Posts filed under ‘Working with Minority Children’

African savannas and Wisconsin state parks

Outdoor adventures with kids bring curious comparisons.

Photo of kids on overlook

“It looks like Africa,” said 8-year-old Marjorie as we drove into Governor Nelson State Park on a cold March day.

I paused, a bit thrown by her thoughtful comment. I mean, I had never heard Wisconsin and Africa being linked geographically. And even if comparisons could be made, you’d think they’d be made during a blistering heat wave and not when the ground was still frozen.

Yet, she was right.

In March, the Wisconsin savanna does look like the African savanna, a sea of tan grass with a few trees dotting the landscape. I almost expected a lion to appear, the image was so vivid in my mind.

This 8-year-old girl made a deep connection between Wisconsin and Africa that can only be made by experience. This blew me away. I love being shown how to see something in an entirely new way and sometimes it takes a child to do it.

This experience is one of many I’ve had while taking kids on outings to state properties. Over the past three years, the Goodman Community Center has partnered with the Sierra Club’s Inner City Outings program to provide outdoor opportunities to more than 300 low-income kids and their families. Outings include hiking, geocaching, eagle watching on the Wisconsin River, cookouts in the middle of winter, Maple Syrup Days at MacKenzie Environmental Education Center and more.

The Goodman Community Center provides the transportation and staff while the Sierra Club provides volunteer leadership, a healthy snack and admission fees. It’s a great arrangement that has introduced many kids to the outdoors.

In the process, they’re learning about the outdoors, having fun and gaining valuable life skills. Here are a few stories.

“Don’t let it get me”

I grew up tromping around in Pheasant Branch Creek in Middleton and visiting my mom’s childhood farm in Sauk County. I had secret hide-outs that I claimed as my own. I could get lost in play and spend hours in the outdoors unsupervised. Therefore, I thought that everyone knew how to hike and enjoy the outdoors.

Not so.

Kids today generally do not have such freedom. Their lives are more structured and free play is limited or nonexistent. Today, we have to take kids outdoors and teach them the basics.

For example, on that same, cold Africa-like trip to Governor Nelson State Park, I pointed out a red-tailed hawk to the group. Immediately, two girls covered their heads and screamed, “Don’t let it get me!”

It never occurred to me that someone could fear a hawk. For me, hawks always meant good luck. The kids also didn’t know how to walk quietly in the woods and listen for animals. On our first outing, they all ran down the path as if on a race.

Turns out, hiking in a state park is cultural. Looking for animals, being quiet and relishing the sights and sounds of the outdoors are taught by doing.

Some kids also need permission to play. I can’t tell you how many kids ask permission to do what appears to be obvious.

On a trip to Blue Mound State Park, the kids asked permission to play in huge piles of oak leaves. I can’t shake the questioning look on their faces when we got to the leaves. They needed permission. It’s as if kids are so conditioned by school that they don’t know how to explore. Outdoor adventures give kids opportunities to leave school rules behind and have fun.

Photo of kids in leaf pile Is there a better playground than a leaf pile?

Doing so, kids learn so much: they overcome fears, they learn self-reliance and perseverance, they learn how to listen and observe, they learn to recognize plants and animals, and how to stay warm when it’s cold and cool when it’s hot. They simply learn to love the outdoors.

While the kids are learning, their parents are learning, too. Parent participation for our trips doubled last year and we expect more parents to participate this year. Outdoor activity is contagious.

Multiple studies have shown that kids who spend time outdoors do better in school and have less stress. I would further argue that outdoor skills enhance real self esteem.

“I saw that”

“Look carefully, you might see a turkey.”

Or a deer or a snake or a sandhill crane. Just fill in the blank. There’s nothing better than seeing an animal for the first time. It’s exciting and fun and makes kids happy. I think it helps kids do better in school, especially kids who struggle with academics.

