 Hello everyone, and welcome to an outdoorsy version of the Fort Report. I'm your counselor, Alicia Anderson. Are you ready for the summer? Are you ready for the sunshine? I sure hope so, because it's time for summer camp! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up, right there. I did not sign up for this summer camp. I'm getting out of here and heading over to the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge. It looks like someone lost their hockey mask. Well, I'll just go drop it off and lost and found. Our Nature Center summer camp is called the Summer Natural History Adventures, and we cater to kindergartners all the way up to eighth graders. And each grade level has a specific topic related to the natural world. For example, this year we have camps that are geared for arts and crafts and using nature as their inspiration to create artwork. We also have classes on different taxonomic groups of animals, such as reptiles, mammals. We also have camps that are going to help students get payback and be involved in helping the Nature Center and moving its mission of conserving and protecting this natural area. So we'll be doing river cleanups, getting on the water in canoes. It'll be fun to get on the water in canoe, but also serve a purpose and clean up and make it nice and clean for the citizens of Fort Worth. The Nature Center is a great outdoor classroom for the kids. The meat of the camp is getting outside the Nature Center grounds and actually exploring and actually experiencing what they're learning in our visitor center. So in the classroom you can be talking about reptiles and talking about characteristics and their role and importance in the environment and the role they play for us, but then you go outside and you get to see them and experience them. I think that elevates the learning experience and makes it more genuine and authentic whenever they can associate what they learn in the classroom and actually see it outside as well. So the Nature Center provides that experience for a child. If you miss the summer camp, you can still have opportunities to learn at the Nature Center. We have naturalist-led hikes every Saturday morning, so it's another opportunity to learn about the natural world and the importance of doing our part in protecting our local habitats so you get to learn and also experience the Nature Center. For more information, visit Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge's website. Here's a look at other events happening in and around Fort Worth in the next few weeks. For a listening of more events and city meetings, you always can check the calendar at the city's website.