Community Outreach

The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway conducts community outreach to increase awareness of water safety principals and to educate our nation's youth about the environment. If you are an educator or community organizer and believe your class, club, or scout troop could benefit from a visit by one of our Park Rangers to teach your group about one of the outreach programs listed below give us a call to schedule a visit.

In addition to the programs listed below, we can also tailor a program to meet your needs. With enough preparation time we can develop a program suitable for any audience. Best of all, we can come to you and everything is free! If we can’t help you, we’ll do our best to connect you with someone who can. For more information contact the Tennessee-Tombigbee Project Management Office.

Junior Park Ranger Program

The Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway's Junior Park Ranger Program is open to children of all ages. Parents may need to assist younger children. If you are interested in taking part in the Junior Ranger Program print and fill out the Junior Park Ranger Knowledge Exam and send it to us either by email or mail at the contact information listed on the right-hand side of this . Address your email or mail to "Attention: Junior Park Ranger Coordinator". Once we receive the completed form, we'll mail you back a certificate, a Junior Park Ranger badge, and a prize bag. Most of the answers can be found on this website, but you'll have to think about a few of the questions! Have fun and good luck on your way to becoming a Junior Park Ranger.

Lock and Dam Tours

During this thirty minute presentation, you will get a first-hand look at the history of the project and the three project purposes. This program is available at offsite locations upon request. The program is available in two formats including a walking tour or a power point presentation.

Take Me Fishing Program

This program features fishing nomenclature and techniques used by locals, types of fisheries on the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway, and Water Safety tips.

Water Safety Programs

Water Safety is a huge part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers outreach program. Each year, the staff here at the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Project Management Office takes on water safety initiatives ranging from public service announcements, to school programs, to handing out water safety promotional items around the project and personally reminding park visitors to wear their life jackets!

Our nationally recognized grade-specific Safe Passage program is a complete package that includes lessons, activities, a video and activity books for each child, K-6th grade. The lessons and activities can be accessed by logging onto the National Water Safety Program website. You can also download coloring sheets and games that promote water safety by visiting the Bobber the Water Safety Dog website. 

The Young and the Reckless is a newer, stand-alone free video for teenagers. Teachers would find this suitable for Middle to High School aged Kids. The video teaches boating safety by comparing driving a boat to driving a car in an entertaining “sitcom” type of a story. You can get “The Young and the Reckless” video from a Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Park Ranger.

And finally we offer three different programs broken down by age. We have a 30-minute program for grades K-2 involving our water safety mascot, “Buddy Beaver”. Kids love hearing the adventures and learning some water safety tips from Buddy Beaver and his friend, the Park Ranger. We’ve been presenting this tried and true program for a long time and it’s always a hit with 3rd and 4th graders! It’s an interactive and fun 30 minute program that focuses on very basic water safety principles such as “reach, throw, row, and Don’t go”. A 30 minute program for grades 5-7 that takes a more serious look at drowning, but balances that with a fun activity showing what a PFD is and water safety principles such as “ reach, throw, row, and Don’t go”. All three are interactive and entertaining. Contact a Park Ranger for more details or to schedule a program for your group!

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Columbus Area Office

5000 N Frontage Road

Columbus, MS 39701-9412

Phone: (662) 245-5500