I have a group of boys who consistently attend my trips. These kids have enviable energy levels that can test even the best of teachers. Outside, however, they are stimulated and respectful…most of the time. I believe it’s because they’re always “looking for a turkey.” Outside, they never know what’s going to happen. They’re a little bit anxious and a little bit excited. That’s a good mix. It keeps kids on their toes.

The boys saw a dizzying array of birds last spring at Governor Nelson State Park: sandhill cranes, catbird, hummingbird, geese, swallows and lots more.

Do you think the next time they see a crane or a hummingbird in a book, they’ll know what they are? No doubt. Do you think they’ll be proud of themselves? Confident? You bet. They’ll have the satisfaction of knowing something deep down and that could make all the difference.

“I saw that. I really did.”

I can hear it now.

“I did it”

“Do we really get to shoot a gun?” squealed 8-year-old Gavin.

Yes, yes you can.

In July, I took a group to Outdoor Skills Day at the MacKenzie Environmental Education Center in Poynette. It’s a day when kids learn how to do normally forbidden things like throw a hatchet and shoot a pellet gun among other “dangerous” outdoor skills.

Naturally, the kids couldn’t wait.

Outdoor skills are perfect for kids with high energy. I could see their confidence grow as the day went on. They loved using their minds and their bodies to succeed.

“I hit it,” beamed 5-year-old Ebrahim after hitting the target with a hatchet – just one of 50 kids who did.

Five-year-old Maria, hesitant at first about using a gun, quickly found her inner sharpshooter and racked up a string of bulls-eyes. I swear she grew two inches taller, her confidence soaring in the wake of her accomplishment.

This is real self-esteem that comes from doing something the child didn’t think she could do, not the fake self-esteem that comes from meaningless praise.

We tend to forget that even young kids can accomplish great things if given a chance.

“Can my kid go?”

Three years ago, a distraught mother asked me if 8-year-old John could come on an outing.

John’s behavior was out of control at school. I told her that the trips are meant for kids like John. He came along and he did well, very well.

Since then, John has attended more trips than any other child with no meltdowns, tantrums or outbursts. His mother shared his success with his classroom teachers and the positive feedback helped John turn the corner for the better. He’s now in fifth grade and succeeding on all levels.

I have no doubt that these trips helped John get through a difficult year, just like nature helped me get through my dad’s death when I was 10 years old.

Nature heals, soothes and inspires, which is a primary reason why I do this work.

My hope is that exposing young kids to our beautiful state properties will lay a foundation for lifelong learning and happiness. At the very least, the kids get an adventure full of wonder, fun, and perhaps even a little learning.

Diane Schwartz is a consultant, writer and outdoor education teacher at Goodman Communitiy Center in Madison. She writes a blog at Get Kids Outside. She is also the site coordinator at Schumacher Farm in Waunakee. You can contact her at Diane Schwartz.

Get Outdoors! logo

To learn more about environmental education for kids, visitEnvironmental Education for Kids (EEK!). The Wisconsin State Park System has a new initiative aimed at getting children and families to spend more time outdoors with nature. It’s fun, and it’s good for you!To learn more visit Get Outdoors! Wisconsin. To donate to the Outdoor Education Fund, send tax deductible contributions to:
Goodman Community Center
149 Waubesa Street
Madison, WI 53704
Attn: Diane Schwartz
Story and photos by Diane Schwartz, Feb 2012 Issue of Wisconsin Natural Resources magazine

February 3, 2012 at 4:16 am 2 comments

All eyes on the eagles: Eagle Days 2012

Cashel Nelson, 8, looks through a scope at the eagle overlook in Prairie du Sac during Bald Eagle Watching Days 2010 while his friend from Madison's Goodman Community Center Qarly Haywood, 8, awaits her turn.By Jeremiah Tucker, Sauk Prairie Eagle.

Now one of the longest-running events of its kind in the state, Sauk Prairie’s Bald Eagle Watching Days began life as a token of thanks from the state to eagle-deprived volunteers.

Randy Jurewicz, a retired biologist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, helped organize the first official Eagle Watching Days in Sauk Prairie 25 years ago. The event, he said, grew out of a national census of eagles organized by the National Wildlife Federation.

