When College Station Conservation Education Coordinator Angie Soldinger opened the event “A Day in the Country” with passages from the book Last Child in the Woods, she asked her young audience if they knew why they were considered to be the first generation with no connection to the natural world.

The answer they gave was clear and unanimous: “because of the Internet, and T.V. and video games,” they all said.

These electronic pastimes keep children indoors and away from the beauty and opportunities for discovery that the great outdoors have to offer. Thanks to the initiative of Cather Woods, a landowner who resides near Crockett, and a partnership between TFS and the Texas Society of American Foresters, kids have a chance to see what they’ve been missing while playing Nintendo and updating their MySpace pages.

On July 24, kids from local churches in Crockett, Kennard and Alto, with ages ranging from seven to eighteen years old, participated in a wide range of outdoor learning activities on Woods’ land, known as Katoya’s Placehouse (after her granddaughter who passed away). This property has become an outdoor haven for minority kids who want to experience goings-on in a natural habitat.

Participants took turns rotating between four stations. Todd Nightingale, district forester—Crockett, Lee Stanley, resource specialist—Crockett, and Mike Wells, resource specialist—Crockett, led groups on learning how to fish. Nightingale discovered that at least a quarter of the group of kids had never fished until that day. Jan Davis, staff forester—College Station, shared information regarding wildlife food plots and planting. Chad Gulley from Texas Cooperative Extension manned a station on planting a human garden and compost, and Soldinger facilitated hikes through the wooded areas while teaching about tree identification, tree age and succession.

Woods is more than aware of the importance of getting kids and outside and interacting with nature. “Kids have no place to go anymore, it’s a concrete jungle out there,” she says. “It’s not right! I want children to know how to plant a garden, to appreciate the forest, to see the connection between everything that God has created.” Woods also noted the visible enthusiasm from one participant—weeks after “A Day in the Country” took place. “I ran into a young man at the store the other day who wanted to know when he could visit again. He said all his friends were always talking about it.”