Leave No Child Inside -
Greater Cincinnati

September, 2007

The Collaborative was formed and our mission statement was adopted.
A community connections task force was formed to identify sectors of the community which should be made aware of the Leave No Child Inside message.
Planning for the Richard Louv lecture (originally scheduled for February, 2007) began.

A Distribution Plan was created to educate the following sectors of the community:

Created the Grow Outside Guide to Outdoor Play, a booklet to inspire parents and mentors to encourage children to play outside.
We were represented at the Dialogue on Children & Nature, a brainstorming session of over 350 people from all over the country (see www.cnaturenet.org/reports/9_2006 for a summary of that gathering).
Developed our website, www.LNCIgc.org.

Attended the Children & Nature Network�s first meeting of regional leaders in Denver, Colorado to learn about the role of the Children & Nature Network and participate in roundtable discussions.
Met with many community leaders/organizations to make them aware of the Leave No Child Inside movement and to encourage them to incorporate the message into their own plans and programs.
Met with the Cincinnati Enquirer Editorial Board, which subsequently published two supportive editorials and an op ed piece by Richard Louv.
Invited local leaders in children�s health to visit with Richard Louv at Cincinnati Children�s Hospital Medical Center for an information/brainstorming session.
Held a Community Leader Breakfast with Richard Louv with over 40 representatives of area organizations involved in education, child services and government
Cancelled the Richard Louv lecture when the city declared a snow emergency and rescheduled it for June 19.

Continued meeting with community leaders/organizations.
Co-sponsored the Family Fun Challenge with the Collaborative to Prevent Childhood Obesity. This game is intended to get children into both outdoor activities and healthy eating habits, and was introduced at the Evening with Richard Louv event.

The long-awaited Evening with Richard Louv arrived, with over 900 registrants and approximately 40 exhibitors.
150 families pledged to encourage their children to play outdoors.
Over twenty community leaders attended a Luncheon with Richard Louv to learn more about the movement and share how they are incorporating it into their own plans.
Hosted a luncheon for representatives of Cincinnati Public Schools to learn about the Sierra Club�s Building Bridges to the Outdoors, a project to provide children with the opportunity to experience the outdoors.
The Collaborative voted to expand beyond the existing nature organizations to include other sectors of the community.
Attended the Children & Nature Network�s National Gathering of Regional Leaders to learn how other regional movements are organizing / progressing.

Developed a teacher resource page on the Leave No Child Inside website, including a �Find-A-Program� system to assist teachers in finding/sorting approximately 150 local nature programs available to them, along with a custom program request form. This resource will be available early in October.
We conducted our first �Train the Trainer� workshop for the Ohio AfterSchool Association, a professional organization of teachers and pre- and after-school educators.
Volunteers from throughout the community are being brought into the organization.

For more news related to the mission of Leave No Child Inside of Greater Cincinnati, Click Here.