In the heart of Grundy County along the Fiery Gizzard Creek, you will find a world of wild wonder. Huge trees, some hundreds of years old, reach to the sky, bending and swaying with the wind. They are survivors, tall, strong and resilient, able to bounce back and recover when Mother Nature beats them down. But for many of the people who make their homes near those trees, bouncing back is not as easy. Years of tough times have taken their toll…breaking down family and community connections, making it harder for people, and especially kids to be resilient…to bounce back when the storms of life blow a little too hard. But now some folks are trying to change that, by giving kids the tools they need to handle life’s changes. Wild Side Guide Ken Tucker takes us to Camp Discover, where summer fun mixes with learning to help kids connect with themselves and the world around them.
This year more than 70 students from Tracy City Elementary School participated in the camp and organizers expect to have even more involvement next year…from both campers and the community. Educators believe the core camp principles can be applied to other communities and hope the Camp Discover model can be used to help kids across the state.
If you are interested in learning more about Camp Discover or how to get involved, email southcumberlandfamilies@gmail.com or give them a call at (931) 592-5088.
The camp is a community partnership project involving Scholastic, Yale Child Study Center, Sewanee: The University of the South, Tracy City Elementary School, South Cumberland State Park, Friends of South Cumberland, Mountain TOP and Morton Memorial Church. You can download a pdf summary of the program here: Camp Discover Pilot Sumary.
From show 2610.
