WYNNE — Several students from Wynne Junior High School took to the podium Wednesday during the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s meeting at the Bill Thomas Tech Center in Wynne.
Wynne Junior High School was chosen to participate in the Game and Fish Commission’s School of Conservation Leadership program during the 2026-27 school year.
Derek Ratchford, Arkansas Outdoor Education Initiative manager for Arkansas Game and Fish, said the program has grown from 21 schools in nine counties two years ago to 101 schools in 43 counties in its third year.
Cross County is one of four counties in eastern Arkansas participating in the program.
Ratchford said more than 75,000 Arkansas students are being introduced to conservation through the program.
Chelsea Hudson, EAST facilitator at Wynne Junior High School, is helping to lead the program at the local level.
Hudson said the program’s success depends on involvement from teachers and students throughout the school.
“Honestly, when we started this process, I think one of the things that we quickly realized was that so many of the things we were doing fit hand-in-hand with the mission of SoCL,” she said. “This could be something that we just say we value and we taught with some worksheets and pamphlets. If you want students to truly connect with conservation, it has to be something that they can experience in different ways with different people and in different places throughout their school day. It couldn’t just be one person.
“That’s where our focus really shifted from simply participating in a program to creating a culture around it,” Hudson added. “That’s the most important part of our journey is creating a culture, not just saying we’re going to do this program.”
The School of Conservation Leadership is a schoolwide initiative with art, science, P.E., Flight, Gifted and Talented, and EAST classes all participating in the effort.
Students Kellen Brooks, Aubree Like and Gibson Wingo discussed participating in the program and were able to ask questions of the commissioners.
