Meridian High School junior Rylee Hermansen and senior Kaila Mederios are working together on a project to encourage children to venture outside this summer.
Meridian High School junior Rylee Hermansen and senior Kaila Mederios are working together on a project to encourage children to venture outside this summer.
Two students from Meridian High School are raising money for their effort to encourage children to get outside this summer.
Senior Kaila Mederios and junior Rylee Hermansen will assemble drawstring bags with supplies inside for children in the area.
The two are both in a parenting and child development class at their high school, where they were challenged by their teacher to give back to the community through a project that would directly impact children.
After a few brainstorming sessions and speaking to local childcare centers and shelters in the area, they decided on an “Adventure bag” — a durable drawstring bag filled with sunscreen, water bottles, binoculars and other outdoor supplies to encourage kids to get outside and have fun.
The pair are hoping to raise funds up to $1,000.
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“We especially wanted to provide these essentials for the kids whose families might be struggling financially,” Hermansen said. “We decided on a really ambitious goal of raising $1,000 through a GoFundMe we have been sharing on social media. We decided on this goal because we not only want to purchase essential summer supplies, but also some things that kids can use to have fun in the outdoors and learn more about nature.”
Mederios said that the pair wanted to give something to kids and families that they are in need of, rather than things they already have plenty of.
“We’re hoping to include things like notebooks and pencils, and even hopefully a set of binoculars. Again, dependent upon the funds received, include other items to hopefully inspire kids to learn outside, to grow outside, and that just impacts so many parts of their development and peer relationships,” Mederios said.
“Now more than ever, especially after COVID, I think it’s so easy to just be inside. There’s so many benefits of learning outdoors. It improves kids’ motor skills. It creates an openness between parents and caregivers. I mean, I could go on and on. It cultivates greater self awareness and improves peer relationships. And we’re just really hoping to just help kids grow and learn,” Mederios said.
