Chicago Park District is a GO!

With a forecast of 41°F, rain and wind (perfect hypothermia weather), this Californian in the Chicago mix was a little worried that the crew we had signed up for the first ChicaGo Explorers Front Country Leadership Training might not brave the elements to join us. Instead, 16 youth workers, parks and rec staff, community activists, social scientists and teachers showed up with smiles and true Midwestern grit.  Over the next two days together on Northerly Island, a hidden gem of the Chicago Park District in Lake Michigan, we shared skills, strategies, and tips to support the vision of all to connect Chicago’s youth with the outdoors.

What the Chicago Park District is beginning through the ChicaGo Explorers Program is no small thing.  As one of the nation’s largest park districts, they are making an important statement that we can go beyond basketball and yoga in our parks.  As part of the program, the Park District has launched a gear library, creatively housed in a shipping container on Northerly Island, which contains gear that will be used by these trainees to get youth outdoors.  Gear is one of the main obstacles keeping many youth from camping. This Gear Library will provide high quality apparel, sleeping bags, tents, etc, that will enable youth to camp under that Milky Way – most of them, for the first time.

Outdoors Empowered Network is thrilled to have supported the Chicago Park District in launching this new program!  

Big thanks to Therm-A-Rest and local REI Stores for supporting the effort!

Gear Library Webinar Recording is Live!

Founder of Outdoors Empowered Network (OEN),  Kyle Macdonald, recently shared the train and support model that OEN seeds and supports around the country during a TYO webinar.  Missed it? No problem.  Watch and share the recorded webinar below to learn about the advantages and challenges of a network approach that is leveraging collaboration to get over 10,000 youth outdoors annually. Also hear more about what you can do to bring this program model to your community.

Additionally, you can access the presentation deck here.  

Outdoors Empowered Network Partners with Every Kid in a Park

The Outdoors Empowered Network is proud to make our pledge to support the “Every Kid in a Park Campaign” announced today by the White House, an initiative to inspire the next generation of cultural and environmental stewards and make it easy for parents, teachers, and organizations to plan trips to more than 2000 parks and Federal land and water sites.  The new campaign supports President Obama’s Every Kid in a Park initiative, which provides the Nation’s fourth graders, their teachers, and their families with free admission to national parks and other federal lands and waters.

Every Kid in a Park was launched by the White House as part of National Parks Week 2016 and celebrates the centennial of our national parks system.  EveryKidinaPark.org, a new web portal supporting the campaign, will make it easy for parents and teachers to find resources to plan a visit to any national park and learn about the free Every Kid in a Park pass for free admission to the parks and other federal lands and waters to 4th graders. 

 Camping at the Presidio (CAP) Program in Golden Gate National Recreation Area

We are proud to support Every Kid in a Park and its goal of expanding access to our national parks to young students across the country.  The Outdoors Empowered Network is committed to lowering barriers to immersive experiences in nature through free access to gear libraries and wilderness leadership training for teachers and youth workers. It's critical to introduce youth to parks in culturally relevant ways that help them grow their relationship to this living planet we all share.  We are making this pledge to ensure that young people and generations to come will value and protect our national parks and the natural resources and heritage they preserve.

Get Involved!

Pledge: Make your own pledge to get #EverKidinaPark
Share: Spread the word about the the campaign and how Outdoors Empowered Network is supporting the effort. 
Youth Adventures: The very best way to celebrate is to share public lands with the youth you know. See it through their eyes. Inspire them to learn and explore more.

Networks and Including Diverse Communities at C&NN 2016 International Conference

In May, we'll be heading to the Children and Nature Network 2016 International Conference in St. Paul, MN. The conference brings together people and organizations from around the world who are committed to connecting youth to nature, which allows us to share ideas, learn from unique and innovative strategies, and at the end of the day, collectively address nature deficit disorder.

This year, we have two members of the Outdoors Empowered Network family speaking at the event along side leaders such as Jon Jarvis and Julie Pierce Williams:

Growing Successful Grassroots Networks - Understanding the kernel and planting the seeds

Founder and Executive Director of OEN will join José Gonzalez, Founder of Latino Outdoors, to share their experiences with applying the Four Network Principles for Collaborative Success as outlined by Jane Wei-Skillern, to grow their own successful networks and discuss simple steps you can take to grow your network. They will discuss the kernel of network weaving and how it fosters effective network leadership as well as the fundamentals of this work and how are the seeds planted? 

Reaching Families with Diverse Backgrounds

Heather Kuhlken, Founder/Director of OEN Member Program, Families in Nature, will join others in this “Pecha Kucha” style panel presentation to share a vast array of first-hand experience working with families from diverse, often underserved populations, will share their stories, successes and challenges, and invite the audience to do the same.