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For the past thirty years, Canton sixth grade teacher Craig Route has been a dedicated instructor of the Pennsylvania State Game Commission’s Hunter’s Safety course for his students. On Friday May 30th, Route was presented with a Dedicated Service award for his time as an instructor in front of the very students he teaches.

“It’s nice to have the Game Commission recognize the years that you’ve put in and it’s a nice moment,” says Route. “In our area, we have guns in in most of the homes, so the reason that I do it here at the school is to make sure that they are aware of firearms and the safety of it. They might not have wanted to be hunters, but they decide to because they look at how it affects the environment and things like that. It’s been a blessing to be able to do this over the years.”

PA State Game Warden Blake Barth, who presented Route with the award, was proud to give out this special achievement, stating, “It’s a longevity award that’s given out to instructors for every five years of service he’s reached thirty years, which is a pretty remarkable milestone. Not a lot of instructors reach that, and so I wanted to present it to him in front of the kids- the sixth graders that he impacts every year. We figured out- 30 years, about 70 kids a year, it’s about 2,100 kids that he has instructed over his career, so the Game commission is grateful for that. I’m certainly grateful for that and just want to thank him that way.”