TPW MAGAZINE�TEXAS BRIGADES: Texas Brigades nurture the next generation of conservation leaders� ahead on Passport to Texas. This is Passport to Texas Texas Brigades is a wildlife and natural resource focused leadership development program for youth, 13 to 17. 08�Texas Brigades has been around for 25 years. It started out as Bobwhite Brigade back in 1993, and then it just kind of morphed. It�s morphed into is eight summer camps, each with a different conservation focus. Aubry Buzek [Byu- zik] wrote about the Brigades for the October issue of TPW magazine. 18�What was really interesting is that these camps are not necessarily about learning about one particular species. At Bobwhite Brigade, they were learning a lot about quail�and they had biologists there teaching them about quail. But that wasn�t the overall goal of the program. It was about being comfortable with public speaking, comfortable talking with their peers. Debating. These five-day intensive camps incorporate military marching and cadence, and introduce students to experts and activities that challenge and change them�and equip them to be conservation leaders. 20� I talked to a lot of parents after graduation and they were like, �Who is this kid?� I saw it too. That confidence. A lot of parents said they didn�t expect their kid to know just so much. But, in addition to that knowledge, these kids are loud, and they�re marching, and they make a lot of friends. It really is a transformative camp. Read Aubry Buzek�s story about the Texas Brigades in the October issue of TPW magazine. For Texas Parks and Wildlife�I�m Cecilia Nasti. Total sound bite time: 0:46.0 Maximum Script time: 0:39.0 Suggested show time: 85.0 = 1:25