media release- Camp Bayou, Ruskin

Media contact: Dolly Cummings
phone: 813-363-5438

No Child Left Inside Days

The Camp Bayou Outdoor Learning Center is taking part in a nationwide event to help build awareness of the importance of environmental education. The goal of the 'No Child Left Inside Days' campaign is to expose more students and teachers to outdoor learning activities and to highlight the importance of environmental education.

Over the course of 4 Fridays, starting on October 26 and ending on November 16, students from Learning Gate Charter School in Lutz and Cypress Creek Elementary in Ruskin will spend a few hours learning about the native people who lived here before Europeans arrived; explore the trails to see what kind of wildlife make their homes within the preserve; and net aquatic critters to determine the health of the river.

Government officials are invited to stop in to see the benefits of environmental education. Beyond the critical importance of teaching young people about the planet and its challenges, research shows that environmental education leads to improved student performance.

For more information about Camp Bayou or for a link to the 'No Child Left Inside' website, visit http://www.campbayou.org/ .

The "No Child Left Inside Days" campaign is a national initiative to get students out of the classroom and into the outdoors to learn about and become better connected to their environmental surroundings. The campaign is sponsored nationally by the No Child Left Inside^SM Coalition, which is made up of more than 110 organizations, including the Camp Bayou Outdoor Learning Center in this area.

Highlighting the need for increased environmental education, one national study found that children today spend an average of six hours each day in front of the computer and television, but less than four minutes a day in unstructured outdoor play. Another study found that young people could identify 1,000 corporate logos but fewer than 10 plants or animals native to their back yards.

Camp Bayou is a partnership between the Ruskin Community Development Foundation, Inc. and Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department.

###

Pictured: On Friday, October 26, students from Learning Gate Charter School learn about the river by using a net then looking for critters hiding in their collecting pans.

(Students for Ruskin will visit in November)