WATG-National Wild Turkey Federation JAKES program
With my announcement on Friday that I’m going to be a dad for the first time, and with Kristine posing another Write about the good challenge over on the OBS blog, I started looking into different organizations that were geared towards kids. The one that really jumped out at me is the JAKES program.
JAKES stands for Juniors Acquiring Knowledge, Ethics, and Sportsmanship. It is a program that is put on by the National Wild Turkey Federation and their goal for the program is to provide a way for kids, who are 17 and under, to learn about the outdoors. They have regional and local events that are geared towards kids who hunt, fish, hike, and just generally like being outdoors. These events teach kids the skills needed to be more successful and safe in the outdoors.
JAKES also has a magazine publication that is geared towards the 17 and under crowd. In the magazine they feature articles that cover various topics that are geared towards wildlife conservation and stewardship. The magazine also features articles, stories, and poems written by NWTF members.
Another great thing that JAKES has to offer is The My First Deer Hunt book. This books walks through the various steps of hunting by using photographs and easy to read language for the hunter. I think that this is an excellent idea considering the number of negative books that are out there available for children.
I am planning on joining the NWTF soon and I think that the JAKES program is one of thee best programs I have seen that is specifically geared towards the youth of today. We need to use any means available to help educate kids about the outdoors, and the JAKES program is definitely a useful tool for just that purpose.
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Another good magazine for young hunters is Puddler - put out by the Greenwings program at Ducks Unlimited. We get my 7 year old nephew this DU membership every year for Christmas and he enjoys carrying his membership card around and getting the magazine in the mail.
Ya gotta love the National Wild Turkey Federation. They have great stuff for kids…I will confess, I have gone on their site once or twice and looked at their kids’ pages just for fun.
Arthur,
You are right on about the JAKES program. They do a great job of getting kids involved. And that reminds me that I have let my NWTF membership expire… I will take care of that!
Sounds like a very nice program Arthur. A great way for them to learn and get involved.
This is the first WATG post I’ve seen. Thanks for spotlighting such a great organization. I’ll add this post to the archives.
Thanks Arthur. I have been looking for something like this for my 9 year old son. This could also help to get him to read more on his own!
Sounds like a really nice program.