e River
Elle Brazel (left) and Lilie
Grashhorn, both of Wausa
Public School's pre-kindergarten
class, visit Jon Morgenson's
table of skulls and rocks at
Niobrara State Park's Outdoor
Education Rendezvous.
PHOTOS BY JENNY NGUYEN
MAY 2016 • NEBRASKAland 57
State Park Superintendent Mark Rettig. Judging by the melted marshmallow-and-
chocolate-smeared smiles each year, the students heartily approve. Outside of the
Rendezvous, many of these students don't receive much opportunity to engage in
activities such as fishing, pellet gun shooting, archery or riding a horse.
"We try to encourage parents and guardians to participate, too. We want to kick
start the interest in kids getting outdoors but it really helps when we can
trigger that in the adults, too – lots of these kids don't have driver's
licenses," Rettig said.
Kids running freely up and down the hills, shrieks of
excitement after catching their first fish, the proud looks
on faces after successfully shooting at 3D targets with a
