Hafer Receives NWTF Educator of the Year Award

Nicole Hafer received the 2008 Conservation Educator of the Year Award at the NWTF's Convention and Sport Show. Click image for print quality version

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Nicole Hafer from Zanesville, Ohio, received the National Wild Turkey Federation's 2008 Conservation Educator of the Year Award during a special ceremony at the NWTF's 33rd annual Convention and Sport Show in Nashville.

Hafer is an education specialist with the Muskingum Soil and Water Conservation District. She teaches outdoor education classes to local youth from grades K-12, in addition to courses at Zane State College.

Hafer makes learning about the outdoors fun for her students by helping them build wild turkey calls, plant trees and butterfly gardens and construct bluebird trails. She also incorporates games into her lesson plans to keep her students' interest.

"It's really thrilling to see my students get excited about nature," Hafer said. "I teach a diverse range of students, but it is especially rewarding for me to see children from urban areas become amazed at seeing something in nature for the first time that many of us might take for granted."

As Conservation Educator of the Year, Hafer was awarded a $500 grant, which she says will be used to purchase materials for her Wild Turkey Education classroom program. The remainder of the grant will be used to purchase seed mix for wildlife food plots, which her students will plant in Ohio's Blue Rock State Park as part of the Kids Conservation Campers program.

"All of us at the NWTF are proud to present this award to Nicole," said Christine Rolka, NWTF education specialist. "She is truly dedicated to what she does and holds her classes outside as often as possible so her students can better appreciate why conservation is so important."

Upon accepting the award, Hafer credited NWTF chapters for donating education boxes, which enable teachers to teach their students about conservation.

"Many of the students I teach are hunters, but some have only seen frozen turkeys in a grocery store," Hafer said. "The education boxes are a very, very valuable resource to help reach students from both rural and urban areas and teach topics they wouldn't learn about otherwise."