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Mandy Harling JAKES Coordinator |
Celebrating 30 years
In 1981, the NWTF reached out to the youngest of its membership when it began the JAKES program. The program name, which was inspired by a drawing of a hen turkey with her poults, carries a double meaning. Not only is it the term for a young male turkey, it is an acronym for Juniors Acquiring Knowledge, Ethics and Sportsmanship. The initial program consisted of a newsletter and a patch.
The mission of the program has not waivered in the last 30 years. We remain dedicated to informing, educating and involving youth in wildlife conservation and the wise stewardship of our natural resources. But we've made many strides in sharing our mission and message, thanks to selfless volunteers and partners.
In the early '90s, NWTF/USDA Forest Service Liaison John Edwards hosted JAKES events at the NWTF headquarters in Edgefield, S.C. His events were such a success that they served as a model to chapters across the United States and Canada. By 1999, NWTF chapters were hosting more than 500 events a year.
In 1995, at the 19th annual convention and sport show in Nashville, honorary convention chairman John L. Morris, founder of Bass Pro Shops, stood beside his friend, country music legend Porter Wagoner, and pledged $100,000 to the JAKES program, which gave wings to a program that was already making a grand impact on our nation's youth.
JAKES Magazine launched in December 1999 and was an educational benefit to the NWTF's youth members. The quarterly magazine features backyard ecology, hunting, wildlife management, as well as poems, artwork and pictures submitted by readers. What was once a black and white newsletter morphed into 20 pages of colorful photos, fun stories and activities.
In 2002, the NWTF officially launched the Xtreme JAKES program for youth ages 13 to 17. While sharing the same mission as JAKES, it provides teens with advanced outdoor opportunities and challenges more in line with their abilities and experiences. In spring 2005, Xtreme JAKES magazine was added as a "flip side" publication to JAKES Magazine, then in 2009 Xtreme JAKES was replaced with an online magazine that includes rich media content such as video.
And thanks to a generous gift from Larry and Brenda Potterfield, founders of MidwayUSA, we launched the JAKES Take Aim program earlier this year to recruit 150,000 youth shooters over the next four years.
Each of these significant steps, along with countless hours of on-the-ground volunteerism, has helped shape today's JAKES program into an effective tool for reaching thousands of youth each year. Research shows we are accomplishing our goals. Preliminary data from an evaluation of our JAKES program shows that youth who attend our events are very likely to participate in shooting and hunting afterwards.
But as hunter numbers continue to decline, the JAKES program needs to evolve to continue reaching the next generation. I'm confident we can meet those challenges through the continued work of partners, sponsors and dedicated volunteers.
I can't wait to see what our future holds. — Mandy