MAINEVILLE, Ohio -- Like many outdoor enthusiasts, former teacher Denny McFadden spends his retirement hiking in the woods or kayaking down the Little Miami River. But unlike most retirees, McFadden spends his time with 75 teenagers.
Every Saturday, McFadden takes a group of teens from urban high schools and middle schools out into nature to explore as part of Outdoor Adventure Clubs of Greater Cincinnati (OACGC), a nonprofit he started to give kids the opportunity to spend time in the great outdoors — at no cost to them. Activities rotate monthly and include hiking, biking, kayaking, indoor rock climbing, ice skating, skiing and snowboarding.
McFadden (the kids call him “Mr. Mac”), a former Hughes STEM High School social studies teacher, retired in 2011. Years of coordinating annual team-building canoeing trips for staff and students during his time at Hughes led McFadden to parlay those positive experiences into a retirement project: OACGC.
OACGC activities rotate monthly and include kayaking, skating and rock climbing. Photo provided by Denny McFadden
McFadden has clubs in 19 inner-city, public high schools and middle schools in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky — and he hopes to expand into more schools in the future.
“I thought it would be a great retirement gig for me to get urban teens — who typically don’t have these opportunities — to get outdoors for all the physical, emotional and mental health benefits of being in nature,” McFadden said.
McFadden’s “retirement gig” has become a full-time (unpaid) job. He downplays the 40-50 hours he spends each week making OACGC a reality by touting the flexibility of his schedule. It's flexible enough so that if he can’t sleep at 4 a.m. because of the ideas and “to-do's” swirling in his head, he can just get up and send some emails while still in his pajamas.
Part of McFadden’s dedication to OACGC’s success started when he was still teaching and saw that even the small fee for participating in his Hughes High canoe trips was out of reach for some kids.
At year's end, OACGC will have provided 4,500 unique experiences since its 2011 launch. Photo provided by Denny McFadden
“The goal was that the kids would never ever have to pay anything for these activities. We provide bus transportation, lunch and activity fees,” McFadden said.
OACGC started out in the 2011-12 school year with support from Green Umbrella, a regional sustainability alliance. Later, fiscal sponsorship shifted to Activities Beyond the Classrooms, then the YMCA of Greater Cincinnati. Starting in July 2015, OACGC began raising its own funds as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
Additional support comes from the Haile U.S. Bank Foundation, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Interact for Health, PNC Foundation and Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Donations from area outdoor outfitters allow for frequent money-raising raffles of items such as kayaks or bicycles. Monthly happy hour events also bring in funds.
Students from four or five schools come out each Saturday for their monthly activity. By the end of this year, OACGC will have provided 4,500 unique experiences since launching in 2011. Many students included in that statistic are kids who come back month after month.
“The emphasis is on trying to create a habit of being outdoors rather than just doing something once or twice a year,” McFadden said. “We are trying to get the kids out sufficiently often so they end up wanting to do this on their own, without necessarily waiting for us to do that.”
For Morgan Smith, an eighth-grader at Newport Middle School, participating in the monthly outings has encouraged her to hike the trails more often at a park near her home in Newport.
“(OACGC) has helped me be outside more and try new things,” Smith said. “I took their advice to go biking or hiking on our own.”
Each of the 19 participating schools has a club advisor to hold monthly school meetings, attend the Saturday outings with the students and manage permission slips and promotion of the club.
McFadden does all the initial recruitment. At the beginning of the school year, he sets up a display with a bike, tent, kayak and other gear during a visit to each of the 19 schools for an entire lunch period during which he hands every student an informational pamphlet, answers questions about the club and encourages students to sign up.
OACGC aims to get urban teens outdoors to experience all the physical, emotional and mental health benefits of being in nature. Photo provided by Denny McFadden
Kim Albers, an English-as-a-second-language teacher for Newport Independent Schools and a club advisor, said she frequently has students show her photos they took at the monthly adventures or tell her about their own outdoor adventures inspired by OACGC.
“Our kids have limited experiences. We’re an urban district in a walking community. The kids often stay in their neighborhood and may not have a chance to go skiing or zip lining,” Albers said. “The more experiences and exposure we can give our students, the more they can relate to the world.”
McFadden, who grew up in Blue Ash before that area exploded with business and industry, spent his childhood playing with friends in the woods near his home. He’d leave in the morning toting a can of beans for lunch and return home at sunset. That experience set him on a path toward a love of the outdoors and he wanted to share that interest with others.
“I read 'Last Child in the Woods' by Richard Louv,” McFadden said. “The book, according to his research, says it’s eight hours a day that kids spend on electronic devices. It has become something of an epidemic, so anything that we can do to get kids outside as early as possible is great.”
Unlike a school day spent mostly at a desk, students on OACGC outings are encouraged to relish in some freedom to climb a tree or flip their kayak and swim if they choose, McFadden said.
“As an educator, I am used to very controlled programs, where you have to keep the kids on a close leash,” Albers said. “The awesome thing that Denny provides with the outdoor club is that it allows students to have freedom to explore.”
Miriam Wise, who acts as marketing and development director and is OACGC’s only full-time employee, started out as an OACGC club advisor at Gamble Montessori High School for two years. She was amazed at how transformative one afternoon could be for the students.
“It improves their world view and their self-confidence,” she said. “The kids bring an openness to learning because it doesn’t feel like a classroom. We have success because they are learning about themselves, the environment, biology and ecology — all while having fun.”
Because this is OACGC’s first year as a nonprofit raising their own funds, there wasn’t money available to buy each student a tent and other camping gear to host the two-night family campouts that they have held the last two years, McFadden said.
There are plans, however, to take a smaller group of longtime members of the club on a four-night summer camping trip to Red River Gorge in Kentucky — and supply them with camping equipment. The idea is to take juniors and seniors on the trip who can then become ambassadors for the clubs at their schools and encourage younger students to participate in the adventures.
Paddlefest Sponsor
OACGC is this year’s sponsor and beneficiary of the annual Ohio River Paddlefest on Aug. 6. Registration is now open and proceeds will help support OACGC. For more information about OACGC or to make a donation, visit their website or find them on Facebook.
