I’m hoping this U.S. News & World Report column has stumbled on one of the few non-contentious things in the education world? President Obama’s Every Kid In A Park initiative seems hard to argue with:
SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK, Va. – It’s not every day you see a White House initiative play out in real time with everyone happy about it. Actually these days, do you ever? But there it was: High in Virginia’s mountains families hiked, picnicked and played under a cloudless blue sky on a crisp October Sunday. The mountain foliage was already spectacular and for some a fall visit to see it was an annual tradition. But for a surprising number of families the impetus for the trip was the White House’s Every Kid In A Park initiative. In fact, walking around Shenandoah National Park in Virginia’s central mountains I didn’t meet a single family that didn’t know about it from their child’s teacher or Facebook posts by other parents. And I didn’t meet one without good things to say…
What did they say? You can read the entire thing here. Send me tales of your past or future 4th-grade adventures and tweet me your favorite hiking spots @arotherham.
Can’t argue with it, but Republicans will find a way to argue about it. When I worked in SouthCentral LA I met a great many kids who had never been to any wilderness and some who had never been to the ocean. The ocean was less than ten miles away. Same was true when I worked in New Orleans. Every Kid in A Park is an empty endeavor unless there are programs to get them to the parks.