Students from Maple Elementary School take a break for a photo with Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, Jo-Ellen Darcy (front row, second from right), U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui (to Darcy’s right) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers leaders and park rangers at the Effie Yeaw Nature Center in Carmichael, Calif., Sept. 27. Corps park rangers led the students on nature walks and outdoor education activities in support of President Barack Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative, established in April 2010, to reconnect the American people with the outdoors. "Today was all about connecting kids with nature,” said Col. Bill Leady, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District (front row, left), which hosted the event. ”Being outdoors is so important; not just for our health, but for understanding the natural world that we belong to. We all have a responsibility to help protect it, and as the nation's environmental engineers, it's important for us to share that message," he said.