Many of the people that live in King George might not know that King George Middle School has an Outdoors Club. Nearly 60 kids have joined this club so far.

The leaders of the club are Mark Fike, Sara Smigielski, and Kevin Linza. The kids attend during 7th period rotation once a month. Sometimes when a student or leader would like to present a lesson on anything outdoors, then some of the kids sign up to stay after school.

A few weeks ago I attended a seminar on how to clean a deer properly after you have shot it. During that after school seminar our local conservation police officer, Frank Spuchesi, brought in a hindquarter of deer. It

was generously donated by a citizen that heard about our club.

Some of the kids cut the meat into roasts and the other parts of the meat were hand ground to make burgers. At the end of the after school club meeting the kids each got to take home some meat.

The club ensures that you have a learning experience that you will not get many other places. This month, club member Kyle Gardner asked to present a seminar on duck hunting.

He brought in two ducks he shot the day before and cut one open to show us how to pluck a duck and “butcher” it. Also, Kyle brought many decoys and duck and geese calls. I learned A LOT from this seminar. I did not know much about hunting ducks and geese. But now after this outdoors club meeting I know some of the basics.  It is interesting to see how things interact in our environment.

Note by Mark Fike: Miss Courtney McCosley is an 8th grade student at King George Middle School and an Outdoor Club member. She is one of many young women that are part of the club. Courtney enthusiastically participates in all of the activities to include the seminar on processing deer and the duck dressing seminar we did. It is great to see so many young people, including young women, interested in the outdoors.—Mark Fike

Courtney McCosley