“We tried to get volunteers to go out all over the state and look for bald eagles,” Jurewicz said. “Now, it’s pretty easy to get people to look for eagles where they’re pretty certain to see them and enjoy them.”

It was more difficult, he said, to persuade volunteers to traipse into regions where there were almost no eagles and confirm their absence for the official count.

“So we said, ‘You do this, and we’ll tell you what, the second Saturday of January in Sauk City, we’ll all get to see eagles together,’” Jurewicz said. “We were trying to entice these volunteers to go to these areas and report a few eagles, if any, and guarantee that by coming to Sauk City we’d show them some eagles and have hot chocolate and free spotting scopes.”

At the time, it was a well-kept secret that every winter when some Sauk Prairie residents decamped for warmer locales, other snowbirds arrived seeking the open water around the dam, the bluffs surrounding the Wisconsin River and the easy food available on the wide-open farming fields.

“The birding community knew about it,” Jurewicz said. “Bird watchers would know about it and they would share it, but the general public didn’t know about it, the public in Southeastern Wisconsin didn’t know about it and certainly not the people in Rockford and Chicago and other places where people are now coming to view it.”

For a few years, Jurewicz and some of his co-workers in the DNR continued to hold a small, informal eagle-watching event in Sauk Prairie. Once the Sauk Prairie Area Chamber of Commerce and the local conservation group Ferry Bluff Eagle Council signed on as co-sponsors, it became the community event Bald Eagle Watching Days.

This weekend is the 25th anniversary of the first Bald Eagle Watching Days. To mark the occasion Kay Roherty, the event’s chairwoman, said they’ll release a rehabilitated eagle into the wild in VFW Park, necessitating the closing of the boat ramp to accommodate the expected traffic.

“It’s been a few year since we’ve had a release,” Roherty said. “We brought that back for the 25th anniversary.”

Roherty, who has been chairwoman of the event for the last 10 years, said Bald Eagle Watching Days generally brings about 1,500 people into Sauk Prairie. She said over the last 25 years visitors from all over the United States have attended.

“I remember once there was someone from Turkey, but I think he was visiting people in this country,” she said.

While the event has grown from its modest beginnings to include live birds of prey shows, wildlife photography seminars, guided bus tours and multiple exhibits, the primary draw remains seeing bald eagles soaring in their natural habitat.

The eagle numbers remain firm this year. During a recent aerial survey, the DNR counted 186 eagles between Petenwell Lake and the Mississippi and said one of the hot spots was Prairie du Sac. That number is close to the 20-year average.

Jeb Barzen, director of field ecology for the International Crane Foundation, organizes a twice-monthly roost count of eagles in the greater Sauk Prairie area for the Ferry Bluff Eagle Council. Three weeks ago, he said, the count was 162 eagles.

The most recent count showed 45 eagles in the area.

Barzen said the unusually warm weather means that the birds aren’t concentrated around the river as they have been in the past when the freezing weather pushed them to the open water.

“This warm weather simply means that even if we have a lot of birds in the area, the birds are likely going to be spread out from the Prairie du Sac Dam to Lone Rock,” Barzen said. “That’s a pretty big area, even to take 160 birds and spread them out in.”

He warned that the eagle viewing might be sparser than it has during past eagle watching days.

Even so, Jurewicz, who still assists in planning Bald Eagle Watching Days, said visitors will be assured to see eagles whether it’s in the wild or the eagle release on the bank of the Wisconsin River and the live birds of prey show at the River Arts Center.

“Where else can you go some place with your family and get an entire’s day of entertainment and, outside of gas and food, everything else once they get there is free?” Jurewicz said. “There are bus tours; people don’t even have to drive around town.”

Reprint of an article posted in the Sauk Prairie Eagle Wednesday, January 11, 2012 3:17 pm

Get Kids Outside Note: 2012 will be our 4th year attending this event. Our first year, we took 8 kids. This year we’re taking 60 kids and parents!

