Tuesday, January 15, 2013

State-Fish Art™ Celebrates with Free CD

BROOKLYN CENTER, MN -

Wildlife Forever's State-Fish Art Program
is celebrating their 15th Anniversary by
offering all educators the newly updated
Fish On! Lesson Plan & Contest CD ...
hot off the press!

A CD is available, free of charge, just by emailing - info@wildlifeforever.org.


This nationwide art competition began as a bright idea by a Minnesota 5th grader! While working on her homework Katie DiLeo discovered that very little information existed on all the different State-Fish in the USA. She and her father Sal decided a contest should be created that educated kids, teachers, and parents on aquatics resources, conservation, and each state's official State-Fish.

They came to Wildlife Forever with their vision. The Wildlife Forever State-Fish Art Contest was born ... and the rest is conservation history! Visit StateFishArt.org to learn all about the Contest and fun prizes ... and order your free CD!
The first contest was held in 1999. Several hundred pieces of fish art were received from 40 states. Each was accompanied by an essay about the artist's state-fish.

Today thousands of children participate each year from all fifty states, Canada and countries around the world. The contest has been broadened to include all students in grades K - 12, several states host their state-level competition, the written essay is also judged and honored with the "Fish Make You Smarter Award" and recently an Invasive Species Category was added to the competition.

"Our goal is to continue to grow, involve more kids and reach out to more and more educators all across the country. We have just updated our signaure Fish On! Lesson Plan & Contest and have a FREE CD available to send out immediately to all who ask!" exclaims Karen R. Hollingsworth, Manager of State-Fish Art. "I want a record number of kids having the opportunity to participate this year and joining our birthday celebration at the EXPO."

Each year's winners are honored at the State-Fish Art EXPO. The first ten big events were held at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. In 2010 the EXPO became a traveling event held first in Texas then Arkansas. Next summer the Go Fish Education Center in Perry, Georgia will host the 2013 EXPO on July 12 and 13.

"Throughout the many years of the State-Fish Art Contest we have come to know that the measure of success is more than in the number of students involved and the conservation lessons learned." said Douglas Grann, President & CEO of Wildlife Forever. "We have seen lives enriched and lives changed as winning lifts a child's confidence and self-worth. Everyone who enters becomes a conservation steward and thus a winner."
About the State-Fish Art Contest

The Wildlife Forever State-Fish Art Contest, powered by GenOn,seeks to involve students worldwide in the outdoors through art. Entering its 15th year of bringing children, art and aquatic conservation together, young artists create an original illustration of any official state-fish and a written essay detailing their personal connection to its behavior, habitat, and/or efforts to conserve it. Entries are categorized in four grade levels: K-3,4-6, 7-9, and 10-12. Educators nationwide utilize Fish On!, the full-color State-Fish Art Lesson Plan, combining the disciplinesof science and art. It is available, at no charge, on CD or can be downloaded. Entries are always due by March 31st each year. Get all the fun details at: www.StateFishArt.org!

Order your FREE CD now! info@WildlifeForever.org


About Wildlife Forever

Located in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota Wildlife Forever's mission is to conserve America's wildlife heritage through conservation education, preservation of habitat and management of fish and wildlife. As the nonprofit conservation arm of the North American Hunting Club and North American Fishing Club, Wildlife Forever represents the conservation interests of 1.3 million members. Learn more at: www.WildlifeForever.org.