Kickin' It at Kickapoo State Park

Those three black pieces in the sky are me catching with a digital camera the splitting apart of a clay target with a shotgun by one of the students in my Kickin' It at Kickapoo project.

We spent two days at Kickapoo State Park giving the youth from the Boys and Girls Club of Danville an unforgettable experience. Now we get to teach them how to create video public service announcements for their peers to encourage them to build their own relationship with the park.

I quite, literally, had a blast! Though it took awhile to hit my target. It turns out I am left-eye dominant although I am right-handed.





Twelve-year-old, Ta'Neill, didn't hit her clay target but enjoyed trying.




She held a goose, too, as part of the duck banding activity. She got bit but that didn't phase her. Geese don't have teeth.



Brandon did a good job of gently releasing his goose after staff from the Department of Natural Resources banded it.


Here's what we sounded like in a group canoe trip down the Middle Fork River of Vermilion County.


Ta'Neill paddled our canoe from the bow position (front) while I videotaped from the stern position (back) using my FLIP video camera.



There was a lot to learn such as a minnow has nothing to do with the size of a fish as you'll see in the video below.






The tree with the big vine is actually poison ivy. Jacqueline helped us identify poison ivy on the tree and on the ground.





















This goofy photo of the entire team was how we started our day.








Canoeing was how we ended our day.






I love my job and the people I work with and meet!





And just in case you want to take up shooting clay targets as a sport, please consider watching the video below of the safety lesson Terry Doyle gave the kids.