Snails to Trails effort celebrates 2018 season

Thursday, August 2, 2018
Cloverdale students Dylan Rush, Dalton Weist, Landon Bates and Kory Galloway try on some bison skins at Cook’s Bison Ranch in Wolcottville.
Courtesy photo

Snails to Trails is a summer activity program that creates many fond memories for Cloverdale Community School students.

The program is planned and coordinated by Susi Jordan and Jen Mann, two veteran Cloverdale teachers. While the coordinators and the format have changed over the past 20 years, the purpose has not. Snails to Trails has strived to provide cultural, educational and fun-filled trips at an affordable price for Cloverdale students.

Fifty-six children in grades 4-8 participated in this year’s program, which took place during the first two weeks in June. Each year, students travel for one week to various cities in Indiana and surrounding states. Students choose which weekly session to attend based on other summer activities they may have planned.

Students pay a flat fee of $200, which covers admission to facilities and transportation cost. This year, a grant from the Owen County Community Foundation was also utilized to offset these costs.

Students are selected by Jordan and Mann based on their citizenship and potential to positively contribute on the trip. Adult family members are also encouraged to join the fun.

This year, students went to Lake Michigan‘s Weko Beach for a day of fun in the sun. They also saw the milking process used on large dairy farms at Fair Oaks Farms in Fair Oaks, Ind. On the second day, students went tubing down Sugar Creek, and then went bowling in Crawfordsville.

In the middle of the week, they traveled to Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre in Indianapolis, where they enjoyed a buffet lunch and saw the play “Annie.” They then traveled to St. Louis, where they saw the St. Louis Cardinals play the Florida Marlins. They finished the day at Altitude Trampoline Park in O’Fallon, Mo.

To round out the week, the students traveled to Wolcottville, where they hand-fed bison and learned about their role in American history. After enjoying a lunch of pulled bison and bison burgers, they headed to Albion, where they learned about the importance of exotic pet ownership requirements. They also got to interact with many exotic animals at the Black Pines Animal Sanctuary. Finishing off the day, the students learned how to roller skate and played Laser Tag at the Roller Dome in Fort Wayne.

This all happened in one 72-hour week. Then, Mrs. Jordan and Mrs. Mann relived all of the adventure with another group of students.

After all of the fun this summer, Mrs. Jordan and Mrs. Mann look forward to another great trip next year.

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  • All 3 of my kids were fortunate enough to have experienced the Snails program. Mrs. Jordan & Mrs. Mann are awesome. Mrs. Vallejo & Mrs. Hart were coordinators when my kids started. They are equally amazing. The program introduces many different experiences that the kids (and parents) may never get to see or even know they exist. I hope they are able to continue this for many more years!

    -- Posted by your mom on Sat, Aug 4, 2018, at 5:11 AM
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