Discovery Trails Adventure
Three Weeks in June of 2010
• Wanted: a small group of daring teens to join a pioneer wagon train of 1852, across the Great Plains, over the Rocky Mountains, and on to the Pacific Coast; there we will pick up the Trail of Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery and follow them homeward thru Montana and the Dakotas.
• The journey involves three weeks of living outdoors, tenting each night where the pioneers camped, exploring the pioneer experience through history and the arts. The 2010 trek will focus on the Native American tribes through whose lands explorers and pioneers traveled in the 1800s.
• Teens 14 to 20 years of age who are blind or visually impaired are eligible if they have physical health and stamina to live outdoors for three weeks and are willing to face the challenges met by pioneers in the 1800s. Older teens and teens from Kansas will be given preference.
• Dates for Trek 2010 are still being finalized. Our best bet right now is that Pioneers will gather at Kansas State School for the Blind at noon on Saturday, June 5th, 2010, returning to KSSB Sunday evening, June 27th.
• Cost: The Trails Program is funded by grants from the National Park Service, private foundations and individual donors. The student's share for this longer trek is $250. The Trails staff will assist students to find sponsors among local Lions Clubs and other organizations.
• Applications available online Dec 17st at www.discoverytrailsprogram.org To assure a seat in a wagon, contact Eleanor Craig as soon as you know you want to join the 2010 trek.
• Accessible Arts and the Kansas State School for the Blind have been conducting annual Trail Treks since 1998. In January 2008, the Discovery Trails Program received the "Coming Up Taller Award" from the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities in a ceremony at the White House. The award recognizes the Discovery Trails Program as “one of the top out-of-school arts and humanities programs for youth in the country.”
• For further information, please call Eleanor Craig at Accessible Arts, Inc., 800-682-9469 or cell 816-721-8016; for an application and to view video of recent treks, go online at www.discoverytrailsprogram.org