Some of you are new, and some of you have been around Hunters Education for a while like me, and many are in between for years of service. If you have attended any of the Northern District Annual Training Conferences, or even watched the On-Line training conferences during the Covid years, you have seen or at least heard of the California Hunters Education Instructors Association (CHEIA). We have operated in the Northern District for many years now, it started long before I became an instructor nearly 15 years ago now.
Many of you probably became instructors like I did when one of my daughters took Hunters Education and I thought to myself, I can do that and I have some ideas of what I would like to share with new hunters! So you spoke to the instructor you met, they gave you a contact or shared your contact with a Lt. in the Dept of Fish and Wildlife, you got a background check, a book and took a test. Bang, you’re an instructor, then you need to work under an experienced instructor for a bit before launching into your own program.
When I started, I was given a DVD to watch and a binder that was 4 inches thick (which promptly broke) and was off to the races co-teaching with a very experienced set of Instructors. The first several years, we taught 6-700 students a year! We were doing full classes every month, and sometimes two a month. I received a ton of experience teaching in short order.
Many instructors, especially new instructors now, don’t have the luxury of jumping in with a team who teaches as much I got to do. When I started there were no ‘training firearms’ supplied by the dept, we brough some of our own guns to use! We had antique flip charts (which I still use!) and one laptop with a projector and a set of DVD’s that were filmed in the early 80’s. I love those corny old films and still use some of them. They get a laugh or two, but the messaging hasn’t changed.
The purpose of CHEIA is to help instructors who need help to get going and keep going. We can provide laptops and other classroom tools that the Department is unable to. We obviously can’t buy a laptop for every instructor who wants one, but we can supply them to instructors who don’t have one and have a use for one. We also put on in-person training. At those ‘Train the Trainer’ events, we try to introduce new ideas and ways of teaching the various topics that we need to cover in classes. Covid put a halt to those, but we plan to bring them back next year and will make it known throughout the state when and where we will be doing them. Seating is limited, so they are first come first served. If you need an instructor to work with, we will try to either have you come to one of our classes or join you at one of yours. If none of us on the Board can attend, we will try to find someone else with experience to help you as well.
So, how do we pay for all this you ask. I am glad you asked. We are a non-profit organization and operate on funds we raise and donations. Normally we hold raffles at the Annual Training Conferences, but since those haven’t happened, we decided to hold an On-Line Auction, in which anyone and everyone can participate to help support Hunters Education Instructors. So please take a look at the auction, share the link to the auction and help support the Hunters Education Instructors!
Thank you!
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