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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nRick Webster, Braden DePaulis, and Jon Olson, left to right, of the Spartan Angling class with a sturgeon on a class trip.T<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dennis Anderson<\/a>@STRIBDENNIS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe Luke Adam has the answer to America\u2019s growing nature deficit disorder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adam, a math teacher in northeast Minnesota, is the brains behind a new fishing class at Nashwauk-Keewatin High School that is hooking kids in ways even they didn\u2019t think they would be hooked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Called Spartan Angling<\/a> \u2014 after the school\u2019s sports-team name \u2014 the class next week will conclude its debut semester. Establishment of the course followed Adam\u2019s successful funding request a year ago to the Department of Natural Resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur school board, principal and superintendent have all been very supportive,\u201d Adam said. \u201cThey understand that, historically, fishing has been an important part of northern Minnesota culture that has been passed from generation to generation, and that it\u2019s a great activity for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But even in northern Minnesota, some youth are missing out on the outdoors traditions their forebears enjoyed. Some kids can\u2019t afford to fish, Adam said, or otherwise don\u2019t have an opportunity. Others are being raised by single parents who don\u2019t know how to fish or are too busy to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whatever the case, an important link that connects the past, the present and the future has weakened, Adam said, or is missing altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur district has a 50-percent free or reduced lunch population and a 30-percent special education population,\u201d Adam said. \u201cBy the same token, our district is full of great kids who are passionate about the outdoors, but sometimes don\u2019t have the knowledge, means or equipment to participate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adam\u2019s fishing-class idea was sparked when he saw a DNR publication noting the agency had grant money for programs designed to recruit, retain and\/or reactivate hunters and anglers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Growing up in Keewatin, Adam was bitten early by the fishing bug. His grandfather had him on the water often and also took him to Canada on a fly-in trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat was a walleye trip, and when you\u2019re exposed at a young age to Canadian fishing, it hooks you for life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Adam learned the DNR had funds to lure Minnesotans into traditional outdoor activities, he summoned his twin passions \u2014 teaching and fishing \u2014 to write a $20,000 grant request to underwrite a fishing class (see spartanangling.com) at Nashwauk-Keewatin High School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy personal passion,\u201d Adam wrote in the application, \u201cis to equip high school students with the knowledge, experiences, awareness and conservation mentality to foster lifelong skills to enjoy angling for many years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meeting five days a week, the credit-earning class is open to students in grades 9-12. Thirteen kids were enrolled in the semester just ending. Two are of American Indian descent and one is a girl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe class seems to attract kids who are looking to identify with an activity,\u201d Adam said. \u201cMany aren\u2019t involved in typical school sports. And some know nothing about fishing. I had one student who didn\u2019t know what an ice auger was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Twenty-nine students have signed up for Adam\u2019s angling class for next year, an impressive number, considering a typical Nashwauk-Keewatin High School graduating class numbers total between 40 and 50 students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSome students who enrolled this semester thought we would go fishing all the time,\u201d Adam said, chuckling. \u201cBut the class is more than that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A lot more, as it turns out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adam\u2019s goal is to teach children that \u201ca whole gamut of knowledge\u201d comes with fishing. What must anglers consider before they fish? While they fish? After they fish?<\/p>\n\n\n\n As importantly, what makes one lake healthy and able to sustain good fish populations and another lake unhealthy, with no fish?<\/p>\n\n\n\n To teach the class, Adam had to relinquish the hour of preparation time he and other teachers are allowed daily. But that was an easy sacrifice to make, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis isn\u2019t just a one-day shot at fishing\u201d Adam wrote in his grant application, \u201cbut instead the goal is to build a foundation of knowledge, skills, and conservation awareness that creates success on the water and a respect for the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In class, students learn to identify various fish species, their habitat needs and how to catch them. Fish and water conservation are stressed, as is identification of various invasive species and the threats they pose to fish and the broader environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adam has recruited individual anglers and fishing clubs to share knowledge with the fishing class, and a portion of the grant money was used to buy rods, reels and other gear that students can borrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe class does go fishing,\u201d Adam said. \u201cOur big trip this last semester was to the Rainy River for sturgeon. Our principal, Ranae Seykora, went along, too. And the kids caught a big one \u2014 a 5-footer!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Driven to see his fishing class become a staple in Nashwauk-Keewatin High School and in other schools, Adam is seeking new funding. The DNR money runs out after the fall semester, and he can\u2019t reapply for the same grant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m not the kind of guy to let something like this die,\u201d he said. \u201cI know I\u2019m doing a great thing for kids in my district, and I also know my students will walk out of Spartan Angling with a new respect for our natural resources, and that will help the cycle of outdoors participation in our area continue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Outdoors columnist and editor\u00a0Dennis Anderson\u00a0<\/strong>joined the Star Tribune in 1993 after serving in the same positions at the St. Paul Pioneer Press for 13 years. His column topics vary widely, and include canoeing, fishing, hunting, adventure travel and conservation of the environment.danderson@startribune.com <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Dennis](\"http:\/\/stmedia.stimg.co\/anderson_circle.png?w=150&h=150\")
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