Send 30 Children to Afterschool Nature Program

Thank you for all your support in 2013, and for all the new donors in the last few weeks!

We closed out the semester with a teamwork activity that served as a test.   After our ritual of holding our opening circle, the students were given a challenge of working as a team to make a fire without any help from the instructors.  They succeeded!

We then transitioned to working on challenges in specific paths (subjects that connects the students to nature through teaching them skill sets).  We began Fire and Tracking last session and turned our focus to two paths: Plant and Hunting.

The first step in the plant path is to identify one plant that is both edible and medicinal. All but one student made it past this step using plants like pine and wild strawberry. The second step is to identify three different plants: one that feeds, one that heals, and one that kills. About half the group passed this step using plants like poison ivy and poke for kill, chestnut, dandelion, and orchids for feed, and pine for a medicinal. While we were focusing on plants and hunting we continued to look at the fire and tracking paths as well. On the plant walk we found several footprints in the mud and tried to figure them out.

The first step in hunting is to hit two targets with a throwing stick. Most of the students were able to do that. The second level was to hit a moving target  which proved much more difficult.  It was great to see the students persevere despite their frustration as opposed to giving up.  The instructors saw students give each other encouragement and those that were extremely successful (on levels 2 & 3), were passing along their knowledge and know-how to those that were feeling stuck. Near the end of the day, we encouraged students to return to a path they were dying to work on and most returned to Fire or Hunting. 

During the last two sessions, Mary and Adam, the instructors, saw a dramatic change in the students after the introduction of the paths with a stucture of challenges and encouraged them to try each of the four paths. It lit a fire under those that were already passionate about a certain topic and enticed others to have an open heart when it comes to trying something new. 

All of the students expressed interest in returning in January, and carried their coup sticks (sticks they made to mark off their accomplishments at succeeding at each level of a path) home with pride. We hope to see all of them again! 

On your next wander through the woods or yard, see if you can identify a plant most would call a weed, find out its uses, and see how differently you look at it after that.  If you need help – attend one of our adult classes and change your perspective! 

Best wishes for a Happy New Year!

Links:

• Piedmont Wildlife Center