. Hopefully some of these students will take their friends and family out and make some lasting memories too. I enjoy seeing the smiles on the faces of kids when they catch their first fish and watching them grab for the last few crumbs off the plate at our fish fry. It’s a lot of organizing, but it’s worth it if we can get more kids involved in outdoor activities.”

Dan was presented with his award at the Natural Resources Commission meeting in Dubuque on May 9. As part of the award, Dan’s Natural Resource Science Class received a set of 24 spinning rods and reels with carrying racks from the Aquatic Education Program. Fish Iowa! strives to create safe anglers and responsible stewards of Iowa’s aquatic resources. Fish Iowa! is supported by Sportfish Restoration Funds, which are obtained from excise taxes paid on fishing tackle and related items and fishing license dollars.