Program Connects At-Risk Kids with Nature

Thomas Jones, 17, is an inner-city kid who, statistically, had a greater chance of dropping out of high school or getting shipped off to prison than he had of summiting a 13,000-foot peak in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Yet despite the odds, Jones found himself climbing the Grand Teton peak this summer as a participant in City Kids, a program aimed at getting inner-city youth off the streets and into the great outdoors.

“I can’t even describe it,” Jones (pictured below, left) said when recalling memories of his trip. “It’s the highlight of my life.”

For the full feature, please visit Children & Nature Network.