To cap off an adventurous 2024, Wilderness Kids students ventured out on 3 different outings during our final 2 days of programming in 2024 - hiking, paddling, and giving back to the community!
On Saturday, December 14, 10 students plus Wilderness Kids staff and volunteers set off for Mason Neck State Park in the hope of seeing the bald eagles that frequently make this park their home. But nature keeps us on her toes with her unpredictability and eagles were not, in fact, in the cards for the day.
Nonetheless, we had a wonderful hike through a winter forest. With three staff and four volunteers out for the day, students had a great opportunity to interact with other generations and visa-versa, whether that was to discuss what was going on in their lives, to chat about the different types of trees they were seeing, or to debate (and disagree) about who truly is the greatest - Messi or Ronaldo!
Students enjoyed a sunny but cold day at Mason Neck State Park! Clockwise from top left: Surab finds a hollowed out tree that makes a perfect hiding spot; Kingston and Wilderness Kids Executive Director Jerry take an "Us-ie" along the trail; Wilderness Kids Board Members Deborah, Ann, and Maya volunteered to hike with us for the day; Kingston and Ronmy glance back from their nice perches overlooking Belmont Bay; Douha and Asma enjoy the walk along the sunny trail.
On Sunday, eight Wilderness Kids students gave back to our wider community by picking up trash at Jones Point Park. The day was planned by our wonderful friends and supporters at Patagonia Old Town - who also recently announced a second year of grant support for our organization. We found and removed too much plastic to count, some old boards, and the left-behind remnants of what appeared to be a gathering of beer drinkers. At the end of our day, students gathered in a circle to share what they appreciated about the day and so many of them talked about the beauty of our waterfront here in Alexandria. So many of our students live on the West End of town and do not have the opportunity to enjoy vistas across the Potomac as often as those of us who live closer or who have free transportation at our fingertips.
Wilderness Kids students and volunteers taking out the trash! From plastic bottles to frying pans, students, staff, and volunteers as well as staff from our partner Patagonia Old Town cleaned up the shoreline at Jones Point Park on December 15.
Finally, also on Sunday , four students from our advanced Paddling Skills Cohort headed to the pool at Fort Belvoir to level up their paddling skills. First, the students helped our incredible partner Team River Runner clean and inventory their gear - another way of giving back to a partner who has given so generously of their time and expertise. Then, students worked on their rolls and one student, Jimmy, nailed it! Congratulations, Jimmy! The others are getting very close. Keep going!
Wilderness Kids students Adil, Jimmy, Oscar, and Sandra race across the pool at Fort Belvoir!
Sandra gets her roll...with a little assist from a TRR instructor! Not long until she has it all on her own. Go Sandra!
With just two weeks left in 2024, Wilderness Kids is taking a deep breath and settling in for the winter holidays. But we will be back at it in 2025 - with plans to hike, camp, paddle, climb and even ski in the New Year. We hope you can join us once or twice in 2025 along the trail!
Wishing you the happiest of holidays and a peaceful, healthy, and joyous new year!
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