Describe the Issue or Situation.

Our youth are spending less time outdoors connecting with their environment.  There is a wide range of reasons for this: increase screen time due technological advances, increase of population sizes in urban areas where their aren't safe green spaces for kids to explore, safety concerns by parents, structured schedules, lack of outdoor education and cultural shifts encouraging academics that don't focus as much on outdoor activities.

As a result of the decrease of time spent in the outdoors, there is less understanding and value placed on the environment.  In addition to obvious impacts like a lack of connection to the natural world, it has also been linked to lower physical health, mental well-being, cognitive development, less sleep, less creativity, and less social skills.

Describe the Outreach or Educational Program Response (and Partners, if applicable).

Boone County Extension partners with Kentucky 4-H to create an overnight Environmental Experience that is free to students within Boone County.  Students are able to learn about their environment while engaged in it.  They get the opportunities to cut open owl pellets, witness live native wildlife, study their adaptations, as well as experiencing some of the recreation aspects of nature such as canoeing, hiking and archery for the first time.  It takes a lot of partners to make this happen, including KY Reptile Zoo, Critters in the Classroom, Boone County Schools, Kentucky 4-H Camp and a variety of volunteers, students and chaperones.

Provide the Number and Description(s) of Participants/Target Audience.

860 total participants (youth and adults) attend Environmental Camp this year from Boone County.  125 are still planning to attend in the spring.  

Provide a Statement of Outcomes or Program Impact. Please note that the outcomes statement must use evaluation data to describe the change(s) that occurred in individuals, groups, families, businesses, or in the community because of the program/outreach.

Verbal assessments are completed at camp, asking students about their favorite parts of camp.  All students that attended (500) felt they had learned something about their environment, although what they learned and their favorite aspects of camp varied based on the individual.  Many students enjoyed learning about birds of prey which included live owls and hawks and almost all of the students enjoyed the night hike and learning about adaptations of vision.  The students who were able to see constellation all enjoyed learning about the stars (a couple schools ended up with cloudy nights, which makes star viewing difficult).  The teachers who attend all feel the students take a great deal from the field trips and in increases their knowledge of the environment and their test scores at the end of the year (8 schools have attended).  Schools have been returning year after year for nearly 15-20 years.  Teachers have left schools where they were told they could no longer take kids to an overnight field trip and switched to school administrations that would allow them to continue to come because the experience is invaluable to the students.  One school does reflection pieces upon returning from camp, you can find an example of one below: