It’s a proven fact that as more Texas children live in cities, fewer children are having real experiences with Nature. Bound by urban settings, low income and academic pressures, children resort to small screens and asphalt worlds.
The kinesthetic value of action-based learning is being replaced by chair time and standardized tests. Risk is reduced to safety measures. Recreation (re-creation) has become a competitive sport. Discovery is limited to the microscope.
Don Greene envisioned that his property would be a place where outdoor skills could be learned; where projects for resilient, earth-friendly living could be realized; where Nature could be understood and appreciated for its mysteries and intrinsic values; and where young people could develop a connection to community through their service.
We’re extending the urban outdoor education ethic to our bayous and precious riparian corridors by showing school groups Buffalo Bayou by canoe, and by creating long-term conservation projects on our bayous.