'Every kid learns differently:' Why a downtown OKC school is offering fishing to students

It's fairly common to find fishing being taught in the classrooms at rural school districts across Oklahoma, but less in urban schools, especially those located in a downtown metropolitan area.

However, the students at John Rex Charter School in downtown Oklahoma City are learning how to fish, thanks to the fishing ponds nearby at Scissortail Park and some creativity by the school's administration.

The school, located one block west of the Myriad Gardens, began offering fishing as an elective to its middle school students this year.

After a few weeks of classroom instruction where they learn the basics of fishing, such as how to put fishing line on a rod and reel and how to tie knots, the students take a 15-minute walk to Scissortail Park where they get hands-on instruction at the park's fishing ponds.

For many of John Rex's students, it is the first time they have ever been fishing, said Cole Nelson, a history teacher and now also a fishing instructor at the school of 700-plus students.

Oklahoma hunting seasons: Here's your guide to 2022 regulations, dates

John Rex just finished its first six-week session of fishing on Friday with a group of 15 students. Only a couple of the kids in that group had ever been fishing before, Nelson said.

"The rest of them had never touched a pole or held a fish, or even thought about doing it, until we brought this elective to them," Nelson said.

John Rex has an elementary school and a middle school (fifth grade through eighth grade) and the fishing class is offered as an elective to the middle school students.

Nelson will begin teaching the fishing class to a new group of 15 students on Monday. A new group of students will be worked in every six weeks until the school year ends. Several students from the first graduating class of anglers have already asked if they can take the fishing class again.

"There is a lot of interest," Nelson said. "It is a really unique experience for them."

More:Why Oklahoma Wildlife Department is changing the bass fishing rules

Scissortail Park creates an opportunity

The idea for a fishing class was hatched last summer by John Rex principal and interim superintendent Patrick Duffy, Nelson said.

School officials met with Scissortail Park staff last summer who were eager to help, he said.

"They were super accommodating and they have given a lot of time and energy to help our kids be successful and learn," Nelson said.

"Their park rangers meet us out there and they are there with us during the session just to help kids when they get tangled up, or they catch something and need help getting it off a hook, things like that. They are there just to kind of support us."

The teachers and administrators at John Rex take advantage of their location and the educational opportunities that being downtown provides. Students can walk to the Oklahoma City Museum of Art or the Myriad Gardens, for example, on field trips.

"One of the things we like about being downtown is that there are so many unique opportunities that may not be available to kids in other school districts," Nelson said. "Kids that come to our school get to be right downtown and have access to all these different places.

"Everything we do with our kids for the most part is within walking distance. That is one of the cool things about the environment that we are part of."

John Rex also offers electives such as archery, but the creation of Scissortail Park presented an opportunity to introduce fishing, he said.

"They definitely wouldn't have had this kind of experience if we didn't have Scissortail right down the road from our school," Nelson said. "There is nothing like hearing (the students) yell and scream when they get something hooked on their line.

"I spend a lot of my time bouncing around and helping them put baits on hooks and pulling fish off. Every kid in the class caught a fish, most of them multiple times... They are getting their hands on a fish when they want to. There are some that prefer not to touch it."

More:Looking for more hiking trails in Oklahoma? Here are seven other places to visit

Sparking a lifelong interest?

John Rex received a starter set of rod and reels from the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation that each class shares. The school provides other necessities such as bait.

Nelson said the school hopes one day to be able to give a rod and reel to each student to take home.

The students practice casting outside the school and play fishing games before actually going to Scissortail Park for the real thing.

During the last three weeks of the fishing session, the students are wetting a line at Scissortail Park every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons.

John Rex offers 30 to 40 elective options for students, such as urban biking, art, drama, archery, etc. Each student ranks their top three electives and gets placed in one of those classes.

Most of the outdoor electives have been sports-related. Fishing is the first wildlife-related elective the school has offered, Nelson said.

He thinks it is important for students to be exposed to outdoor activities such as fishing.

"One of the things we really care about at our school is just having these engaging and unique opportunities to learn," Nelson said.

"Every kid learns differently. To be able to give them an outdoors experience and a hands-on experience, not just theoretical, but actually getting to do it. They are learning outdoor skills and conservation, how to be patient, the social and emotional skills that come with it. All of those things go way beyond fishing.

"Hopefully we are sparking an interest that will stick with them."

More:Where are the best hiking trails in Oklahoma? Try out these places this fall

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma outdoors: John Rex Charter School offers fishing to students