BRINGING EQUITY TO OUR CITY’S GORGEOUS OUTDOOR SCENE
There are too few times when our day’s main news is good news. Monday in Chattanooga was one of the few. On Monday, Chattanooga Times Free Press reporter David Cobb took us on a canoe trip along North Chickamauga Creek with the Outdoor Leadership Club of The Howard School.
It was more than just an outing, more than just being outside in fresh air. It was about making some firsts for Howard students between the ages of 13 and 17.
It was empowering those students and their guides to explore both outdoor activities and diversify the enjoyment of nature and environmental leadership.
From canoeing and camping to archery and hiking, the weekly after-school club is remov- ing the barriers between students and the outdoor offerings unique to the ring of mountains, streams and river that cradle Chattanooga’s downtown.
“There’s a big gulf between the ‘Best Town Ever’ and the city that my students live in,” said 11th-grade English teacher Brandon Hubbard-Heitz. “They don’t have the opportunity to go mountain biking or climbing. People aren’t teaching them, and they deserve it. They deserve that opportunity.”
Hubbard-Heitz started the club to make those outdoor opportunities more accessible for his students after reading about Outdoor Chattanooga’s ambassador program and looking at research from the Outdoor Foundation. That research shows minorities participate in outdoor recreation at a lower percentage than whites in the United States — 65 percent compared to 42 percent, respectively. And the disparity is greatest among young teens between the ages of 13 and 17.
The mission is simple:
› Diversify both the outdoors and student activities by providing regular opportunities for students at Howard — where the student body is 94.5 percent minority.
› Promote conservation among students through conversations and activities that teach principles like Leave No Trace and ecological activism.
› Instill in students practical skills and leadership strategies that enable them to encourage a similar level of outdoor engagement in their neighborhoods and spheres of influence.
So far there have been 10 to 15 weekly participants in the club, which met for the first time in late September. That includes Shateyahni Robinson.
“I wanted to be part of it because I like the outdoors, but I’ve never experienced the outdoors beyond just basic things,” said Robinson, a 10th-grader. “Plus it has the word leadership, and I am a leader.” Yes, you are. So are teacher Brandon Hubbard-Heitz and Outdoor Chattanooga.
Great job, and good news.