Outdoor Educator Jon Soul sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:

0:32 1. Jon, you’re involved in numerous aspects of our community, with a focus I would say on education, our environment and outdoors, and just an overall effort to strengthen Shreveport-Bossier by providing healing knowledge and activities for our residents.

Let’s start today with your interest in the Red River.

Like many of us, growing up you were told to stay out of the river because it’s dirty and dangerous. We are so fortunate to have a river that runs right through the middle of our city.

Why are we underutilizing and undervaluing our river while cities like St. Louis, Austin, Little Rock and Oklahoma City have embraced their rivers and used them to transform their downtown areas and city centers?

8:12 2. We hear a lot here about, how do we attract more people and companies to Shreveport-Bossier? Also, how do we get more residents to feel comfortable spending time downtown?

In that same vein, my question for you, and I really think it’s an important economic development subject is, how do we get more people on the Red River?

14:36 3. Since 2008 you have taught at the Montessori School of Shreveport and been deeply involved there, including starting the Coates Bluff Nature Trail.

How did you first become involved in this beautiful expanse of nature in the middle of our city?

37:01 4. Dionne Procell-Brown, a close friend and collaborator of yours once said, “If we want folks to love Shreveport, to care about this place, then why wouldn't we protect the area where the first settlement and trading post and post office was? Why wouldn't we take care of the oldest African-American cemetery that's right off the trail?”

Tell me about the Friends of the Coates Bluff Nature Trail and your current efforts.

45:13 5. In preparing for today’s discussion, I came across you describing some of your interest and work as place-based education. For the lay people out there, I put myself in that group, what is place-based education? And what value could more place-based education have for our community?