January 13, 2012 at 2:21 pm 1 comment

Kids learn to enjoy winter at Indian Lake County Park

Even without snow, the kids made use of the sledding hill.

Lou and his mother didn’t look too happy as we gathered at 9 a.m. on a cold, December morning for a trip to Indian Lake County Park.

“I had my doubts,” mom admitted. But she showed up anyway along with 30 others. At the end of the day, they were all smiles and glad they came.

Despite the lack of snow and 10 degree temps, the kids found lots of ways to stay warm and have fun. Plus, Indian Lake is a drop-dead gorgeous park. The sunny, blue skies formed a perfect back drop for limitless outdoor fun:

- Kids ran, slid and rolled down a frost covered sledding hill.

- Kids played on a huge pile of wood. They turned the wood pile into a fort, a mountain or just a neat place to climb. They killed off space aliens, played soldier games and lots more.

- Kids played with sticks, the best toys ever.

- Kids examined beautiful frost crystals that coated the ground.

Sticks are the best toys ever. Note the lack of mittens.

- Kids helped build a fire.

- Kids played football and kicked around a ball.

- Kids hiked up the hill to see a historic chapel.

- Kids ate hot dogs and hot chocolate.

But mostly, the kids learned that sometimes it’s important to get up and go even if it’s cold. Parents set the example. Unfortunately, about 15 kids missed out because their parents cancelled.

We forget how warm kids get when they run around. No matter how many times we asked kids to put their hats on, most didn’t listen and took them off anyway. Go figure. Kids just don’t react to cold the same way as adults.

Winter is a great time to get outside. It’s important to help parents and kids learn how to enjoy the winter.

How do you respond to fears about cold weather? 

Playing football in the morning sun. Again, no mittens. Are they crazy?

December 18, 2011 at 2:20 pm 2 comments

Carrot Juice vs Chips: Bike for Life explores the options

Surprise: Kids like carrot juice.

Carrot juice or chips?
Raw peanut butter anyone?
What do you think kids will eat?
Turns out they’ll eat all three, but not necessarily in that order.

I didn’t think they’d like carrot juice, but they did.
They watched intently as the Willy Street Coop juice bar man turned carrots into juice with the flip of a switch. The rich, orange juice flowed out and the kids eagerly drank it up. They also loved watching peanuts turn into peanut butter in the grinder.  They liked that it looked kinda gross coming out of the machine, which always helps with kids.

After they tried the juice and peanut butter, I took out chips and chocolate to talk about portion size and choices in food. They squealed with delight. Sugar, salt and fat make for tough competition. No squeals for carrot juice and unsweetened/unsalted peanut butter, but then again, they had never tried them before.  On the other hand, junk food, is readily available and a primary cause of obesity in kids.

Can you just 12 chips?

Of course, the real challenge with junk food is how much kids eat.

Did you know that there are about 12 chips and 250 calories in one serving?  Have you ever tried eating just 12 chips in a sitting?  That’s the challenge. I offered single serving bags of chips to make the point.

The next time you sit down to eat chips, challenge yourself and your kids to eat just one serving. And, before you eat, read the ingredient label. Turns out that the nacho cheese flavored chips are loaded with preservatives, whereas simple potato chips contain just potatoes, oil and salt. Even in the chip world, there are choices.

As for the chocolate, the package said a serving was half the bar. This seemed like a lot so we talked about that. Can you eat just a few squares of chocolate and put the rest away for another day?  I know I can’t, which is why I don’t eat chips or eat sugar. I shared this with the kids so they know that there’s a choice. They don’t get it, but then again, they don’t have to, just yet.

Kids are smart and while most of their food choices are made by others, I believe that this information will make a difference to them.

Perhaps not now, but in the future.

What do you think?   

Bike for Life is an obesity prevention program created and run by Diane Schwartz out of the Goodman Community Center. It’s funded by the Endres Foundation and the Rosenlund Family Foundation. The group is enjoying the great fall weather by biking around Madison. Next week, we’ll head up to the Capitol. 

