Earlier this week, McCook High School held its 5th annual Bison Days, which immerses students into the community for two entire days. They learn how businesses operate, experience new hobbies, and can even obtain certification in different skills.

The event is purposely held in mid-February to break up the winter doldrums. Even myself, someone who enjoys winter, finds these drab, dreary months drag on between the winter holidays and spring’s arrival so these few days with the students are a moment of brightness.

The organizing committee are the ones who should be commended, spending months working on the logistics for the two days of matching up 400 students with community members - along with the transportation and locations also required.

I am privileged to be just a small part of Bison Days and look forward to it each year.

My husband, a high school English teacher, and I have led a session in creative writing nearly every year and it is is a joy to watch the students scribble away in their notepads, the ideas flowing faster than they can write.

But this year, we added a couple of sessions which truly get to what I want students to experience by the time they graduate: knowing more about their community.

One of our sessions was titled, “Winter Wonderland.” We are privileged to live in an area that enjoys all four seasons and I would like the students to experience the joy of being outside regardless of the weather conditions.

When I originally proposed the idea to the Bison Days committee last fall, I was hoping there would be snow on the ground in February. That would have enabled me to take the kids snow-shoeing, cross-country skiing, fat-tire biking, even sledding.

But alas, Mother Nature didn’t cooperate with typical winter conditions. Instead, we were “forced” to deal with warmer-than-usual conditions including glaring sunshine and dry sidewalks.

We had our students explore downtown McCook through a scavenger hunt based on the theme of a school day. Their “math class” was finding the location that housed toys that are 1/87th their normal size - the model train display. For “civics class,” they had to find the statue of the person who brought electricity to rural Americans. “Music class” was performing their favorite song on a downtown stage.

The final class of the day was “P.E.” where we traversed McCook’s walking trails in Kelley Park on bikes and scooters.

At the end of this session, we hoped the kids had learned a little bit more about their community, including that you can do things outside anytime of the year.

Another new session for my husband and me was taking a group to the Red Willow State Recreation Area to explore the dam as well as the trails surrounding the lake.

Thanks to Donovan Redl and Steve Yeager, the kids were able to experience the inner workings of the dam north of McCook. Perhaps, we should have asked the kids prior to signing up for the session if they were claustrophobic as we meandered through the dam’s ductwork. Live and learn.

Personally, I had never been inside the dam and it was an engineering marvel, especially when you consider that all our area dams were built in the ’40, ’50 and ‘60s. I’ll never drive across the dam again without thinking about standing underneath that same road in the midst of the gates, levers and tunnels that make it possible.

We wrapped up the day with another excursion on bicycles and scooters, along with hiking, on the trails that wind next to the lake. Several in our group mentioned that the hadn’t been on a bike in years; while others commented that they didn’t know these trailheads existed so close to their hometown.

We were blessed with a beautiful day to experience the outdoors and took advantage of the nice conditions. But we were prepared to be outdoors even if there was snow on the ground, because that diversity is what makes it so great to call Southwest Nebraska home.

With another Bison Days in the books, I’m sure the organizing committee is taking a days to savor that it is over before they start planning for next year. But I hope they know that these few days in the community are invaluable, which is why the McCook Community Foundation Fund has supported the project financially since its inception.

Bison Days help community members connect with the students, sharing their passions and skills. Conversely, Bison Days expose the students to assets their own community has to offer. And there are so many more opportunities which haven’t been explored as part of Bison Days, so please reach out to the high school if you have a hobby, activity or interest that you think students would enjoy.

As part of Bison Days, we are able to share what we love about our community and what we able to do right here in our own backyard. We are showing our students - and our future leaders, business owners and community members - that they can make things happen in their own hometown.