PRE RAMBLE

This is a blog about my effort to start an Inner City Outings Program in Oklahoma City. Inner City Outings, or ICO, is a program run by the Sierra Club to take less fortunate kids in to the out-of-doors. Kids who otherwise might never get the chance to get away from an urban setting.

Paula Mitchell, friend and former volunteer national chair of the Inner City Outing program, encouraged me to blog about my experience to help others who might want to start a local program. My daughter Tana came up with the name for the blog. We were having lunch one day and jumping from topic to topic and back again. Whenever I'd say "ICO" she'd look at me and ask "kids outside"? The name stuck.

First, a little background information on me as it relates to kids, organizations and the outdoors. I've been a volunteer leader in the Sierra Club's Outdoor program for nearly 20 years. I've held leadership positions at both the local and national level. I am currently a member of the Outdoor Leadership Training Team which designs and delivers training that teaches the club's outdoor leaders how to take a group of people into the outdoors and bring them back safe, happy and inspired.

I have been involved with kids and have created organizations to support kids in several ways.

I served as a Girl Scout leader and Cookie Mom when my two younger daughters were in scouting. I was one of only two men in the Red Bud Council (Central & Western Oklahoma) serving in that capacity at the time.

In 2001 I was involved in the creation of the Putnam City Marching Classic, a high school marching band contest. Check it out at www.putnamcitymarchingclassic.com. I worked with the contest until 2010 and for 6 of the ten years served as its Event Coordinator.

I created a summer library workshop program that teaches 10 to 14 year olds how to build four foot tall model hot air balloons out of tissue paper and fly them. I’ve been doing workshops every summer since. Try it yourself at www.juniorballoonist.com. And, with help from the Oklahoma Department of Education, I created a lesson plan for middle school science teachers based on the workshops. At our peak my team delivered 63 workshops in three states in a single summer!

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
As an Outdoor Leadership Skills Instructor for the Sierra Club I've been involved with the development and delivery of curriculum to teach people how to lead a group on a hike safely. And then teach them how to move from being the leader of a hike to be the manager of an outdoor program. As event coordinator of a high school marching contest I learned how to create a sustainable organization structure that supports the work. And as a Girl Scout leader I witnessed firsthand the nature deficit among children today. Kids just don't know how to be outdoors and seldom have the chance to do so beyond a soccer field. So, I’ll use all I've learned about kids, the outdoors and organizations to create a local organizational structure to get Oklahoma City Kids Outside. And with this blog I'll be able to share my experiences with others to get THOUSANDS of kids into the outdoors.

Next, "E-Myth"