Have you heard about Come Alive Outside? If you were living under a rock last semester maybe you missed it. Don't worry, keep reading and you'll be all caught up.
So what is it? From the Come Alive Outside website: 
When you think back to your childhood, what do you remember?  Is it that one Saturday when you sat in the living room and watched reruns all day?  Or is it something that happened outside?  Maybe the first time you caught a fish?  What about that time when you came home so muddy that your mom had to spray you off with the hose before she even let you into the garage?  Remember that tree you used to sit under?  How about that one snowman that didn’t melt for two whole months?
Come Alive Outside is a reminder of what works.  It is a reminder of what makes our lives healthy and our memories special.  Over the past three years, these three words have inspired individuals, families, business and communities across North America to take action to get back outdoors. The Come Alive Outside initiative was started by Jim Paluch in 2010, in response to the sedentary, indoor lifestyle that is contributing to a multitude of adverse effects in our society.

BYU-Idaho was honored to collaborate with the Come Alive Outside initiative and have Jim Paluch join our Come Alive Outside celebration October 8, 2014. This was a day to share with the entire campus and community what the BYU-Idaho Horticulture department is passionate about: being outside! We partied in the gardens with apple catapults, zip lines, rope swings, slack lines, zumba, and more. A party isn't complete without food, and we ate well with fresh pressed apple cider (using apples right from our orchard), a potato bar, and pizzas made fresh in the brick oven at Patsy's Porch. To top it off we were privileged to listen to Mr. Paluch share his experiences with working outside and why we need to encourage everybody to spend more time outside. 

Here's a taste of what our Come Alive Outside celebration looked like:

But there's more to all of this than simply playing outside. It's about creating spaces to enjoy being in nature, but also creating spaces outside for imaginative play. That's where the "Come Alive Outside Design Challenge" comes in. Last year our design/build students participated in the pilot program. They worked with students from Madison High School to design a new playground for BYU-Idaho’s preschool. Check out what they did here.

This year the Design Challenge became a design competition, and you better believe that BYU-Idaho is a top competitor!
From the Come Alive Outside website:
The Come Alive Outside Design Challenge creates the opportunity for college, high school, elementary and pre-school students to work together with landscape professionals to design and build engaging outdoor learning environments at schools and childcare facilities. In 2014-2015 the Design Challenge is being completed by nine teams in communities across North America, with college horticulture and landscape design students helping to bring together the partners in each community that work to create the opportunity for young people to interact with nature!

Take a look at what was created for this year's design competition:

BYU-Idaho is one of the 3 finalists for the competition. The judging process is currently underway and you can be a part of it!  The winners will be determined through a combination of scores from a professional Judging Panel and the results of a popular vote.  The winning team will receive $1000 to go towards the construction of the project.

Did you read that??? We can win ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS. All it takes is a simple click. Your vote only counts once so after you're done voting spread the word and help us lock in that coveted first place.
To vote click here.