Casey Sullivan remembers growing up in the hunting mecca of Meeker and as a middle school student being able to learn hunting education in school there.

With that memory in mind, around 2017, as a social studies at the former Fruita 8/9 School, he started such a class there.

“I knew nobody was really offering it outside of just (Colorado Parks and Wildlife). I thought it would be kind of nice to add it as a class as well,” he said.

It took off in popularity among students, he said. After a year’s hiatus due to the Fruita 8/9 School being shut down, he resumed offering the class again at Fruita Middle School. And recently his efforts earned him kudos from Parks and Wildlife when it issued hunter education awards, as it named him the Northwest Region Instructor of the Year for 2024.

“Cas

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