Joe Mark Receives Distinguished Service Award from TU for Youth Education.

In 2013, when Joe Mark took over the Trout in the Classroom program for the Southwestern Vermont Chapter, he brought a passion for working with children and a lifetime of educational experiences. Not only did he double the number of programs the Chapter supported, he also deepened the hands – on science taking place in the classrooms and on field trips. Joe makes sure teachers have the support they need and his background in education helps him find ways to integrate the program into their curriculum to encompass lessons in reading, writing, science, math and art. Students in TIC programs supported by Joe are far more likely to be out in the field gathering Angler Science data and learning about watershed health, too, with water quality and macroinvertebrate studies and more complex efforts from kindergarten through college.

After driving his chapter TIC efforts forward, Joe turned his attention to the statewide program. Within a year, he had doubled the size of the program in the state, and raised over $30,000 in grant and private funds to support the growth. Recognizing that a TIC program can touch far more than the students in the schools each year, Joe spearheaded efforts to launch a special statewide TIC website vermonttroutintheclassroom.weebly.com and uses it as a platform to share photos, stories, student work and more with the larger community. He’s also garnered important media attention for the program, from local newspaper coverage to statewide television and radio features.

Thanks to Joe’s efforts and the support of the Chapter and Council volunteers, the next generation is well on its way to being the stewards Vermont’s local rivers need