Summer Programs with Malone Community Center

Howdy Doody Buckaroonies, It's ya boy Big Gumdrop back at it! Today I want to take some time to let y'all know about the cool stuff I have been up to these past couple of months. For a big chunk of the summer, I ran a program at the Clyde Malone Community Center in Lincoln, Nebraska to teach the youth, grades K-8, about Outdoor Education. Throughout this summer we covered 3 Units; 'The World Alive', 'Conservation Storytelling', and 'In the Field'. 🧑🏽‍🏫📚

'The World Alive' covered animal identification, plant identification, food chain vs food web, and ecosystems. 🦌🐟

For the 'Conservation Storytelling' unit, kids took iPads out to a park/creek and took pictures and videos of the world around them. They then took those images and videos into the classroom to edit them. After learning basic edits the kids then presented what they created, talking about how the project made them feel and what story they were trying to tell. 🏞️📸

Our final unit was 'In the field' which was all hands-on learning. We took field trips to lakes around Lincoln where we built campfires, cooked hotdogs and smores, learned how to fish (all the kids caught a fish!!) As well as we set up tents and explored the world around us with binoculars. 🎣🏕️🪵

One of the kids’ favorite activities was during the food chain lesson. The kids worked together to decide what animal or plant belonged where in the chain. Upon answering it correctly a video would pop up of the animal interacting within that food chain! It is a great interactive activity that the Plat Basin timelapse group created and the kids LOVED it! 👏🙌🏽

Through this process of developing and running these lessons, I had great help from the staff at Malone and members of my own team. In specific Azzariah Perry played a key role in running the classes and keeping the kids engaged. I am very thankful for the work she did this summer, it wouldn't have been the same without her!