About
West Atlanta Watershed Alliance Environmental Education Programs at the Outdoor Activity Center include activities such as the Open House: Outdoor Activity Center, WAWA Wednesdays Homeschool Program, and the O-Academy Summer Camp. Participants take part in conservation, stewardship and experiential learning activities, including water monitoring & testing, maintaining stormwater infrastructure, and a day of learning and exploration in the old growth forest. The program also offers chances to create and explore in the great outdoors, learn and play, and join events such as the Urban BioBlitz, WAWA Westside Campout, and Mayor's Summer Reading Club.
• Ages: 2–18 years old
• Schedule: Beech Buds – An Outdoor Toddler and Me Program is a 90-minute program
• Price: LIVE Reading and Generative Writing Workshop with Hannah Palmer: $13; Seniors 101: Mushroom Workshop: $15.00; Mushroom Cultivation Workshop: $15.00
Specific activities include Beech Buds – An Outdoor Toddler and Me Program, which is specifically designed for ages 2–5, and an Environmental Stewardship program for youth 10 years and older to participate in meaningful activities encouraging conservation and stewardship. Service-focused events include Service Saturdays, Mid Week Volunteer Service, Mid-Week Volunteer Service, Proctor Creek Habitat Restoration Day to remove invasive species, litter and more from a section of Proctor Creek, and the 3rd Annual Juanita Wallace Day of Service with service projects in honor of Ms. Juanita Wallace. Outdoor skill and exploration offerings include the WAWA Westside Campout where participants learn to pitch a tent and other outdoor skills, enjoy outdoor food, and take hikes, as well as the Westside Chattahoochee Paddle where participants paddle down the Chattahoochee River and learn the history of the waterway and the lands surrounding it.
Educational and creative programs include the LIVE Reading and Generative Writing Workshop with Hannah Palmer, WAWA Wednesdays Homeschool Program, and a hands-on workshop at the Outdoor Activity Center. Nature and science-focused events include the Urban BioBlitz, where participants use the latest apps to take inventory of native species found in the old growth forest, and a day of learning and exploration in the old growth forest. Mushroom-focused offerings include Seniors 101: Mushroom Workshop and a Mushroom Cultivation Workshop, where participants learn about growing their own mushrooms at home.
The Outdoor Activity Center is a 26-acre urban forest preserve and nature center that includes a 25-acre old-growth forest. West Atlanta Watershed Alliance also co-stewards the nearby 135-acre Cascade Springs Nature Preserve and the 200-acre Lionel Hampton Beecher Park. The Georgia Tech Vertically Integrated Project: Building for Equity and Sustainability is working to create an outdoor classroom with West Atlanta Watershed Alliance that draws influence from Afrofuturism, and this program is made possible by a grant from the USDA Forest Service for the Atlanta Children’s Forest Network.
The mission of West Atlanta Watershed Alliance is to improve the quality of life within the West Atlanta Watershed by protecting, preserving and restoring the community’s natural resources. The organization represents African American neighborhoods in Northwest and Southwest Atlanta that are most inundated with environmental stressors but are least represented at environmental decision-making tables, and it co-created the Proctor Creek Stewardship Council, which consists of residents and volunteers who will lead stewardship activities in various parts of the watershed. West Atlanta Watershed Alliance’s symbol is WAWA Aba or “Seed of the WAWA Tree,” the West African Adinkra symbol of hardiness, toughness, and perseverance.
Leadership for these programs includes Chanté Lively, Environmental Education Coordinator; Shantaé Shearer, Marketing & Communications Director; Quanda Spencer, Environmental Scientist & Volunteer Services Coordinator; Ari Holt, Business Development Manager; and Janelle Wright, Environmental Justice Programs Manager.
Last updated August 1, 2026.
• Ages: 2–18 years old
• Schedule: Beech Buds – An Outdoor Toddler and Me Program is a 90-minute program
• Price: LIVE Reading and Generative Writing Workshop with Hannah Palmer: $13; Seniors 101: Mushroom Workshop: $15.00; Mushroom Cultivation Workshop: $15.00
Specific activities include Beech Buds – An Outdoor Toddler and Me Program, which is specifically designed for ages 2–5, and an Environmental Stewardship program for youth 10 years and older to participate in meaningful activities encouraging conservation and stewardship. Service-focused events include Service Saturdays, Mid Week Volunteer Service, Mid-Week Volunteer Service, Proctor Creek Habitat Restoration Day to remove invasive species, litter and more from a section of Proctor Creek, and the 3rd Annual Juanita Wallace Day of Service with service projects in honor of Ms. Juanita Wallace. Outdoor skill and exploration offerings include the WAWA Westside Campout where participants learn to pitch a tent and other outdoor skills, enjoy outdoor food, and take hikes, as well as the Westside Chattahoochee Paddle where participants paddle down the Chattahoochee River and learn the history of the waterway and the lands surrounding it.
Educational and creative programs include the LIVE Reading and Generative Writing Workshop with Hannah Palmer, WAWA Wednesdays Homeschool Program, and a hands-on workshop at the Outdoor Activity Center. Nature and science-focused events include the Urban BioBlitz, where participants use the latest apps to take inventory of native species found in the old growth forest, and a day of learning and exploration in the old growth forest. Mushroom-focused offerings include Seniors 101: Mushroom Workshop and a Mushroom Cultivation Workshop, where participants learn about growing their own mushrooms at home.
The Outdoor Activity Center is a 26-acre urban forest preserve and nature center that includes a 25-acre old-growth forest. West Atlanta Watershed Alliance also co-stewards the nearby 135-acre Cascade Springs Nature Preserve and the 200-acre Lionel Hampton Beecher Park. The Georgia Tech Vertically Integrated Project: Building for Equity and Sustainability is working to create an outdoor classroom with West Atlanta Watershed Alliance that draws influence from Afrofuturism, and this program is made possible by a grant from the USDA Forest Service for the Atlanta Children’s Forest Network.
The mission of West Atlanta Watershed Alliance is to improve the quality of life within the West Atlanta Watershed by protecting, preserving and restoring the community’s natural resources. The organization represents African American neighborhoods in Northwest and Southwest Atlanta that are most inundated with environmental stressors but are least represented at environmental decision-making tables, and it co-created the Proctor Creek Stewardship Council, which consists of residents and volunteers who will lead stewardship activities in various parts of the watershed. West Atlanta Watershed Alliance’s symbol is WAWA Aba or “Seed of the WAWA Tree,” the West African Adinkra symbol of hardiness, toughness, and perseverance.
Leadership for these programs includes Chanté Lively, Environmental Education Coordinator; Shantaé Shearer, Marketing & Communications Director; Quanda Spencer, Environmental Scientist & Volunteer Services Coordinator; Ari Holt, Business Development Manager; and Janelle Wright, Environmental Justice Programs Manager.
Last updated August 1, 2026.
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