When we initially launched our afterschool programming, our goal was to expand into Durham Public Schools. Although gaining initial access was challenging, we have successfully extended our reach to two schools in Durham County. Last fall, we partnered with one of these schools and are now implementing some new and exciting programs there.
We have been incorporating more outdoor education into our afterschool activities. Thanks to our collaboration with a Title One elementary school in Durham, we have been able to utilize their outdoor spaces to try out new games and activities. At the beginning of the season, we introduced the topic of vultures, explaining their role as nature's cleanup crew and their importance in removing dead animals from the ecosystem. This discussion led to a productive trash cleanup along the trail that runs beside the school fields. While we initially aimed for each student to pick up five pieces of trash, their enthusiasm resulted in everyone collecting more than that, and we ended up with one very full trash bag.
In the following weeks, we focused on the types of seasons and how water flows by playing a game with beans. The students ran at the pace of regular water flow, frozen water, and melting water to simulate the changing seasons. We also discussed how sediment in still water settles to the bottom, contributing to water clarity, habitat creation, and nutrient cycling that help the aquatic ecosystem thrive.
The following week, we gave them bug bingo cards and had them split into teams to roll logs and find the bugs on their cards. Each group initially got bingo but then decided they wanted to find all the bugs on the cards. They'd come to the counselors to ensure that what they were looking at on the cards was what was under the logs.
Thanks to donations during last year's Giving Tuesday fundraiser, we were able to adopt a new format for running the afterschool programs and provide this Title One school with a free afterschool program and free snacks! Thank you again for making it possible for us to provide updated outdoor education programs to local schools.
