About 100 fourth graders will be treated to a night under the Atlanta skies as part of an effort to expose more youngsters to the nation’s parks.
Students will camp out overnight for free at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, 450 Auburn Ave. N.E.
The free Legacy Campout, which is in its fifth year, begins at 6 p.m. Sept. 25 and ends at noon on Sept. 26, and will include stories, s'more, activities and a lot of fun. It will also introduce young campers to legacy of civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King.
Previous camp outs have focused on middle and high school students.
“The focus is on fourth graders because research has shown that this is the age when youth are the most impressionable about what they would like to do in the future,” said Superintendent Judy Forte. When they think about activities, she wants them to think about the park system.
“We want to introduce them to the great outdoors and our nation’s parks,” Forte said. “We want to connect with them.”
Participants can bring their parents and the event is chaperoned. Students are selected from schools, churches, youth groups and nonprofits.
In addition to exposing youth to the parks, the event is a kickoff to the 2016 centennial anniversary of the National Park Service and as part of President Obama’s “Every Kid in a Park” initiative.
The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site is hosting the even along with the Greening Youth Foundation, a Georgia-based nonprofit whose aim is to promote responsible environmental stewardship and a healthy lifestyle among underserved children, youth and young adults.
For more information about Legacy Campout, call 404-254-4827 or go to the Greening Youth Foundation website, www.gyfoundation.org.
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