Wisdom Wednesday

WW4- Get Outside
Today was the first annual Outside Day!

This day was the brainchild of my AP Bio/ TREE Club Advisor, Dick Jordan after he decided that this generation of children spends too much time indoors, which in the long run can increase obesity levels, cases of ADHD, stress, and delinquency. Mr. Jordan has some serious connections, and he ended up getting a grant for this day, and with the help of his "token" juniors and seniors, we pulled off a day of fun and learning with 80+ 6th graders.
When Mr. Jordan first asked me if I wanted to help out with this initiative in December, I had no idea what I was getting myself into... but after a bazillion meetings, planning, planning, planning, and more planning, March 4th (forth) came. Yeah... the man is full of puns. Anyways, basically we had no idea how it would turn out... and all of us Student Leaders were a bit scared... but it turned out GREAT!
The day went as follows:
In the morning, we all showed up at Barber Park, and, despite the rain, around 9:30 all our 6th grade students showed up. We were all clad in spray painted shirts we had made during a previous meeting, and let me just say some of the kids' shirts looked more like Rorschach Inkblot tests... or throw up... than anything else, but they were still great! The kids in my group were stoked, and when we first gathered, our first task was to get a team name. "Awesomeness River Explorers" is what we came up with. Oh 6th graders. Afterwards, we talked about "biodiversity" and walked along the river, explored, and then did a blindfold hike. It was a hit! The kids loved leading each other, and wanted to do EVERYTHING blindfolded.
Our next rotation was orienteering. (That basically means using a compass.. don't feel bad I really didn't know what it meant until yesterday either) We used a compass and map to guide us around the park, and since the kids basically ran the ENTIRE course (Again, oh to be in 6th grade!) we had extra time for a nice game of "TREE tag" after. After this we had a bunch of experts talk to us, and then we ate lunch. All the kids brought their own food, but a guy also did a little dutch oven cooking for us- the best sourdough bread ever and blueberry cobbler. I never want to eat out of a microwave again. Serious.
After lunch, we did some turbidity (water clarity) and pH testing at the river. I think those kids know more about ecology than me. They're pretty smart.. I had one kid telling me all about rocks, deciduous and coniferous trees, ect ect ect.. and I just nodded and said, "yeahhh." After all this we did some more games and fun, and then the day was over! It was so great.
So I guess that wasn't very much "wisdom", so here is my wisdom.
GO OUTSIDE.
It's so EASY.
It's so RELAXING.
It's so BEAUTIFUL.
It's so FREE. (and that is the best!)

And a little side note: I'm gonna be on TV again.. the guy who interviewed me with the GREAT shoes this summer was at Outside Day, and I really didn't even think he remember me, but he tracked me down and asked me if I wanted to be on TV again.. this time on Idaho Public Television... a whole story about Outside Day. I said sure! He interviewed me about the day, and I tried to sound all smart-like. And I guess there is more interviewing to come.. interesting.