The Haw River Learning Celebration
About the Haw River Learning Celebration
The Haw River Learning Celebration is a field trip to the Haw River for fourth graders each fall. Since we began the program in 1990, over 48,000 students have participated. Schools attend one of our three locations in Chatham, Alamance, and Rockingham counties and spend a day doing activities along the river, enjoying a picnic lunch, and a puppet show. The 2025 Haw River Learning Celebration will take place between September 20 and October 10! If your school is in the Haw River Watershed and is interested in attending our 2025 event, please email events@hawriver.org.
Over the years, so many volunteers and HRA staff have given their hearts, hands, and spirits to the continual creation of the Haw River Learning Celebration. Some come for a day, others join our “river camp” and set up a tent for the week. We have connected over 48,000 fourth-grade students to our beautiful river with the help of these amazing volunteers. Students experience activities where they observe, explore, and discover the life of the river and forest, learn how to protect the river, and use art to observe the natural world.
Haw River Learning Celebration Volunteer Manual – “The Handy Dandy Guide”
Donate or Volunteer For the 2025 Learning Celebration!
Volunteer at the Celebration!
Floaters spend the entire program day with the same group of about 10 kids. They walk the kids from station to station. If you’ve never volunteered with us before, then the floater position is perfect for you!
Stickers stay at one station and teach that station for the entire day. Sticker positions are for experienced volunteers and require training from year to year on Sundays and Mondays during the program week.
Can’t help out during the week but still want to contribute your time? Sign up for Saturdays when we set up camp! Many hands make light work!
Donate a Meal!
Our volunteers camp on site with us for the entire week we’re at a site. Want to make a meal for a great cause? We are seeking meal donations to fuel our robust team of volunteers who make the Haw River Learning Celebration possible! Food donations allow us to keep the costs of the program as low as possible. It helps make it feasible for us to charge only $5 per child, and we never turn down a child for inability to pay. We greatly appreciate our food donors and the critical role they play in making the Learning Celebration possible. If you’d rather contribute a monetary donation to cover a meal, we will gladly accept it! Please email events@hawriver.org for more information.
Donate to the Celebration!
Your donation allows us to keep the costs of the program as low as possible. It helps make it feasible for us to charge only $3 per child, and we never turn down a child for inability to pay. You can donate online using the Paypal button below (Paypal Account not required), or can you mail a check payable to HRA with memo line Learning Celebration to PO Box 187 Bynum, NC 27228. Thank you!
Did you know that over 1,000 4th-grade children from local schools will experience our hands-on environmental education field trip along the river this Fall during our Haw River Learning Celebration? We keep the program accessible for schools and families with limited resources by keeping school fees low and waiving fees for schools that cannot pay. What do your contributions help cover?
Allow us to keep Learning Celebration stations up to date
Keep the famous “Haw Story” Puppet show going
Help keep our unpaid and dedicated volunteers fed
Contribute to transportation costs as we move across three different sites over three weeks!
Please donate today to make the Learning Celebration come alive and help us reach our goal of raising $5,000! Whether you can contribute $5 or $50, every little bit helps!
The 2024 Haw River Learning Celebration Was a Great Success!
We had a great time with students and volunteers at our 2024 Haw River Learning Celebration from September 21st to October 11th at our outdoor river exploration and education program for 4th graders in our watershed. 784 students from Chatham, Guilford, Rockingham, and Durham at three different sites across the Haw River Watershed! Students learned about animals, water quality, pollution control, and more. It was great to be back at the river – and thanks to all the volunteers, donors, and teachers who make it possible for these children to explore their river ecosystem!
Resources for Teachers
For any additional inquiries regarding the Learning Celebration please feel free to contact our Volunteer & Events Coordinator, Hannah Welborn-Lewis at events@hawriver.org.
Documents
The Virtual Haw River Learning Celebration!
In 2020, during the beginning of Covid, we had to cancel the Learning Celebration. We created six episodes that take you on a tour of the wonderful activities traditionally hosted at the Learning Celebration plus puppet scenes with Paperhand Puppets, and even animation. This is available to all the 4th grade students in the watershed – and to everyone who wishes to see it for free (with a suggested small donation). We want to inspire students throughout the entire watershed to visit their local river and learn how to stay connected with nature through beautiful cinematography.
The videos (produced by videographer Fred Tutman, and Elaine Chiosso, HRA Executive Director) bring together expert staff and volunteer presenters from our Learning Celebration, with our naturalist guide, Chris Carter, and his assistant, Althea Clayton. Episodes are enlivened by animation from Tim King, music by Jonathan Henderson, and the magic of fantastic puppets from Paperhand Puppet Intervention. Episodes are 12 to 18 minutes each in length, and can be viewed separately.
Episode 1 : Stream Watch
Corresponding Teacher’s Guide
Episode 2: Water Protectors
Corresponding Teacher’s Guide
Episode 3: Wild Clay
Corresponding Teacher’s Guide
Episode 4: Art and the River
Corresponding Teacher’s Guide
Episode 5: Animals and the River
Corresponding Teacher’s Guide
Episode 6: We Speak for the Trees
Corresponding Teacher’s Guide