Wonders of Wildlife (WOW) National Outdoor Recreation and Conservation School finished up its 28th annual session of outdoor classes at Roaring River State Park over the weekend.

Even though the classes are held at Roaring River, turns out, many residents of Barry County are unaware of the local outdoor educational opportunity available in their backyard. It’s not too late to learn, though.

WOW School offers a packed line-up of outdoor classes to families. According to WOW’s mission statement, each class will include outdoor skills, plus a conservation, safety and ethics component. Classes include fare such as beginning fly-fishing, archery, kayaking, backpack cooking, dutch oven cooking, paddle boarding, Missouri rocks and minerals, plein air watercolor art, amateur radio and many, many more.

Next year’s WOW School will be held Oct. 9-11, 2026.

“If you’d like to attend the school next year, mark your calendars for Aug. 15,” said Misty Mitchell, director of Conservation Programs and Attractions for the Johnny Morris Foundation, which includes the WOW School.

Aug. 15 is the date when online registration will open for next year’s classes, Mitchell said, and prospective students need to be ready to seize the moment.

“Since space in classes is limited, the registration event is very competitive,” Mitchell said. “We usually receive 75% of our registrants during the first day of registration.”

The registration cost is $70 per student.

That price, Mitchell said, includes six different outdoor classes over Friday, Saturday and Sunday, a fish-fry dinner on Saturday night and a T-shirt. Silent auctions and live auctions are also held.

WOW participants are responsible for their own overnight accommodations and food, aside from the Saturday night meal.

“We had 180 participants in this year’s WOW School,” Mitchell said. “That number is typical.”

According to Mitchell, WOW School students this year were from 11 states. Of the 180 participants, 28% of the students were new attendees, and 30% of the students were under the age of 18.

“We’re excited to see the large number of younger students,” Mitchell said. “It means we’re seeing the next generation of conservationists coming onboard.”

WOW School offers a Kids Camp on Saturdays for children ages 5-8. The camp includes age-appropriate outdoor activities for that age group.

“Kids aged 9 and above can attend classes with their parents,” Mitchell said. “We want parents of younger children to have the opportunity to learn skills on their own, while their children are in Kids Camp. Then, when the kids get older and age out of Kids Camp, the parents can help instruct them in the adult classes.”

Scholarship opportunities are available for families who might struggle to swing the registration fees for WOW School.

The Eric Lee Hahn Scholarship — established by Gordon and Linda Hahn, of Charlottesville, Va., in memory of their son, Eric Hahn — covers the cost of tuition for a family of four, plus two nights of camping at Roaring River. This year, two separate families were awarded the Eric Lee Hahn Scholarship.

Gordon and Linda Hahn participated in this year’s WOW School to learn firsthand what the Eric Lee Hahn Scholarship provides for families, as well as to remember their son on the anniversary of his death.

“I feel close to Eric at the spring,” Linda Hahn said.

Hahn lost his life while exploring Roaring River Spring as a member of the KISS Rebreathers dive team on Oct. 14, 2022. He was 27 years old.

This year, a new scholarship is being formed to honor Diana Tannehill, a long-time participant in WOW School, who passed away in August. Her daughter, Trish Tannehill, has been a GPS and Geo-cache instructor for WOW School for 25 years.

“Mom liked the craft and nature-journaling classes,” Tannehill said. “Several years ago, she began making a quilt out of the WOW School T-Shirts to donate to the school’s fundraising auctions: one quilt per year.”

“Diana’s quilts were a popular item,” Mitchell said.

Trish Tannehill said her mother was a 29-year survivor of breast cancer, although she passed away as a result of Parkinson’s.

Diana Tannehill’s friend, Angie Labbee, was instrumental in working with Relay for Life in Branson, to form a WOW School scholarship in Tannehill’s honor.

“The scholarship will be for a cancer survivor, or anyone battling cancer who would like to spend some time in the outdoors,” Labbee said. “Diana was a great lady. I can’t think of a better way to honor her.”

The Diana Tannehill Scholarship will be available to cover the cost of 2026 WOW School classes at Roaring River.

Mitchell added that, aside from the two scholarships mentioned above, additional financial aid scholarships are available to cover the cost of tuition.

The Wonders of Wildlife School receives statewide support from the USDA Forest Service, the National Park Service, Missouri State Parks, Conservation Federation of Missouri, US Fish and Wildlife Service, the US Army Corp of Engineers, the Missouri Department of Conservation, Bass Pro and Wonders of Wildlife.

WOW Schools are held on separate dates in Kansas City, St. Louis and at Roaring River.

Mitchell said next year’s line-up of classes at Roaring River will be announced approximately two weeks before the opening of the August 15 registration, so that prospective students will have time to plan.

Registration information can be found on the Wonders of Wildlife Facebook page. For scholarship information, visit https://wondersofwildlife. org/education/wowschool/.