DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — A recent high school graduate and a senior are providing a chance for kids with special needs to get out on the water.
Harrison Panstingel, a ConTAC member said, “Being out here on the water is something that I love doing.”
Children in the Bellbrook schools Supportive Peers program got a chance to get outside into nature and learn about an owl, how to canoe, and staying safe on the water.
The opportunity came from a project from two teens in the Conservation Teen Advisory Council (ConTAC), who are required to complete a project to promote the outdoors and youth outreach for the ODNR, but both just want to share their passion with the next generation.
Cannon Moser, a ConTAC member, said, “I’ve always loved spending time outdoors and engaging with the wildlife and spending time on the water like we were going to be doing today, and I just love the opportunity to get out here and share it with other people, maybe that don’t get the opportunity to do it every day and just share the knowledge and love of the outdoors.”
Canoeing is not cheap, and Panstingel wanted to provide that opportunity for free to kids.
Panstingel said, “And this year we just wanted a bigger project working out of canoe livery. It’s somewhat of an eye opener of how expensive something like this can be.
He continued saying, “It might turn some people away who would be hesitant to try something like this.”
This is not the first time they have hosted an event. Inspired from a previous project, Panstingel loves seeing how happy kids are from a new experience.
Panstingel said, “A couple of years ago, I took out a group of inner city kids from Dayton who had never seen a clean river before, and we took them out, put them in kayaks, sent them up a river for a couple of minutes, let them try it out, and they all walked away with smiles on their faces. So that was something that I really remembered.”
Panstingel plans on becoming a marine biologist, while Moser will be attending the University of Toledo to study Civil Engineering.
