10245 Winton Road
Cincinnati, OH 45231
Free Nature Programming for Hamilton County Students
The mission of Great Parks Forever is to translate an early conservation promise into everyday experiences and lasting legacies. A goal is to use grant funding to provide connections to nature, cultural history and the environment for students throughout the county. In the fall and winter of 2019/2020, presentations occurred in the schools and throughout the parks and nature centers. Once Covid hit in March 2020, as with many other organizations providing education to students in Hamilton County, Great Parks had to be creative with conducting nature education programming. In response, the Parks@Home program was developed with the goal ofd bring the parks to the community virtually. For those who couldn’t make it out to the parks and for students learning from home, daily nature activities and educational opportunities were provided. Great Parks staff used social media to bring daily activities to the community through Instagram and Facebook live events. Consistent programing was Monday-Friday with an average 24-hour reach of about 4,000. Activities focused on nature and science topics as well as cultural history including explorations in the parks highlighting native plants and wildflowers and presentations such as meeting a pioneer. To further reach, the live videos were turned into blog posts so students could revisit a topic or participate in the activity at a more convenient time. In addition, staff used the blog platform to provide other activities such as nature journaling, coloring pages, Mad Science Mondays and Fairy Garden Fridays. Through Parks@Home, Great Parks was able to use technology to enable everyone to discover the natural world around them.
Website: https://greatparksforever.org
Amount: $20,000
Date: November 2019
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