NASBLA News

 View Only

2020 Southern Region Educator of the Year Award Winner

By Taylor Matsko posted 06-22-2020 03:47 PM

  

2020 Southern Region Educator of the Year Award Winner

Sergeant Brad Stoop, of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC), has been named the Southern Region Educator of the Year for 2020.

Sgt. Brad Stoop began his career with the NCWRC Law Enforcement Division in March of 2000. He is currently stationed in District One Area Three where he works closely with officers in four northeastern counties.
Sergeant Brad Stoop
In 2006, Sgt. Stoop began teaching standardized field sobriety testing procedure with a team of outstanding instructors. Since that time, Sgt. Stoop has had the opportunity to travel to several states to attend the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) Instructor Seated Battery course. He and the team of instructors were able to take this curriculum across the state of North Carolina and present it to all NCWRC officers. It has since become an integral part of the basic training program for NCWRC recruits.

Additionally, Sgt. Stoop and his team were able to instruct seated battery transition courses to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol (NCSHP) and the NCSHP Basic Academy each year since 2015. They instructed transition courses for multiple state and local agencies in the past several years including other maritime law enforcement agencies and the local U.S. Coast Guard small boat stations.

Just this past year, Sgt. Stoop coordinated a Law Enforcement and First Responders boating safety class for a local fire department and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) wildlife damage agents. Over the two-day period, 40 professional firefighters received classroom instruction and on-water training from area officers. The training included basic boat handling, docking, rescue operations and small boat handling.

Sgt. Stoop worked with the NCWRC to coordinate administering the same course throughout the state. Three courses were held resulting in more than 60 USDA agents completing their basic boater education training as well as the Law Enforcement/First Responder on-water training. These classes focused more on small boat handling as these agents tend to use canoes and kayaks as their main method of transportation on the water.

Since 2001, Sgt. Stoop has been involved with and extremely active in the local ‘Dream Hunting and Fishing Program.’ The Dream Hunting and Fishing Program is a wish-granting program that focuses on helping children with critical illnesses, diseases, or any physical handicap, as well as children of fallen military and first responders, to spend time in the outdoors and learn a new hobby. He assists with multiple ‘Dream Hunting and Fishing Program’ events which focus on water and boating safety for children. On average, he and his officers will have contact with over 500 children through these programs in the spring and summer months. Sgt. Stoop is proud to be a part of such a successful program.

Overall. Sgt. Stoop’s knowledge, coupled with his unwavering commitment to enhancing the safety on North Carolina’s waterways, does not go unnoticed. Day in and day out, Sgt. Stoop plays a role in the safety and education of the people of North Carolina, and this is something he takes great pride in. This is consistently exhibited through his efforts to educate the public about safe boating practices in and around the water. Congratulations Sergeant Brad Stoop!

Generously sponsored by Fresh Air Educators, and Kalkomey Enterprises, Inc., the Boating Educator of the Year Award was launched by NASBLA in 2011 to recognize those who go above to engage students and boaters, raise awareness, and make boating education initiatives relevant, thorough and exciting.

The National Association of State Boating Law Administrators is a national nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization that works to develop public policy for recreational boating safety. NASBLA represents the recreational boating authorities of all 50 states and the U.S. territories. We offer a variety of resources, including training, model acts, education standards, publications and more. Through a national network of thousands of professional educators, law enforcement officers and volunteers, we affect the lives of over 76 million American boaters.

###

0 comments
5 views