Delbarton English Teacher Mike Carr '01 recently returned from Auckland, New Zealand where he presented the action research project he completed with the International Boys School Coalition (IBSC). Titled The Long Double Haul: Teaching Fly Fishing to a Year 10 Advisory as a Means to Aesthetic Engagement, the presentation shared news on a novel program that Carr initiated at Delbarton: he taught his sophomore advisory group how to fly fish!

"My students were stressed...As their advisor, they would tell me about the constant barrage of work without any possibility of reprieve," wrote Carr in his final report. Over the course of six weeks, Carr and his students worked as a unit to learn how to use fly fishing as a way to relieve stress and discover peace of mind away from school, extracurriculars, and other challenges they might be facing. "My personal experience with fly fishing led me to this project. I have found joy, solace, peace, and stress relief when I go fishing, and I wanted to share that experience with young men to see if this type of reflective thinking and repetitive action could help them in some way feel better about themselves and their place in the world."

After six weeks of training and practice, last November the group celebrated learning this new-found, rewarding life skill by embarking on a trip to Ken Lockwood Gorge in California. Meanwhile, in his free time Carr is also a well-respected angler journalist with a number of published articles to his credit.

The Delbarton community salutes Mike Carr on completing his research project and sharing his findings with fellow boys school educators from around the world at this summer's IBSC conference in Auckland. Read his full report here.