As part of an essay contest, North Rowan Middle School student Jordan Feaster was asked to write about a national park as if she were physically there, experiencing it first-hand. At the end of her essay, she revealed that the essay’s narrator was someone who founded and ran an organization that helps students visit national parks. Administrators, teachers, and others really liked this idea and Jordan’s class, along with a fifth grade academically and intellectually gifted class from North Rowan Elementary will make a trip to Pilot Mountain State Park. Jordan has positive memories of visiting outdoor parks and mentioned that it is the fun, hands-on lessons she remembers from class–not the ones that rely solely on technology. This connection with nature is important. The field trip has received funding from generous donors, but the class still needs funding to cover initial T-shirt costs and to cover the cost of next year’s trips which will hopefully go to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Anyone interested in contributing to the project should contact North Rowan Middle Principal Carl Snider at (704)639-3018. What a great initiative.
Jordan Feaster, center, writes down plans for a trip to Pilot Mountain while Angie Perez Montoya, left, and Charles Brucker, right, look on. Feaster, a seventh grade student at North Rowan Middle, had an idea for an organization that helped students visit National Parks. With the help of teachers and school administration, that dream is becoming a reality, with a trip to Pilot Mountain State Park planned for Jordan’s class and an elementary school class in October. Rebecca Rider/Salisbury Post