Imagine seeing the Bay Bridge and crossing the Chesapeake Bay for the first time. And then suiting up with a life jacket and paddle and kayaking for the very first time. Exciting! Scary! Fun!
In conjunction with the National Park Service’s “Buddy Bison Program” for Title I schools, CBEC welcomes student groups from Baltimore and Washington, DC, including young people who have never traveled outside their home cities. Students experience nature first-hand through CBEC’s “hands-on, feet-wet” programs.
“CBEC’s staff and volunteers have been great to work with,” commented National Park Trusts Education Coordinator Natalie Moon. “Since many of the kids have never really been on the water, much less kayaked, they can be intimidated.” But with some instruction and support from adult volunteers, the students gain confidence and enjoy spotting fish, turtles, and all kinds of wildlife while out on the water.
Earlier this summer, Caring Cops and Communities brought a group of eight to fifteen-year-olds from Washington, DC to kayak at CBEC. Paired with police officers, the students, accompanied by CBEC volunteers, explored marshes and shorelines “This trip is all they talk about,” said one of the police officers, “the bridge, kayaking, seeing turtles, fish, oysters, and ospreys!”
CBEC offers an assortment of hand-on education programs throughout the year for students of all ages. To learn more, visit: www.bayrestoration.org, or come visit: 600 Discovery Lane, Grasonville, MD.
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