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For most traditional sportsmen, their love affair with the hunting and fishing starts when someone in their family takes them on that crucial first trip when they are young and shows them how to fire the rifle or cast the reel.
But what about city kids who often don’t have that kind of influence in their lives? In Allentown, Pa., a program called Camp Compass seeks to bridge that gap.

“I was raised by my grandma and never hunted or fished,” program head John Annoni said. “Later on when people in the neighborhood started taking me to the woods, hunting and fishing are literally what saved me.”

Middle and high school students who enroll in the program learn not only hunting safety and proper fishing techniques but they also learn about wildlife conservation.

The program, in its eighth year, combines the students’ experiences in the field with what they learn in their science, math and English classes.

For example, a group of campers just returned from duck hunting in North Dakota. They were able to complete a state learning requirement on ecosystems by learning what the ducks sound like and what they eat.

“When a kid gets up in class and blows a duck call,” Annoni said, “The other kids think it’s the neatest thing in the world.”

Like the family member who is there season after season, teachers and sportsmen who volunteer their time follow the students from the time they enroll until they graduate from high school.

Originally intended for grades six through eight, the program has expanded through a student’s high school years. Annoni said that some of the students didn’t want to leave the program after 8th grade and that expanding the program gave students a chance for additional mentoring and career direction.

“Most of our volunteer sportsmen have careers,” he said. “And for many of the kids, this is their only chance to learn about careers. If we have a kid who wants to be a doctor, we’ll match him up with a sportsman who is a doctor.”

A network of middle school teachers in the Allentown schools finds students with average to poor grades an interest or the potential to benefit from the hunting and fishing activities and points them toward the program.

The volunteer teachers and other staff make a two to three year plan with the student, setting a goal of where that student wants to be at the end of those years.

Annoni originally intended for the program to work within the school system but there was some controversy over the use of guns. “But we are slowly changing people’s attitude toward guns and hunting,” he said.

The program could work in other places like Harlem or South Central Los Angeles, he said, but people with the energy and dedication of the Camp Compass staff are hard to find.

“Hunting and fishing are sports for one person,” he said. “We tend to be selfish. It is easy to preach to choirs but it is hard to build them.”

The program has gotten support from local hunting lodges and outdoor outfitters but is always looking for donors. For more information, visit www.campcompass.com

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