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02.15.06
All About Kids: Cincinnati Inner City Outings
by Dyah Kartikawening iRhine
Saturday is the day of adventure when the students of Rothenberg Preparatory Academy in Over-the-Rhine go to Inner City Outings out of the city. "My name is Jasmine, I want to see a rabbit," Last Saturday, a group of 3rd to 5th graders joined with the Sierra Club volunteers to hike in Sharon Woods.
The Inner City Outings (ICO) is a community outreach program of the Sierra Club that provides low-income, inner city youth with trips to the wilderness.
For our local Cincinnati chapter, the trips vary from camping, visiting museums, learning about predator and prey, hiking, to visiting a split rock conservation park. They have three different age groups from kindergarten to 7th grade who each try to get in at least 10 trips a year, plus a summer camp program.
Last Saturday, the children saw many things, from fungi to snails, from tree-eating-trees, to a pregnant tree, and wild garlic. Each overlook is a relaxing point where they found streams, waterfalls, and layers of rock and fossils. They also received a good exercise at every exercise point of the forest track.
To find out what's under a log is another adventure. A fat white worm was hiding when Jasmine tried to pick it with a stick. One of the things the volunteers are trying to teach the children is enjoying nature without harming it. They leave everything intact so it remains the way it was. No picking wildflowers either. The Sierra Club hopes to educate the children to preserve and to protect the environment while developing the ability to face challenges outside urban environments. In Cincinnati, they adopted their own mission: to teach kids to love the earth.
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The first ICO outing was established by the Sierra Club San Francisco Bay chapter in 1971. Today, approximately 50 cities across the United States work with local social services and schools to provide this program for people who otherwise might not have them. "For many of our kids, ICO is one of the few positive things in their lives. We are reminded of this on every trip," said Lara Guttadauro, one of the co-chairs of Cincinnati ICO. 
The outings are made possible by volunteers who give their time and skills and by donations of money and equipment made by its supporters. Volunteers do all of the behind-the-scenes work, from visiting the trip location, checking out arrangements, talking with resource people, and delivering invitations to the school. On the day of the trip, volunteers will prepare for breakfast and clean up afterwards. Target trip goals for volunteers are four trips a year, but most of them had gone to more than the target amount.
The program did not suggest outings as potential alternative for refugees escaping to a better, greener place, but to encourage kids to return to their urban community with a greater sense of responsibility.
Dyah Kartikawening is a community organizer with Working In Neighborhoods, a non-profit organization who work side-by-side with low and moderate-income residents in Greater Cincinnati, develop community leaders, help shape communities and increase home ownership. She volunteers with iRhine and lives in Over-the-Rhine. Contact: dyah@iRhine.com
About The Sierra Club Cincinnati ICO
Sierra Club Inner City Outings is a community outreach program providing opportunities to explore, enjoy, and protect the natural world for those who would not otherwise have them.
Cochair: Tammy Mills ((513) 398-0525, tsmills555@aol.com
Cochair: Lara Guttadauro (859) 291-8228, lara_and_mark@yahoo.com
Website: www.sierraclub.org/ico/miami_ohio/pages/home.html
Read more at iRhine.com >>>
About iRhine
iRhine is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that develops the focus of communication for the many diversified offerings in the historic Cincinnati neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine (OTR). Through the Web site, e-mails, educational meetings, events, and volunteering, iRhine has supported and encouraged socio-economic development for OTR and the Greater Cincinnati Region since 2000.
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