Agenda

When: Friday, June 26, 2026

Where: Along the Ocmulgee River and historic tribal lands

The Goal: Before we turn on a single computer, we need to get our boots muddy. Day One is all about exploration. We will study the river up close—from its deep history with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation to the modern factories and towns that affect its water quality today.

What We Will Do:

• • River Clean-Up & Walk: Help clean up the river banks. While we work, we will look for environmental problem areas firsthand.

  • Story Circles: Sit down and listen to history, traditional stories, and river memories from tribal elders and community leaders.

  • Group Brainstorming: Talk about what it is like to live and work near the Ocmulgee. How can we make the river's future cleaner and safer for everyone?

What to wear: Clothes you don't mind getting dirty, sturdy shoes or boots, and sunscreen!

⏱️ 10:00 AM – 10:30 AM | Welcome & Circle Gathering

• We will meet near the river to sign in, meet our neighbors, and open our weekend with a land acknowledgement. We will talk about what it means to listen with our senses before we ever touch a computer.

⏱️ 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM | Land Walk & Watershed Service

• We will walk the riverbanks together. Along the way, we will help clean up the paths and look closely at the water, the plants, and the infrastructure around the river to see how the landscape is changing.

⏱️ 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM | Mid-Day Rest & Community Lunch

• Time to pause, find some shade, and eat! This is an open hour to rest your feet and share conversations with fellow participants and mentors. (Exact food/catering details coming soon!)

⏱️ 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM | Story Circles & Oral Histories

• We will gather in a circle to listen to tribal history, traditional stories, and local environmental memories shared by community leaders and elders.

⏱️ 2:30 PM – 4:00 PM | Speculative Design Workshops

• To wrap up our first day, we will work in small groups to sketch out ideas. We will ask ourselves: What does a healthy river look like? What kinds of tools could help us protect it? We will pack up at 4:00 PM with our minds full of ideas for Day Two!

When: Saturday, June 27, 2026

Where: The GEAR Lab at the Museum of Aviation (Warner Robins, GA)

The Goal: Now that we understand the river's needs, we will gather at the GEAR Lab to build tools to help! We will work in teams to create working tech prototypes based on what we discovered on Friday.

What We Will Do:

• Fast Building: Create working gadgets using simple, affordable electronic parts, solar power, and basic coding.

• Teamwork: Work side-by-side with experts from Georgia Tech, Mercer University, and other friendly neighbors.

• Show and Tell: Show off our inventions to the community and plan for our summer "Paddle Out" events to place the sensors in the river.

What to bring: Your curiosity, your creativity, and a laptop if you have one (not required!).

⏱️ 10:00 AM – 10:30 AM | Team Forming & Sparking Ideas

• Welcome to the high-tech GEAR Lab! We will review the big questions and ideas from Friday's river trip and break up into our three collaborative project teams (Hardware, Data/Web, and Storytelling).

⏱️ 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM | Morning Creative Sprint

• The hacking begins! Teams will work side-by-side with mentors from Georgia Tech and Mercer University. Hardware folks can experiment with solar setups and microcontrollers; web developers can start mapping layouts; storytellers can design community action plans.

⏱️ 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM | Brain-Break & Community Lunch

• Time to step away from the workbenches and screens to refuel your brain! Enjoy lunch, swap ideas with other teams, and see what your neighbors are working on. (Exact food/catering details coming soon!)

⏱️ 1:30 PM – 3:15 PM | Afternoon Prototyping & Finishing Touches

• Teams jump back into the lab to put the final touches on their ideas, sketches, and prototypes. This is where we bring everything together into a finished concept.

⏱️ 3:15 PM – 4:00 PM | Show & Tell & Looking to the Horizon

• Every team gets a few minutes to share what they dreamed up! We will wrap up the weekend by talking about how these ideas will help the National Park initiative and how volunteers can join the "Paddle Out" events later this summer. We will head out at 4:00 PM!