Clayton News Daily

Participants in last year’s Georgia Children’s Outdoor Initiative listen during a presentation from a representative of the University of Georgia Jekyll Island 4-H Center. Clayton County Parks and Recreation is now accepting applications for this year’s outdoors program.

JONESBORO — Twelve Clayton County children will have the opportunity to touch sea turtles and touch hammerhead sharks this summer.

It remains to be seen, however, which 12 children will get that opportunity.

The Clayton County Parks and Recreation Department is accepting applications for its third annual Georgia Children’s Outdoor Initiative, which it coordinates every year with former state Rep. Glenn Baker.

The top applicants will be offered scholarships to cover the costs of participating in a three-day educational trip to Jekyll Island this summer.

A tentative copy of the itinerary for the trip shows participants are expected to take a trip on a Georgia Department of Natural Resources trawler, learn about astronomy on the island’s beach, visit the Jekyll Island Sea Turtle Center and receive a beach ecology lesson.

The trip is open to children under 14, and they must be enrolled in either the seventh grade or the eighth grade, according to an application announcement flyer.

Children interested in participating in the trip have been asked to write an application essay. The topic of the essay must be a description of an outdoor activity in which the applicant wants to participate.

Scholarship applications can be obtained by logging onto the Clayton County Parks and Recreation website, www.claytonparks.com/. Applications and essays must be submitted to the recreation department by April 30, according to the website.

Application materials can either be e-mailed to claytonparks@co.clayton.ga.us, or mailed to: Clayton County International Park, Georgia Kids Outdoors, Marketing and Sales Office, 2300 Hwy. 138 SE, Jonesboro, Ga. 30236.