October 15, 2011 at 10:39 pm Leave a comment

When it’s okay to shoot a gun: Outdoor Skills Day

Ebrahim, Gavin and Juan target practice.

Year ago, shooting a gun was a rite of passage for boys and BB guns were common. Today, BB guns and bow and arrow sets are pretty much things of the past, but not at Outdoor Skills Day at MacKenzie Environmental Education Center in Poynette.

For one day each summer, kids learn how to shoot at targets, throw hatchets, cast a fishing line, cut wood, cook over a fire, start a fire without a match and lots more. I went with 13 kids ages 5 to 13 plus three parents.

At first, I was a little nervous, but once I saw how great the kids were behaving, I loosened up a bit. They were so respectful of each other and of the skills they were learning. The people at MacKenzie know what they’re doing. They made it safe.

The Bowhunters Association, DNR wardens and fisheries staff, and lots of volunteers were on hand to teach kids how to do things safely. They had the all the right equipment and plenty of room.  Kids learned that shooting a gun wasn’t about killing people, but about concentration and skill. It was wonderful to see the kids so focused.  I could see their self-confidence grow as they practiced. Experiential learning is so important for kids, especially high energy kids.

As a result of this trip, I’m inspired to bring an archery program to Goodman Community Center or to host our own Outdoor Skills Day. We could use a few more confident, respectful kids.

So what do you think?  Do you think events like this are okay?  What is your experience working with kids and outdoor skills? 

Tania (age 5) and Buba (age eight) work the cross-cut saw.

Angel (age 13) shoots a muzzle loader with help from a Wisconsin Muzzle Loader Association volunteer.

Mari (age eight) gears up for archery.


Ebrahim (age 5) throws and then hits the target. His face says it all.

Gavin (age eight) gets instruction from a Wisconsin Muzzle Loading Association volunteer before taking aim.

July 10, 2011 at 4:02 pm Leave a comment

Biking: Independence on Wheels

Icie and Micah show off our super cool folding bikes outside the Goodman Community Center after our first neighborhood ride.

A bike is an independence machine.

Give a kid a bike and they have the means to see and do things
that they couldn’t do before. Of course, biking is also good exercise, it’s good for the environment and it’s just plain fun.
I just launched a new biking program at Goodman Community Center
called Bike for Life. Bike for Life teaches kids how to safely ride and navigate city bike paths and roads. It also strives to get kids moving and teach them about healthy nutrition. Obesity is a huge issue today, especially among minority populations. Of course, the serious stuff is disguised in the fun and adventure of biking.
Stay tuned for more stories about biking with kids this summer.
It’s time to Bike for Life.

May 29, 2011 at 11:20 pm Leave a comment

Kids get Bikes on Thursday!

Six kids will get a new bike on Thursday.
They’re excited and I’m excited.
They’ve worked hard at doing service around  the Goodman Community Center. They’ve washed windows, picked up trash and worked with preschoolers. They’ve written book reports too.

We’ll walk to the Wheels for Winners garage on Thursday and the kids will pick out their bikes.  I can’t wait.

May 24, 2011 at 12:17 pm Leave a comment

Maple Syrup Magic at MacKenzie: A feast for the senses

John tastes maple sap right from the spial at Maple Syrup Fest on April 2, 2011.

What could be better than tasting maple sap right from the tree? Not much.

What are the chances that John will forget where maple syrup comes from?  Not likely.

Doing, tasting, touching, seeing, anything that activates the senses, increases the odds that kids – and adults – will retain knowledge. It also doesn’t hurt that it’s fun.

Maple Syrup Fest at MacKenzie Environmental Education Center is a feast for the senses.  We started with a pancake breakfast and then enjoyed a horse-drawn wagon ride. The horses were shedding so hair blew back on us as we rode along. We tasted sap right from the tree and then saw how it’s boiled down to make the yummy syrup we ate at breakfast.

Cougars once roamed in Wisconsin. They have been extirpated.

