July 22, 2008, Alexandria, VA??? Educators from around the country convened in Traverse City, Mich., July 6-10, at the Northwestern Michigan College campus for the 6th annual Physh Ed National Education Grants training workshop. Seventy-six educators representing 32 states received grant funding from the Future Fisherman Foundation to design and deliver fishing and boating instruction as a part of their regular school curriculum. For the upcoming 2008/2009 school year, the foundation awarded grants in the amount of $2,500 each to teachers from the 32 states.

The workshop brought the trainees together with instructors from the Federation of Fly Fishers, the Glenora School of Fly Fishing, the American Canoe Association, Project F.I.S.H. and the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks for instruction in angling skills development, creating and evaluating effective lesson plans, tackle crafting and fly tying.

Steve Blattert, an educator from Haslett, Mich. said, "I have been fishing for years, however, I was with amazing people who shared their success stories which really helped me get a better grasp of what my program might look like. All of the instructors were very helpful, and I look forward to staying in contact with all of them while I continue to finalize my plans for my program for the year. My thanks go them and to the foundation for everything. I am extremely excited for my students."

"We have worked hard to grow the program to serve teachers of all disciplines," said Future Fisherman Foundation Executive Director Anne Danielski.

The Physh Ed program has new tools to help educators share and learn from one another. "We are so enthusiastic about this latest group of educators and the new services that we can provide to further enhance their efforts." said foundation Manager of Education Teresa Rodriquez. "We have a blog, and photo pages to help educators share their successes and we will be adding a YouTube interface soon. We know that fishing is an ideal cross curricular activity that can greatly enhance various science lessons as well as reinforcing important conservation lessons."

The Future Fisherman Foundation is the angler recruitment and education arm of the American Sportfishing Association.

To learn more about the Future Fisherman Foundation and the Physh Ed program go to www.futurerfisherman.org.