Fishing with Fourth Graders

We had such a great trip to 4H camp, and I promise to blog more about all the wonderful details later, but there was one "quote of the day" I just had to share before bed. I'm WAY to tired to write about it twice, so here's the email I just sent to my Dad. Enjoy!

Hey Dad! I wanted to email you a funny story about our overnight field trip to the 4H environmental camp. I don't know if Sally told you, but we took the fourth graders to Carlisle, KY Monday and Tuesday for some good old fashioned outdoor fun. [Chud] is on spring break so he came along as a chaperone and I'm SO glad he did. He kept a good eye on my boys for me while they were in the boy's cabins.

Anyway, since I had lots of chaperones on the trip, the 4H people asked me if I would facilitate the fishing activity all day yesterday. They had four groups going on four activities in hour-long rotations, and since I haven't fished in a long while, I said sure! I got all the poles ready for each group, gave a little tutorial on how to hold a pole, walk with a pole, put a worm on a hook, cast a line, and most importantly, how to take a fish off a hook. You'd be amazed at how many of our kids have never held a fishing pole before! Anyway, after my little talk, they all grabbed a pole, spread out along the bank and started trying their best! We caught lots of fish, mostly bluegill, but I think we might have had some small mouth bass in there too - there was definately another kind that did NOT look like blue gill. Anyway, I was walking behind all of my hard working little fishermen (and women), thinking about how lucky I was to have a Dad who took me fishing when I was in fourth grade. Some of them were really picking it up quickly and I was so proud! Then, while, I was basking in all of my fishing wisdom and glory, a little boy walks right up to me and says, "Mrs. Fasciotto? Can I have another worm on my hook? This one's dirty!"

Oh lord, what ARE they teaching in schools these days??