Spring/Summer 
2008 Issue

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GO! Outdoors

Creating a Lifelong Love of the Outdoors

By Tawny Gapinski
March/April Issue, 2004

Beginning last fall, the Ecology Center, Ann Arbor Public Schools, and the Department of Natural Resources gathered their collective knowledge to create a unique outdoor education program called GO! Outdoors. Established to get kids active outside, in a safe and supported manner, the project has big intentions. GO! Outdoors partners propose to improve “childhood learning, health and enjoyment of the natural environment in southeast Michigan” and “instill a lifelong love of the outdoors as a value held within the family structure.”

To achieve its goals the GO! Outdoors steering committee researched such resources as David Sobel’s book, “Children’s Special Places,” which describes educating children from a holistic perspective. Sobel writes: “Education in harmony with development should, among other things, create adults with both a sense of individual initiative and a sense of responsibility to the natural and social worlds… [by] allowing children to shape their own small worlds in childhood, they will grow up knowing and feeling that they can participate in shaping the big world tomorrow.”

With a wealth of knowledge from which to draw inspiration project organizers, including steering committee members and newly hired staff, have created a map for what is to be accomplished over the next year and a half. Go! Outdoors organizers have chosen to concentrate their efforts in four areas of implementation: service projects, Walking School Bus, afterschool clubs, and field trips.

The Ecology Center efforts are focused on a naturalist-led Walking School Bus demonstration project at Mitchell and Lakewood Elementary Schools, and development of afterschool nature clubs. AAPS Education and Recreation staff and the Ecology Center plan to include service projects, and have started offering field trips to Kensington Park and local venues like the AAPS Winter Survival site.

Since the implementation of the first few activities (after-school nature club meetings, field trips, and a practice walk), organizers have gained insight into methodologies for getting kids outside. To make way for innovative lifestyle changes the behavior of individuals and families must be positively influenced. To influence the behavior of individuals and their families, GO! organizers have had to answer questions such as “What is inclement weather?” and “How does weather influence time spent in theoutdoors?”

One of the best methods for promoting outdoor activity, even in poor weather, is to provide one-on-one contact between parents and children. Personal contact in combination with skill building in an outdoor environment has proven reliable in improving a child’s ability to appreciate and feel safe in their environment. With three quarters of the project remaining, young people in southeast Michigan can look forward to a great variety of activities becoming available to get them outside and learning valuable skills.

The Go! Outdoors program is funded by a generous grant from the Community Foundation of Southeastern Michigan. The Community Foundation’s funding strategy is described on their Great Outdoors website: http://greatoutdoors.cfsem.org/. To learn more about Walking School Bus programs check out: www.walkingschoolbus.org/.

Tawny Gapinski works full time at the Ecology Center as an Environmental Educator. She is a member of the GO! Outdoors steering committee and helps coordinate the GO! Outdoors: Walking School Bus.

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