Paddle and Learn

This year’s Paddle and Learn workshop for teachers will take place from June 10 through June 14. Continuing education credits will be offered to those who attend.   

Paddle and Learn will focus on the Kishwaukee River Watershed in our immediate area. It includes a paddle training with Rocktown Adventures, three days of watershed education with multiple guest speakers and watershed related topics. We will culminate the training, on Friday the 14th with a guided kayak paddle tour on the Rock River where we will take what we have learned and see it first-hand from the perspective of the water.  The three educational days will be held at the Natural Resource Education Center (NREC) in Russell Woods Forest Preserve.

Cost:  All workshop fees are covered by grant funding.  Lunch will be provided.

The schedule is as follows:

June 10 – Kayak paddle certification – This is required for Friday’s river trip.  
This will be a short day.  We will meet at 10 a.m. at a location yet to be decided on by the instructor from Rocktown Adventures.  It will be held in DeKalb County.

June 11-13 – Three workshop days, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Natural Resource Education Center (NREC) in Russell Woods Forest Preserve (one mile west of Genoa on state Route 72). Speakers are local and statewide specialists.

June 14 – Guided paddle tour on the Rock River to put learning into observations.  We will meet at 10 a.m. at Rocktown Adventures (313 N. Madison St., Rockford, IL 61107).  We should be on the water by about 10:30 a.m. with the paddle tour lasting about 2.5 hours.

Please dress comfortably and appropriately for each day’s activities.  By registering for this workshop, you are committing to attend each day to get the full experience.  If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in this training, please contact Peggy Anesi at psdoty@illinois.edu or call the Dekalb County Extension office at 815-758-8194.  Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet your needs.