The kids climbed the fire tower where they felt a cold breeze and got a good view. Finally, kids saw a lot of wildlife. Mackenzie has a Wisconsin Wildlife exhibit where the kids saw white-tailed deer, fox, otter, cougar, bobcat, eagle, hawks and more. Where else can you see a bobcat and a cougar?

Today will reach 80 degrees marking the end of maple syrup time. It’s a magical time of year to savor the end of winter and to soak up the sights, sounds, tastes and smells of the spring.

Diane Schwartz is the Outdoor Education Specialist at the Goodman Community Center in Madison, WI. She takes kids and their families on monthly outings. The next trip is April 16th at the Arboretum. As always, register for this blog now and receive a free 11-page bubble activity guide. Thank you for reading.


April 10, 2011 at 3:17 pm Leave a comment

Bad Van Behavior Kills Ski Fun

What is fun? Cross Country Skiing

What kills fun? Driving a 15-passenger-van full of kids, three of which are  fighting in the back.

Last week Thursday was the first day of ski lessons and everything was going great: the trip to Blackhawk Ski Club went well; the kids loved skiing; and the weather was perfect.

And then we got in the van to go home.

Joan started talking trash and couldn’t keep her mouth shut. To make things worse, her brother and another girl egged her on.

Things got so loud I had to pull over and sort things out. I split up Joan and her brother which meant displacing two other kids who were acting fine. I hate this.

Being a teacher is tough sometimes. I want to have fun with the kids, but I also have to be safe and take action when necessary. I’ll talk to the kids and parents and make sure they understand behavior expectations and the consequences. Right now, I’m thinking that if behavior results in pulling over the van, then the children involved will be removed from lessons. This may sounds harsh, but when it comes to safety, I’m not going to mess around. Besides, most of the kids are fine.  It’s not fair to the others to allow this kind of behavior.

One thing is clear, if I don’t take action, it will be a very long 8 weeks.

I’ll let you know what happens after this week’s lesson.

What are you doing to help kids with behavior issues? What works? What doesn’t? How do you decide when to remove children from an activity?

Diane Schwartz is an Outdoor Education Teacher at Goodman Community Center in Madison, Wisconsin. She is also the Site Coordinator at Schumacher Farm County Park in Waunakee. Register for this blog now and receive your free 11-page Bubble Activity Guide.  Thank you for visiting.

January 18, 2011 at 4:43 am 1 comment

Prairie Humor: Joke reveals African-American history

Q: What kind of tree has no money?

A:  A Burr Oak. (say it out loud if you don’t get it.)

I learned this joke yesterday from a fourth grader when I was giving a guided tour of a tall grass prairie at Schumacher Farm County Park. I shared it with his class and they thought it was sort off funny and my friends thought it was hilarious.

However, when I told it at work to a few co-workers I  got blank stares. A bit later I asked my co-worker about the joke. “Pretty bad, huh?”

He said the reason he didn’t laugh is because there’s a Burr Oak Cemetery in Chicago.

“Growing up, we were told to be good or we’ll end up in Burr Oak.”

I looked the cemetery up on-line and learned it was the first African-American cemetery in Chicago. Many prominent athletes and musicians are buried there. It’s also where con-artists resold up to 300 graves and destroyed  the original occupant’s remains in 2009.

No wonder he didn’t laugh.

The burr oak can take it. The rugged, scaly bark protected them from prairie fires and now protects them from anything else they may witness  — good and bad. The “Good Oak” as described in Aldo Leopold’s  Sand County Almanac, is no longer the quintessential description of the oak.

While it remains the rugged and noble tree of the prairie and the first choice for toasty campfires and strong furniture, it is also the enduring African-American cemetery tree with a richly human history. I’ll remember this the next time I  give a tour of the prairie.

What have you learned because of a child today?

Diane Schwartz is the site director of Schumacher Farm County Park and the Outdoor Education Specialist at Goodman Community Center in Madison, WI.  Register for this blog to receive a free 11-page Bubble Activity Guide.

October 7, 2010 at 11:35 pm Leave a comment

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Diane Schwartz


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