NASBLA News

 View Only

2022 Western Region Educator of the Year award winner announced

By Taylor Matsko posted 07-19-2022 02:19 PM

  

2022 Western Region Educator of the Year award winner announced

Kim Jackson


Kim Jackson, of the Arizona Game and Fish Department, has been named the NASBLA Western Region Educator of the Year for 2022.

Kim Jackson is an innovative and dedicated Boating Safety Education Manager with the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD). She tirelessly works with partner agencies and the public to promote life jacket wear, and significantly contributes to making boating and paddlesports safer for everyone. Jackson has developed partnerships throughout Arizona that have been instrumental in furthering the safety of the recreational boating community within the state. Jackson and her team have installed 20 life jacket loaner stations, with 16 stations proposed for future installation.

Additionally, Jackson serves on local and national committees regularly. She is the 2021-2022 NASBLA Paddlesports Committee Chair, a member of the NASBLA Education and Outreach Committee, participates in the Colorado River Law Enforcement Association Conference, is a board member for the Drowning Prevention Coalition of Arizona, and is called on regularly by partners and other state agencies for her extensive boating safety knowledge and expertise. Through her involvement with several organizations and issue groups, Jackson addresses not only statewide issues, but also national concerns as well. Through the NASBLA Paddlesports Committee, Jackson was able to coordinate and co-direct training videos for law enforcement when contacting paddlecraft.

Each year, Jackson trains hundreds of AZGFD staff and members of the public in boating and paddlesports safety. In 2021, Jackson and her team engaged over 20,000 Arizonans at 30 events statewide. She continues to find innovative approaches and engaging outreach opportunities to talk with the public about life jacket wear. In addition to this, Jackson spearheads life jacket exchanges that are held throughout Arizona each year, where old life jackets are turned in for new ones. In 2021, AZGFD exchanged more than 1,200 life jackets.

Jackson also implemented life jacket wear rate surveys in Arizona to better understand the trends that the state was seeing on its waterways. She used these surveys to determine which Arizona areas could benefit most from increased outreach and education efforts.

Jackson and her program associates have a full summer planned this year, teaching various paddlecraft classes in addition to training interns in boating education. The AZGFD continues to rely on her expertise as it pertains to reviewing boating education requests from various organizations, as well as other boating issues that arise in Arizona.

Jackson is a wealth of information and is an asset to the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Her dedication and commitment to boating safety education is remarkable and she truly is a leader in this field. Congratulations, Kim Jackson!

 

###


Generously sponsored by
Kalkomey Enterprises, Inc., the Pamela S. Dillon 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 (NASBLA) 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 nearly 85 million American boaters.

0 comments
9 views