Where We Walk: What Youth Have to Teach Us About the Trail

In the third episode of Where We Walk, we explore some of the long lasting impacts of introducing kids and young people to paths like the Appalachian Trail (A.T). Above all else, this episode is about hope. The hope that exposing children to enriching outdoor experiences will cultivate a lifelong relationship with nature.

We’ll hear from a teacher who is using nature as a classroom, a mother who started to see her daughters as adults and equals through hiking the A.T., a volunteer who took the initiative to start her own youth hiking challenge, a teenager who understands that the future health of our planet is in our hands, and a 6-year-old who feels just plain happy outdoors.

About the series: This story-forward six-part series, in partnership with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and made possible with support from REI, highlights the Appalachian Trail through both the women who helped to build it as well as those who continue to make it what it is today. Our goal is to tell a multi-dimensional story of the Trail through a range of voices from diverse backgrounds. Each episode will have a unique theme that helps tell the story of the way we shape the Trail, but more importantly — how the Trail shapes us. 

Featured in this episode: Lori Loew, Sue Garcia, Jan Onan, Maymuna Sabree, and Sloane Straub

Hosted by Gale Straub, with Laura Borichevksy

A Production of Ravel Media

Resources:

• Appalachian Trail Conservancy
• Appalachian Trail Conservancy: Youth Outreach
• A Trail to Every Classroom (ATEACH)
• Youth Partner Challenge
• Learn about the NextGen Forest Ambassador Program

Episodes of “Where We Walk” will air weekly on Mondays.

Music by Josh Woodward & Monplaisir using a Creative Commons Attribution License