"In the end we will conserve only what we love....We will love only what we understand....and we will understand only what we are taught", Baba Dioum, African Ecologist

“ We shouldn’t think about youth’s experiences in nature as an extracurricular activity, but as a vital element for healthy development”, author Richard Louv The Last Child in the Woods

"JrAHA is about getting our youth outdoors not for just an event, but to begin a lifetime of outdoor recreational experiences and to foster the stewardship of our nautral resources", founder Ed Gerhardt

Partners

JrAHA is devoted to its mission in a way that significantly impacts as many persons as possible positively and employs collaboration and partnerships as efficient ways to reach major performance levels.  JrAHA works with its partners as a facilitator, lead partner, project manager or contractor for the “Outdoors” projects and events.  All JrAHA member-volunteers have qualified for at least one or more TPWD instructor qualifications (Angling, Hunter Ed, Boating Ed, BAI-NASP, Hunt Master/TYH).

JrAHA staff and volunteers train the youth & families in knowledge & skills, manage the equipment (transportation, maintenance, repair & replacement), provide venues for activities (fishing, hunting, archery) and conduct the field trip and events in the outdoors.

Houston ISD:
JrAHA has been partner with Houston ISD since early 2008 as a fast track outreach method to reach the largest numbers of ethnic minorities, low income youth, and girls in the inner city Houston area that have no prior (or very little) experience in fishing, hunting, or archery.  Therefore, program goals are designed to consistently serve greater than 50% of the participants from the ethnic minority populations and equal or greater than 50% female participants.

HISD, the largest urban public school system in Texas and the seventh largest in the United States, serves a highly diverse student population of more than 202,449 students on 295 campuses spread over 311 miles of Houston, Texas.  Approximately two-thirds of HISD students meet federal criteria for free and reduced-price lunches and approximately 90% are minority (28 % African American, 60 % Hispanic, 3% Asian). 

The partnership with JrAHA & TPWD provides an avenue that empowers physical education teachers and school administrators to develop an instructional program that is worthy of more than 65,000 students in grades 6-12 ranging from ages 12 - 17.   

TPWD Education Department
JrAHA is partnering with TPWD Angler Education, Hunter Ed and the Texas Archery in the Schools Program to provide program services to HISD and the mainstream general public located in the inner city of Houston. 

City of Houston Parks & Recreation Department
JrAHA is partnering with Houston Parks & Recreation for the JrAHA program services to mainstream general public users of inner city community centers and recreational areas.   JrAHA provides HPARD the technical expertise and significant equipment & supplies resources to teach classes and manage field trips utilizing the TPWD Angling Education programs. 

Galveston Bay Estuary Program (Texas Commission for Environmental Quality)
GBEP & TCEQ have provided grant funds for a mobile classroom for JrAHA’s Aquatic Education Courses and serves as a facilitator to bring numerous organizations involved in the Galveston Bay watershed together.   Many of those organizations work with JrAHA to host or provide access to locations for events, i.e. Armand Bayou Foundation, Houston-Galveston Area Council, Gulf of Mexico Alliance, Wetlands Center and the Baytown Nature Center.

Other Partners of Note:
Vinson & Elkins LLP, TDIndustries, Boeing Global Community, Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (2008-2009), Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Laser Shot, Jr. Freshwater Anglers of Texas, Safety Vision and NRA Foundation