A Walk in the Park

Manning the cannon at Shiloh National Military Park

Shiloh National Military Park and the Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center recently hosted two groups of kids from area Boys and Girls Clubs. Most had never been to a national park. As MPB arts reporter Ron Brown tells us, the first impressions left lasting memories.

As the eighty young feet step off two charter busses at the Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center, they are walking into new and exciting territory. They are boys and girls ages 9 to 12. For most, it’s their first trip to a national park.
Ashley Berry is their ranger and tour guide.

(kids) Hi Ashley!
(Ashley) How are you today?!
(kids) Fine!
(Ashley) Great! Are you excited?
(kids) Yes!
(Ashley) And you already have your junior ranger books out?
(Kids) Yes….

Ashley Berry: “We have 40 children from two different boys and girls clubs. One group is from Jackson, Tennessee and the other group is from the Tupelo, Mississippi area. Most of them are from difficult circumstances that they probably wouldn’t get any other chance to visit a National Park.”

The Corinth center is a part of Shiloh National Military Park and is one of 391 in the national park service. Shiloh is a pristine battlefield where a bloody civil war battle took place in April 1862. Getting kids interested in the National Park system, the nation’s history, and their own cultural past is a big goal. But it all begins with getting the kids into the parks to see for themselves, first hand. Kino Mosley is a director at the Boys and Girls Club of North Mississippi. He knows how rare and how important the trip will be for these kids.

“A lot of our kids come from single parent households and mom and dads, they do well just to have a safe place for them after school. So they don’t really have the opportunity to have family trips or have the opportunity to take trips outside the boys and girls clubs to be exposed to things of that nature.”

Kids like eleven-year-old Joshua Ryan Spears who has been a member of the Boys and Girls club of New Albany for the past five years.

“I couldn’t wait to see this big town.. I never went to Corinth and this bus with all these new people… that we get to meet.”

Exposure was the key word in more ways than one for the National Park Trip. In addition to paying for the charter buses, t-shirts and lunches for the kids, The national park service also provided something extra - disposable cameras.

Ashley: “Each child is getting a camera… Dylan, that they can take pictures during the day, and they’re gonna get their photos back and that’s a way for them to remember their day here.”

Throughout the all-day guided tour trip, kids from both boys and girls clubs took photographs of a camp site in Corinth where African American slaves flocked to for protection and freedom before and after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, then went on to Shiloh, Tennessee to view important civil war monuments and graves. But the attractions with the biggest firepower for the kids were the guns.

After a hands on demonstration where the kids learned how teams of men loaded and fired cannons on the battlefield, a man known as Ranger Chris dressed in authentic confederate soldier garb, got their attention with a musket.

Kendall Fisher is 12-years-old. “I liked it. I liked the part where he shot that gun… I just liked everything really.”

What began as an educational trip to expose kids to the historical treasures of National Parks near home, wound up ending in surprising fun for 11 year old Kris Storey and the others.

“I didn’t think it would be fun I think it was just where you could see things and not be able to really see how it actually worked…. It was more than I expected.”

And giving the kids more than they expected was just what organizers Kino Mosley and Jamilah Salim intended, and they made no apologizes about their subversive goals.

Kino Mosley: “I think they whole trip in and of itself is kinda tricking them into learning… cause initially when they decided to come we decided to come, they were all, not excited about being here. But I think now that they get an opportunity to see this, it’s more hands on than opposed to reading it out of a text book or listen to a teacher lecture.”

Jamilah Salim: “I heard someone say, well I think I wanna be a ranger when I grow up. So it gets them thinking about career opportunities, it gets them thinking about why history is importan. I mean, you can’t ask for more.”

As the two chartered buses headed back home, to Tupelo, Mississippi and Jackson, Tennessee they left with something more than they came with; forty new young fans of one our nation’s national parks. For MPB News, I’m Ron Brown.