Nearly a year ago, when Arkansas Department of Wildlife staff first met Mary Beth Hatch, she was donning waders and leading a group of principals, teachers, and North Little Rock Academy students through Little Rock. It passed through the flow of Forche Creek in Hindman Park. As school reform coordinator for the North Her Little Rock School District, she partners with the Education Division of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission to provide teachers with outdoor teaching skills and, in turn, introduce students to nature. Ta.
Now, Hatch is on the other side, recently taking over as superintendent of AGFC.
“I've partnered with (AGFC) and collaborated on projects for many years, even when I was in the classroom as a classroom teacher,” Hatch said. “As a teacher, we have a stream team and I was working with (AGFC Stream Habitat Coordinator) Sean Saunders to move it forward. “But I want to continue working on game and fish through education. So many great things happened there, and when this position became available, it was a combination of all the things I love, both professionally and personally. It seemed like a dream job. I'm thrilled to have the opportunity.”
Hatch met via Zoom with AGFC Deputy Director Spencer Griffiths, whose jurisdiction includes the education sector, and then met in person with Griffiths and AGFC Director Austin Booth. Many in her education department were already familiar with her and knew what she had accomplished in a short time at North Her Little Her Rock.
“In selecting Mary Beth, we considered her to be a strong leader with a diverse background in education who has been nationally recognized for her program development,” Griffith said. “As we strive to achieve Tomorrow's Natural State, Mary Beth's leadership continues to guide us as we refine our educational efforts to connect Arkansans to conservation and natural resources. It will be given to you.”
At North Little Rock, Hatch oversaw career and technical education programming and also federal funding to support programming across schools, including higher education institutions. She developed industry and community partnerships for the district.
Hatch has been in public education for 18 years, 13 of those years as a classroom teacher. North of Harrison She also served as director of workforce initiatives at the University of Arkansas. While in Harrison, she served as executive director of the Harrison Public Schools Foundation along with former AGFC Commissioner Ken Reeves. The Bergman native moved to Little Rock to join the Department of Education, which oversees his K-12 STEM education, then spent two years at NLRSD.
“I have held a variety of leadership roles and certainly have had a very diverse experience in the education field,” she said.
NLRSD Superintendent Greg Pilewski empowered her to design a career and technical curriculum that includes outdoor education opportunities because many students never make it out of an urban environment. Her JJ Gladden, AGFC's assistant superintendent of education, already knew Hatch and worked with her to develop AGFC's classroom curriculum in advance of the implementation of a classroom curriculum that would be the first of its kind in an urban school in Arkansas. We worked with educators to set up professional development days for teachers.
The effort culminated in February when NLRSD received the Educational Project of the Year Award at a committee meeting in Little Rock.
Hatch said her familiarity with AGFC's educational staff will be a great help in setting goals for the department.
“First and foremost, the team we already have here is amazing,” she said during her first week on the job in early April. “I continue to see what they do for the state, how hard they work every day. They work with their own staff, and I continue to see them develop and work extremely hard.” It was very clear to me that they are passionate about their work and I am very excited to continue working with them and learning from them because they have a wealth of knowledge in their areas of expertise. There is no doubt that he has.”
To learn more about AGFC's educational programs available to people of all ages, visit www.agfc.com/education.