Prairie Island Adventure Club 2024
Summer 2024 Recreation Alliance of Winona offered Prairie Island Adventure Club (PIAC) run in partnership with Front Porch Management and The Joy Labs. Due to the success of our pilot year in 2023, PIAC doubled in size, offering programming for 6-10 year olds one day a week and 11-13 year olds the other day of the week.
This experiential adventure-based weekly program was made possible through our generous funders and partners: Gundersen Health System Community Contributions, Winona Community Foundation Connecting People to Nature Fund, Elizabeth Callender King Foundation, Slaggie Famiy Foundation, The Storm Trail Race Series, Lyle & Kris Blanchard, American Solutions for Business, Winona State University Social Work Department & Outdoor Education Recreation Center (WSU OERC), Winona Park Rec & City of Winona.
Throughout the summer, PIAC offers opportunities to engage with the environment (flowers, trees, insects and animals, the river, rocks and more) while learning and practicing real-life skills (like making friends, goal setting, taking healthy risks, managing disappointment, creative problem solving, effective communication and other healthy coping strategies) and engaging in outdoor adventures (like biking, paddling, fishing, swimming, climbing and other play).
PIAC nurtures the health and wellbeing of Winona Community youth through jumping into outdoor recreation and experiential outdoor education using a day camp model.
The program is built on the science of resilience and positive youth development, offering opportunities for young people to:
grow relationships with peers and healthy supportive adults,
learn about and see themselves as a part of the natural world around them,
strengthen their effective coping skills.
We keep our groups intentionally small so that we can focus deeply on each young person's needs, strengths, and interests. PIAC is staffed by seasoned educators, health professionals, a team of youth development pros and interns, who love to work with kids.
