Elgin High junior Franklin Aguilar to speak to Elgin Lions Feb. 6
The Elgin Lions Club will meet at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 6, at the American Legion Hall, 820 N. Liberty St. in downtown Elgin.
The speaker for the evening will be Franklin Aguilar, a junior at Elgin High School. Aguilar will report on his summer adventure at the meeting. He participated in a visit to the Grand Canyon by a group of visually handicapped individuals. The trip was partially funded by the Elgin Lions Club.
According to Patricia Kenyon, his teacher at Elgin High, a group of 22 teenagers from across the country were selected to receive scholarships for a once-in-a-lifetime leadership adventure in honor of the National Park Service's 100th birthday. The Grand Canyon Sound Academy adventure paired 12 students who are visually impaired and 12 students who are sighted to journey into the Grand Canyon to conduct sound experiments, build community, practice camping and hiking sills, engage with parks staff and volunteers, conduct service projects and learn methods to conduct natural sound research. While rafting the Colorado River, students gathered information as part of a team and then returned to share their knowledge with their local communities.
The National Park Service partnered with No Barriers Youth Organization which is part of the broader nonprofit organization No Barriers USA, which was developed in partnership with world-renowned blind mountaineer Erik Weihenmayer. Members from these groups, river guides, scientists, parks staff and facilitators all partner with the students to conduct experiments and to promote appreciation of natural and cultural soundscapes.
Aguilar was accepted into the program after a rigorous application process. He left July 14 for the two-week expedition. In preparation for the trip, he joined in monthly conference calls with the team.
The meeting of the Elgin Lions Cub is open to the public, but reservations are required. Those interested in attending should leave a message on the club's phone number, (847) 289-4206. Indicate if you want to have the meal. The cost of the meal is $12.
For further information, call James Beam at (847) 695-0623 or jameslbeam@comcast.net.