6th Graders Participate in Array of Fun Activities at the Park-A-Palooza

The Chamber of Commerce held their annual Ewing Park-A-Palooza May 15 for all 6th graders from Hartman and Riverside.

There were ten stations for the students to visit, designed to enhance the learning experience for the students in an alternative setting presented by volunteers.

The students participate in several physical activities provided by the staff of Air Fitness that encourages team building and fitness.

Bruce Badger meets them at the entrance to the walking trail and gives a presentation on what they will see there, how it got there and other interesting facts such as how the Connequenesing is an Native American term the means can’t be canoed. The walking trail is marked with native flowers blooming there at the time.

They come up from the trail to Creek Connections, an outreach program of Allegheny College where they see ‘kick’ samples of the creek.  They examine the samples to see the critters that live in the water the variety of which determines the health of the creek.

Earla Marshall and Tim Post did a presentation on the Kids Created Kingdom to show how a playground can be built in a week when the community comes together and works to get it done.

They visited Trefoil Lodge hosted by Dom Viccari and Dorothy Buquo and learned about the history of the park.

Joanne McCready from Pennsylvania Water Conservancy did a program on ‘how does your water shed,’ an interactive exercise where the students acted out the parts of soil and water.

“They are outside all day breathing fresh Ellwood City air and learning about the terrific community in which they live,” David DeCaria, a member of the Chamber of Commerce stated.

Since the students in both school districts participate together in their respective grades, they also get a chance to interact kids from the other school. There’s about 230 students combined in each grade.

All of the presenters donate their time including the the Ellwood City Transit bus company.