Help Us Reach Our Match!

We’re thrilled to share with you an inspiring story from a Muddy Sneakers alumni! When you give to Muddy Sneakers, you connect students like Haley to wellbeing, and concepts of what’s possible in their future.

I was a fifth-grade student at Rosman Elementary when I first participated in Muddy Sneakers. The first experience that I remember was an expedition we took to Schoolhouse Falls. It was the first time we went to a waterfall, we sat beside it and wrote some poetry after exploring. I loved the Muddy Sneakers program, it didn’t feel like school! 

Today, I currently live in Raleigh, working in human health as a Genome Sequencing Technician. Muddy Sneakers inspired me to look at the world around me and nature in more of a scientific sense instead of just a playground. Before Muddy Sneakers, I liked going outside because it was fun and I could play with my friends, but the program taught me how to identify plants and how to identify species that live in the creek. It is really cool to have had that fifth-grade experience and now be doing my own research.

Muddy Sneakers does a great job of making learning fun! A lot of times, science can be very clinical and it can strip the magic from the world. Muddy Sneakers connects kids to the magic of learning, but not just through science. One of my favorite experiences with the program was the cultural aspect. I remember the instructors telling us folklore and sharing cultural experiences of Appalachia that connected our experience back to our origins. That storytelling brought science and nature to life.

Muddy Sneakers is a worthwhile program to invest in. You’re investing in each child, the school, your town, and nature. It was certainly one of my most impressionable elementary school experiences. I can’t imagine my fifth-grade year without it. I think it’s an incredibly valuable experience for kids.

For me, it was a stepping stone towards my future.

Will you make a contribution today so that Muddy Sneakers can ensure more students like Haley have the opportunity to connect with our state’s natural areas at a formative age?