HCWA to Host approximately 3,000 Cubihatcha Kids

(Locust Grove, GA – Sept. 8, 2025) After 20 years of successfully hosting the “Cubihatcha Kids” for field trips, the Henry County Water Authority (HCWA) is preparing to welcome this year’s class over the course of the next few weeks. Approximately 3,000 third graders from 28 Henry County Elementary Schools will enjoy their annual visit to the
Cubihatcha Outdoor Education Center in Locust Grove for outdoor educational programming.
        
    These “Cubihatcha Kids” field trips to the HCWA’s Cubihatcha Center are the largest public education undertaking put on by the Authority and its non-profit Henry County Outdoor Education Partnership.

    While the program was established in 2003, the field trips were not held during the 2020 and 2021 school years, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Thus, 2025 marks the 21 st year Henry County Elementary School students will visit the Cubihatcha Center campus.

    This year’s “Cubihatcha Kids” field trips will be held over the course of two weeks – the week prior to Henry County Schools’ fall break from Sept. 8-12, and the week following fall break from Sept. 22-26.

    The Henry County Outdoor Education Partnership – a non-profit partnership between the HCWA and Henry County Board of Education, among others – organizes this event with the HCWA Cubihatcha Center staff, volunteers and sponsors, who all serve as teaching faculty during the two weeks of the third-grade field trips.

    Earlier this year, the annual Cubihatcha Kids Fishing Day was held on June 7, helping to raise money to support this signature program at the Authority’s Cubihatcha Center.

    The field trips to the Cubihatcha Center provide opportunities for experiential or “hands- on” learning for students in outdoor classes through activities that correlate with the third grade Georgia Standards for Excellence and Applied STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Curricula. In addition, the field trips encourage student appreciation of natural resources and raise awareness of the HCWA’s role in the community.

    The “Cubihatcha Kids” will spend their designated day on the campus of the Cubihatcha Center learning about topics such as the water cycle, watersheds, farming, ecosystems, wildlife and habitats, stormwater pollution, forestry, bee keeping, environmental protection, and more.

    The Cubihatcha Center was constructed in 1999, to coincide with the HCWA’s wetlands mitigation plan, which accompanied the construction of its reservoir network. The Authority owns and operates five drinking water reservoirs for its customers, including the Long Branch Reservoir located adjacent to the Cubihatcha Center, which serves as the focal point of HCWA public education and outreach.

    The Cubihatcha Center consists of approximately 1,000 acres of bottomland hardwood, forested wetlands and uplands, nature trails, outdoor classrooms, a community pavilion, the HCWA Reservoir and Land Management office, as well as avenues/areas for outdoor recreation.

    To date, Authority officials estimate nearly 60,000 “Cubihatcha Kids” from Henry County Schools will have participated in these annual field trips since 2003, following this year’s event. As a result, the HCWA has won the Georgia Association of Water Professionals (GAWP) Public Education Program of the Year Award on three occasions, as well as the GAWP Public Education Program Excellence Award multiple times. In addition, the Metropolitan North
Georgia Water Planning District has awarded the HCWA and its Cubihatcha Center with the STREAM Award for Education and Outreach Programming Excellence.




Katie Sumner (left), from the HCWA Human Resources Department, teaches last year’s “Cubihatcha Kids” about wildlife habitat at the Cubihatcha Center during these annual third grade field trips.






Laura Parks (right), Master Gardener Volunteer, leads third grade students through the “H2O Olympics” during last year’s “Cubihatcha Kids” field trips.







Shane Hallford (left), Storm Water Utility Manager for the City of Locust Grove, teaches third grade students about stormwater pollution during last year’s “Cubihatcha Kids” field trips.







The HCWA Cubihatcha Outdoor Education Center is the hub of outdoor education programming for the utility and site of the annual “Cubihatcha Kids” third grade field trips.




 
- Henry County Water Authority (HCWA) and Cubihatcha Center:

• Blue Planet
• Community Garden and Food Plot
• Crawdads
• Incredible Journey – a look at the water cycle
• Just Passing Through
• Native Americans
• Native Wildlife
• Owl Pellets
• Oh Deer! – wildlife population and available resources
• Sum of the Parts – how pollution accumulates over time

- Henry County Stormwater:

• Watersheds

- Henry County 4-H:

• H2Olympics – learning the properties and nature of water

- Henry County Fire Department:

• Birds and Worms
• Web of Life
• Oh Deer

- Henry County Police Department:

• Web of Life

- Georgia Department of Natural Resources:

• LE (Game Wardens)
• Skins and Skulls

- Georgia Farm Bureau:

• Bee Keeping and Farming

- Georgia Forestry Commission:

• Fire Safety/Prevention

- Life Beyond Water:

• Incredible Journey – a look at the water cycle

- Locust Grove Stormwater Management:

• Enviroscape – a model for preventing stormwater pollution
• MACROS – how to use macroinvertebrates to measure water quality

- City of Griffin:

• Oh Deer

- Central Georgia and Snapping Shoals EMC:

• Power Up Relays