by Pope County Tribune, Glenwood, MN and Nancy Koep, Koep's Bait & Tackle
May 2011
Minnewaska Elementary School youth fishing on Lake Minnewaska. photo by Tim Douglass, Pope Co. Tribune Publisher
The entire fifth-grade class at Minnewaska Elementary School spent a few hours ice fishing on Lake Minnewaska after the students completed a nine-week environmental science unit using the MinnAqua Fishing: Get in the Habitat! curriculum, created by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources MinnAqua Program.
Nancy Koep, local outdoor enthusiast who was trained on the MinnAqua curriculum taught the class with help from fifth-grade science teacher Dyanne Parsons. The purpose of the MinnAqua program is to give students an understanding of native ecological systems in Minnesota; to help students understand the cause and effect relationships between human attitudes, behavior and the environment; and to enable students to become ambassadors of natural resource awareness. Koep also solicited area and state businesses to provide fishing equipment for the students and found adult volunteers to drill holes on Lake Minnewaska and to provide help with fishing techniques. There were 78 students who took part in the fishing day on Friday, March 4, and the students caught 17 fish between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. One student had a northern on the line but lost it before it could be pulled through the hole.
A special Thank you...
A very special “Thank You” goes out to all my sponsors and volunteers for making this event possible. Without the help from the following organizations the kids would not have been able to spend the day outdoors and enjoy one of our many natural resources. Thank you to: Minnewaska Lake Association, Northland Fishing Tackle, NPAA–National Professional Anglers Association, Lowry American Legion, Glenwood Fire Department, St. Croix Rods, Minnkota and Humminbird, Minnewaska Area PTA, Lowry Lions, Glenwood American Legion, Cannon Tackle, Hoplin-Hitchcock Funeral Home, PC MOCH, Inc., Lowry Fire Department, Tom’s Food Pride, Pure Fishing, Eagle Bank, Glenwood Lions, WASP, Lowry State Bank, Hilltop Lumber, Hunts Resort, Steve Entzi’s shop class, JB Lures, Urbank Bait Company, Clam Corporation, Old Dutch Foods, and Koep’s.
–Nancy Koep