Warren & Worley Brown Kids at Red Top Mountain

We took kids from both Warren and Worley Brown Boys & Girls Club to Red Top Mountain State park for a day of fun.  It seemed like a good idea to do stand up paddle board lessons.

We started the morning with a hike to check out the blacksmith who was on-site for the day.  He showed us how he often burns his hands.  We found a small turtle hanging out and enjoyed watching him for a few minutes before heading off into the woods.  We then came upon a set-up of musical instruments and Tee-Pees.  An educational exhibit that proved to be a big hit with the kids.

 We then spent a little over an hour teaching the kids to stand up paddle board.  The kids caught on pretty quickly and really enjoyed being out in the water.

We finished the day with an hour long hike along the Sweetgum trail.  It was a perfect day.

Visit to The Chattahoochee Nature Center with students from the Global Village Project

 Today Atlanta ICO had their first outing with students from the Global Village Project.  The school is designed specifically to equip recently arrived refugee girls with the academic and social knowledge needed for success in high school or equivalency program.  Some of the students have never had formal educational experiences before.  Today, we treated 49 students and volunteers to a visit to the Chattahoochee Nature Center in Roswell.

We enjoyed a picnic lunch, a short movie on how the Chattahoochee River affects our local communities, hikes around the lake, and a very cool Creature Feature presentation on gopher turtles.

Outing with the International Rescue Group at Island Ford Unit CRNRA

The Sierra Club Atlanta ICO group  took kids from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) on an outing to Island Ford today.  We went on a hike along the Chattahoochee River and up in the hills, stopping many times to watch the river and the geese and people kayaking and fishing. During the hike we talked about the river as a source of water for the Atlanta metropolitan area and as a valued place to be outdoors.  (We were fortunate we had beautiful weather!) Then we had lunch next to the river.  The highlight of the trip was a an energetic soccer game on the field next to the river.  We had a great time playing in the game and watching. It was especially interesting that there was an American football game next to the soccer game and we could watch both at the same time.  Sometimes the two games got mixed together but continued to play.  

We normally fund our outings from fund-raisers and grants we receive.  Today, the outing was funded by the National Park Service.  We received a mini-grant from NPS-100 (National Park Service 100 years celebration) ‪#‎FindYourPark‬.
Thank you National Park Service.