Aaron Berscheid is a district wildlife officer for Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Aaron covers the “wild” side of Northeast El Paso County, including Black Forest, Falcon, Peyton and Calhan. He also covers some of Elbert County, north of U.S. Highway 24 and south of State Highway 86, including the towns of Elbert, Kiowa, Ramah, Simla, Matheson and a small portion of the Limon area.
Education matters
By Aaron Berscheid
District Wildlife Manager, CPW
I wear many hats besides the one in my photo that identifies me as a law enforcement officer and a wildlife manager. I also work with the public in an educator capacity.
That’s right. I love to teach!
I have taught in many different schools, manned a few educational booths, met with local community groups about issues, and (my personal favorite) providing hunter education and doing hunting and fishing outreach events.
I’ve taught all ages of school classes, from elementary through high school. For the teachers out there who might be interested in inviting me to their classrooms, I do offer classes that follow the state core curriculum. These classes are age appropriate to get kids engaged with hands-on activities that help kids grasp the environmental and wildlife aspects of their world.
These classes are always student favorites, as they get activities that get them moving and outside such as archery. They also seem captivated by the cool props I sometimes take to the classroom such as owls and owl pellets, skulls and animal hides. They command attention, and they often spark students’ imaginations.
I also provide fish and fishing education, and I like to combine my lessons with field trips, such as to a pond or lake, to get the kids physically engaged and outdoors. I find they learn a lot more about fish and aquatic ecosystems when they get out in the environment and experience them.
Teachers are welcome to contact me about these things, but you don’t have to be a teacher to access these activities. I’m available to talk to homeowners associations, church groups, Scout meetings, community events and festivals. They all fall in my wheelhouse for education.
Let me know if I can help.
In the coming months, I’ll share more of those stories as I write about wildlife issues in our community: Got a question, problem or column idea, please email me at aaron.berscheid@state.co.us or call me at 719-227-5231.
I might even answer your question in a future installment of “Wildlife Matters.”
