PARIS — Participating in Oxford Hills Tech School’s law enforcement program opens students to a wide range of career opportunities. Senior Emmett Hand has his sights on becoming a Maine state warden.

With graduation from Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School just around the corner, Hand has already earned many of the skills required, and once he completes his education at Central Maine Community College in Auburn, he will be more than prepared for the future.

Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School senior Emmett Hand taught himself fly fishing during the pandemic. Supplied photo

“I’ve always wanted to do something to help people, whether it was law enforcement, medicine or something else,” Hand said during a recent interview with the Advertiser Democrat. “I’ve always spent time outdoors and recently hunting and fishing have been a really big deal for me. It’s been my main focal point and it’s what I do with my friends.

“Tying those things together, a game warden was really my option. I hope to go all the way with that.”

While out in the woods or on the water, Hand takes every opportunity to connect with wardens on patrol. Recently he attended job fairs at the Southwest Division of the Warden Service in Gray and CMCC where he connected and networked with several officers including Sgt. Kyle Hladik, with whom Hand is developing a mentor relationship.

Emmett Hand is on his way to becoming a Maine game warden. Supplied photo

On his own time, Hand is preparing by getting more experience with different types of hunting and water recreation. He has completed archery safety and plans to get into trapping. He has already earned his open water scuba certification with the goal of getting his advance dive certificate, and eventually joining the Warden Service’s dive team. He also has his wilderness first-responder certification and plans to earn an emergency medical technician license.

“I’m doing things to get involved as much as I can, to build my skillset for the future so I understand what everyone is doing,” he said.

During his freshman year, interrupted by COVID, Hand taught himself fly-fishing, first by casting in his yard and then in neighborhood rivers and streams. He organized outings with his friends and made the sport their group thing. He also volunteers for season opening and closing at a camp in Rangeley that gives him opportunities to fly-fish around Kennebago Lake.

At school, Hand serves as student representative on the Public Advisory Committee, participating in committee meetings to provide perspective and input for future curriculums. The committee puts Hand in direct contact with local school resource officers and other officials from community, county and state police departments.

“I think it’s important for kids to be really hands-on” in their training, he said. “I find that being out in the field with them and seeing how law enforcement really operates goes much farther than being in the classroom.

“We’ve done ride-alongs with the three local departments and also the state police. Every so often, students will get the opportunity to go out for the day with one of those agencies. They’re out there learning, and it really gives them an idea of what they’ll want to do.”

Hand will get hands-on Maine Inland Fisheries & Wildlife experience as soon as he graduates from CMCC in two years through a deputy warden program that will put him to work on Maine lakes writing boating violations.

“It’s a way for the warden service to see how you work to know if you have what they’re looking for,” he said.

Hand’s high school career includes playing soccer. Last fall he was co-captain of the high school’s varsity team.

Emmet Hand’s high school career includes four years as goalie on Oxford Hills’ varsity soccer team. Supplied photo

“Soccer was kind of a new sport for me,” he said. “Football wasn’t really for me, but I wanted to play a sport, especially since it’s such a big thing in Oxford Hills,” he said. “My coach asked me to try out at goalie. I gave it a shot and started going to goalie camps. Since freshman year, I’ve been the varsity goalie. I love being on the team.”

Hand is a volunteer instructor with the Maine chapter of Hooked on Fishing Not on Drugs, a Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Department youth outreach program with the mission of teaching healthy lifestyles and choices. There he shares his love of fishing with not only kids but with senior citizens and all ages in between.

“It’s free for anyone to learn how to fish at no cost,” he said. “It’s a fishing clinic, an opportunity for people to learn something to fill their time with instead of using drugs or alcohol. The rewards of [something like] fishing are better than drugs.

“One of the ladies at a clinic I taught at was 70. She loved it. She had a blast learning how to ice-fish and it was fun working with her. It’s for people who maybe didn’t grow up in an outdoor setting and didn’t have a way to get into hunting and fishing. With this free clinic, everything is provided to teach them. And they get outdoors.”

Through Hooked on Fishing, Hand gains experience he will need to be a successful game warden: leadership skills, presenting outdoor safety, and promoting respect for the outdoors.

“We always teach ethics and go over the laws for what we’re doing,” he said. “For people who haven’t been in the outdoors, they may not know the laws. It’s really important and they’ll pass on what they learn to their own families.”

Hand’s instruction is just as good for wildlife as it is for novice anglers: safe handling.

“I talk with people about that,” he said. “There are things they might not know about fish that can actually cause problems, especially with warming temperatures. Fish, especially trout and salmon, have skin that’s very sensitive. If you touch them with dry hands, it’s a problem. Fish are hydrophobic so the oils on your hands, if they are dry, it opens the fish up to bacterial infections. In the winter, the cold gets to them really quickly. They have a coating over their eyes for bacteria protection. So, if they’re out for too long they can freeze.

“And I try to preach barbless hooks as much as I can. It reduces the amount of time you’re handling that fish and keeps the trauma caused to that fish [relatively] low.”

While as a diver and avid fisherman Hand is drawn to lakes and rivers, he looks forward to a career in the warden service that keeps him outside all seasons.

“In the fall, fishing winds down and people get their orange on,” he said. “After hunting season it’s about snowmobiling and ice-fishing. When it gets into spring, there is smelting and turkey hunting, and then open-water fishing starts April 1.”

Emmett Hand (right) volunteers as an instructor with Hooked on Fishing not on Drugs, a free outreach program that introduces youths, as well as adults, to the benefits of outdoor recreation.