Washington, D.C. – Safari Club International Foundation is pleased to announce Terry Erwin is the recipient of SCI’s 2009 Educator of the Year award.
Mr. Erwin spent 24 years in the medical profession before joining the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s hunter education staff. He had previously served as a volunteer when the state mandated the program.
A seasoned educator, Erwin has served on numerous committees of the International Hunter Education Association (IHEA), and is the immediate Past President and current chair of the Awards and Nominations Committee of IHEA. He also helped develop the first hunter Home Study program including a video and workbook sponsored by Outdoor Life, the first on-line hunter education program in Texas and the current IHEA on-line course.
Additionally, Erwin has traveled to South Africa to assist with the South African Hunters and Game Conservation Association’s hunter education program, and has visited Lima, Peru where he held the first student and instructor course — making Peru the first South American country to have a hunter education program.
Erwin has also worked in Mexico to assist with developing their hunter education program, and in the past two years, has held three training workshops for various states and NGO’s to train new instructors to return to Mexico and continue their program.
“Terry Erwin is truly committed to outdoor education” said SCI Foundation President Merle Shepard. “Terry is helping to continue the heritage of hunting by developing safe and responsible hunters. I am proud that SCI has recognized such a deserving individual for this prestigious award,” concluded Shepard.
