and its okay with the principal!
There are those who teach and there are those who get to do what they teach. Danny Wilcox is one of those and he loves it. {{more:Read more …}}
Danny Wilcox is a biology/outdoor education teacher at Kennedale High School. Several years ago he saw an opportunity and he ran with it. You see, he is an avid outdoorsman who loves to camp, fish and hunt and he thought why can?t I teach what I love to do. He pitched the idea to the KISD powers to be and they bought in to it.
Three years later Wilcox was nominated and won the 2017 Outstanding Teacher of the Year presented by OutdoorsTomorrow Foundation
, a national foundation that promotes outdoor education and conservation. (See a special promotion video below that features the Kennedale program)
Wilcox told the MansfieldMagazine
, ?This is my 20th year in the education profession, and 5th at Kennedale High School. These past 5 years at Kennedale have been incredibly fun! Kennedale has a strong tradition in athletics and academics. Our science department was awarded the highest distinction given to a public school last year. We have incorporated the Outdoor Adventures curriculum by the Outdoors Tomorrow Foundation the past three years and it has been incredibly popular amongst our student body and community.?outdoor education is an elective …
Outdoor education is not a new thing. There are programs scattered across the country in both rural and city schools, but it is a growing movement. The courses are offered as electives and often paired with P.E. requirements. Like P.E. it attempts to introduce students to different skills and practices that will help promote healthy lifelong activities.
Wilcox spent countless hours working on developing the curriculum, ironing out the details, fund raising and promoting the program. This year there are three outdoor ed class with an average of 33 students per class in addition to an archery and fishing program that operates outside the regular classroom. The KISD
ACE Program
was key to the after school archery program.Wildcat archery instantly became top program …
Last year the KHS Archery team competed for the very first time. Kennedale sent a coed team of 24 members to the state competition and finishing in the top ten in the state at #7. This is quite an extraordinary feat considering it was the first year for competitive shooting and in state wide competition where there are no division between large and small or novice and experienced teams. Kennedale matched scores with Allen, Flower Mound Marcus and Arlington Martin just to name a few. See
story
KHS Bass teams 14th in region …
Wilcox also started Kennedale?s first Bass Team. Last year there were three 2 member teams who competed in a yearlong series of tournaments. In the first tournament last year, one KHS team finished first along with catching the largest fish in the tournament and winning scholarship money to boot. That team, composed of Simon Horn and Ethan Miller, helped Kennedale earned a 16th ranking in the region last year. Read story 
This year the team of Riley Bush and Justin Harper are looking
to improve on their current tied for 11th place out of 338 teams in
the West Division of the Texas High School Bass Association. The teams this year are fishing on some of best lakes in North Texas including Lake Lewisville, Lake Granbury, Possum Kingdom Lake, Lake Texhoma and Lake Ray Roberts.
In outdoor education classes, students learn the basics of camping and outdoor cooking, fishing and hunting. They are able to get their boat and gun safety certification along with fishing and hunting licenses. They hear from experts in the field. They practice casting, archery and virtual skeet shooting. 
At the end of this year, the students will be going to Lake Arlington for a day of fishing, canoeing, kayaking along with presentations from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
The following video was made by the National Outdoor Tomorrow Foundation and prominently features the Kennedale Outdoor Education program and its students along with other areas programs.
