Besides doing sensitive land acquisitions, Alachua Conservation Trust is helping ensure future stewards of our environment with this important youth program.
OSFR also participates in a similar program with Parknership at Fort White schools.
See the original article here at Alachua Conservation Trust.
Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org
– A river is like a life: once taken,
it cannot be brought back © Jim Tatum
Creekside Environmental Ed for Kids (CrEEK)
About CrEEK:
Each school year, our partners at Friends of Little Orange Creek host the CrEEK Program (Creekside Environmental Ed for Kids) at Little Orange Creek Nature Center. Through the program, approximately 1,000 fourth graders from underserved schools in Gainesville and Putnam counties are bused out to Little Orange Creek Nature Park where they learn basics in wetland and wildlife ecology.
The CrEEK Program works to foster a love for nature from a young age by immersing students in the outdoors. Through a curriculum that focuses on hands-on learning experiences, the CrEEK Program allows experts in the conservation field an opportunity to make an impact in the lives of local students.
As part of their participation in the CrEEK program, students will engage in activities such as dipnetting in the creek, working within nature to identify and learn about decomposition and the carbon cycle, going on nature hikes where they identify different species, and creating nature-inspired artwork. These activities are paired with guidance and discussion in order for students to make lasting connections with the knowledge gained and the surrounding environment.
As a program partner, ACT provides support for busing and supplies as well as consultation on strategies and topics for teaching.
This program aims to actively work against educational barriers and foster a diverse future of nature lovers and environmental leaders. Marginalized communities are often excluded from outdoors spaces through mechanisms such as wealth, safety, and proximity. The CrEEK Program aims to bring students into nature to create a safe and long-lasting impact on their relationships with the outdoors.
The CrEEK Team:
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Randi Cameon, Program Director, MPH, Specialist in Child Health
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Crystal Hartman, Biologist and Aquatic Scientist
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Kate Hellgren, Wildlife Ecologist and Environmental Educator
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Guylene Resue, Alachua County Librarian – Hawthorne Branch
We’re hiring a CrEEK Program Coordinator!
THANK YOU to the following CrEEK Supporters & pARTNERS:
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The Huisking Foundation
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The Robert F. Schumann Foundation
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City of Hawthorne
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City of Gainesville
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Alachua County Library District – Hawthorne Branch
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University of Florida Fishing for Success Program
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University of Florida Natural Resources Diversity Initiative (NRDI)
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Shell Elementary School
For questions about CrEEK, please email info@alachuaconservationtrust.org.
