By Claire Allen
This November, the Honors Student Association held their annual “The Enchanted Forest” event at the Broad River Greenway in Boiling Springs. Many look forward to the opportunity where members, the majority of whom were freshmen and first year students, gathered to provide a fun and educational experience to children. The project took place over the course of two evenings, Friday, Nov. 6, and Saturday, Nov. 7.
Students split into groups in order to cover a variety of roles and responsibilities, including guiding visitors down the trail, dressing as the very animals the visitors were there to see, running arts and crafts, doing safety checks, and more.
The general proceedings of the night had visitors register upon arrival, then they had time to have fun with arts and crafts. Next they were led down the trail to meet various animal characters, who were played by students. When meeting the animals, the guests asked questions and were told facts about the animals’ diet and habits. The variety of animals included a rat, a bobcat, a spider, a lightning bug (firefly), a moth, a caterpillar, an owl and a bat. Each student who played the animal studied facts and details about their particular animals so that they could teach the children that came through to see them.
Amid the pandemic, the feeling of “normal” has been a foreign and rare one. By still holding this event, albeit with altered functions for the sake of safety and everyone’s health, the students were able to give some of that normality back, as well as provide hopefully a good bit of fun to the kids that attended.
Multiple children and families who attended the event had been there before and were back for another trip down the trail. Some had even been there multiple times before.
Despite the necessary increased precautions due to Covid-19, everyone involved seemed to have enjoyed the experience overall, including the students who worked at the event.