Inaugural GenCon education summit draws more than 110 Arkansas schools 

HOT SPRINGS — More than a thousand children ranging from elementary school age to seniors in high school may not have realized it at the time, but they were being immersed into the entire array of various divisions within the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission while they participated in the first Generation Conservation Summit presented by Entergy at Bank OZK Arena/Hot Springs Convention Center Nov. 5-6.

Twenty competitions and many other noncompetitive gatherings were hidden in the guise of fun activities at the facility, which was transformed into a Disneyland-like presentation of outdoors experiences — from air rifle shooting sponsored by Daisy Air Rifles to trout fishing to casting bass lures at target squares in a 40-by-60-foot water-filled “lake” adorned with signage from the AGFC’s new Arkansas Legacy Lunker program and sponsored by PRADCO’s YUM! fishing lure brand.

That was just a small fraction of activity. Outside the loading dock in the beaming noontime sun, four teams under 10-by-10 tailgate tents had qualified in regional preliminary competition to present the best meal possible derived from three cuts of venison — sort of a Food Network battle of chef teams.

Further into the expo hall, Arkansas colleges maintained recruiting booths. Steve Lochmann of Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s aquaculture division held court with an assistant and some potential students, pitching UAPB’s strengths for a post-secondary education geared toward fish. University of Central Arkansas students manned a Stream Team display as well as their own booth, alongside such schools as Arkansas Tech and Southern Arkansas University Tech.

 AGFC staff from Hunter Education, Boater Education and Enforcement welcomed visitors who were between competitions and perusing the offerings. A large “demo stage” operated on the hour with presentations, including the culinary showdown and later a fly-fishing casting lesson presented by David Alford of the Arkansas Fly Fishers with fly-fishing newbie Carleigh Cooper, a homeschool student from Romance. There was a rock climbing tower and an Arkansas State Parks expert to discuss the activity. 3D archery was an experience as well as a competition; bowfishing was another experience to try, along with spelunking in a mobile “cave.” The AGFC’s mobile aquarium stood front and center in the big room, with a macroinvertebrate table beside it.

Down the hall from the spacious exhibit space, smaller classrooms housed experiences for painting duck decoys — students let their imaginations run wild with some rather interesting-looking feather colors to match a mallard’s green head, although there were some who took the art and coloring quite seriously. Later, in the same room, students of all ages stopped in to learn the skill of fly-tying from Arkansas Fly Fishers volunteers, including Tillman Pittman, who often puts on the same classes at the AGFC’s nature centers.

The summit was the inevitable product of another recent initiative launched by the AGFC’s Education Division and its chief, Mary Beth Hatch. Almost two years ago, Hatch developed a designation for schools to attain for notoriety in teaching outdoor education and conservation called the School of Conservation Leadership. From that first initiative, the staff looked at additional experiences and opportunities for these schools and others in conservation, and in outdoor recreation as a whole, which led to plans for the Generation Conservation Summit.

“We wanted to have some type of event. We do some really great events in the agency and we know students really love engaging, and you think of those statewide events like FFA, FBLA, those state and regional conferences. We wanted to provide something similar,” Hatch said.

“A summit seemed like a great idea. And one of our teacher leader council members, Hailey Robinson from Lincoln, came to us with a similar idea,” that came from an EAST Conference. Hatch also had been an EAST teacher at one point, and liked the idea.

“This was something that we could create through our work and our goals and initiatives and the mission of the agency for students to engage in, and this is where the summit really came to life. We spent over a year planning and developing this,” she said.

“It wasn’t just fishing and hunting competitions,” Hatch said. “We had an IT competition and a GIS competition (sponsored by OnX). We had our Communications Division competition where two-person teams created a two-page magazine spread on a conservation topic. We wanted an event that replicated our agency across the board.”

At the conclusion of the summit, AGFC assistant Education Division chief J.J. Gladden summed up the event: “Truly an amazing experience! The excitement from the students, the connections made among teachers, partners and agency staff — it all just clicked. A heartfelt thank-you to everyone who made this possible, including all the great sponsors. We can’t wait to see what the future holds.”

Plans are underway for a repeat GenCon Summit in 2026. Set your calendar for Nov. 4-5 for Hot Springs. Already, Hatch said, the team that produced GenCon is thinking of ways to add to the experience.

“We’ve already done a little bit of chit-chatting, and there are definitely a few things we want to modify and change,” Hatch said. “We want the absolute best experience for our students, our teachers and our schools. While this was going on, we thought about some things we could make into new competitions. We also have other vendors interested in partnering with us. We know once the message gets out, that’s probably going to continue to grow.”

Visit www.agfc.com/education/generation-conservation for a complete list of winners, sponsors and information about the Generation Conservation initiative.

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CUTLINES:

OWL PRESENTATION
AGFC educators presented a variety of topics throughout the two days of the Generation Conservation Summit Nov. 5-6. AGFC photo by Mike Wintroath.

SPELUNKING
Deer/Mt. Judea created a mobile “cave” to offer people a chance to explore karst systems without going underground. AGFC photo by Mike Wintroath.

FLY-TYING
Many students participated in decoy-painting, fly-tying and other artisan crafts during breaks from their competitions. AGFC photo by Mike Wintroath.

QUIZ BOWL
Students tested their outdoor knowledge in a quiz bowl focused on Arkansas’s rich conservation history. AGFC photo by Mike Wintroath.

AIR RIFLE GALLERY
The AGFC Recreational Shooting Division set up an excellent air rifle gallery for competitors to focus their marksmanship skills. AGFC photo by Mike Wintroath.