Added to the sounds of birds chirping and wind rustling the leaves in the woods near Marietta High School Wednesday was the sound of dozens of excited kindergartners making their way around the Tiger Trail.
The district's walking and biking trail became an outdoor classroom for Marietta's elementary students this week, as they took turns taking what was for many their first hike ever.
"I want to come back and take my family and show them everything that I saw," said Khyleigh Scott, 5. "The really fun part was seeing all the leaves fall down to the ground and all the colors."
Scott was among a group of kindergarten students from Washington Elementary that hiked the trail Wednesday morning. All of the district's kindergartners visited the Tiger Trail throughout the day Wednesday, with the older elementary students making the trip Monday and Tuesday and a last trip scheduled for next Tuesday.
The field trips were funded through a $10,000 grant from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation of Nelsonville to encourage wellness activities.
"We're hoping we can bring the kids back again in the spring," said Jenny Machir, director of instruction for the district. "Every parent we've had here for this has said they had no idea the trail was here. It's a really good awareness-building activity."
It was also a good way to get the students moving, said physical education teacher Barb Moberg, who had the students recite a poem about heart health before beginning the mile-long walk.
"Probably today after you've hiked a little bit, your heart will be beating faster," she told them. "And that's good for you."
At the end of the hike, 6-year-old Sydney Gammon estimated the distance she had walked as 24 miles but said she enjoyed every minute of it.
"I want to come back," she said. "It's really fun."
"Veteran" hiker Tre Burris, 5, said the Tiger Trail was one of the best he's been on.
"We traveled all over the woods and went around in circles," he said. "I liked the orange tiger prints on the trees (marking the path)."
Burris was one of several students who brought a parent along to join the hike.
"We had a really good time," said his mother, Meredith. "We took him hiking a lot in the summer, so I knew he'd have a ball and he really did."
Open to the public since last October, the Tiger Trail, with access from Academy Drive, includes 10 fitness stations and an actual outdoor classroom with wooden benches for the children to sit on. Ten more stations are going to be installed, said Machir.
Wednesday's hikers said they would be back to see them.
"It's a fun way to exercise," said Skyler Tohonas, 6. "I want to show my mom and dad definitely."
