This was my first season volunteering as a Side Walker with Prairie Strides, and I’m so grateful for the experience. As an Educational Assistant with SJASD for nearly two decades, I’m used to helping kids overcome challenges in the classroom. But watching them grow in a completely different setting — on the back of a horse — opened my eyes in a whole new way.

These past ten weeks have reminded me that growth doesn’t only happen at a desk or during a lesson. Sometimes it unfolds in a dusty barn, beside a gentle horse, where a child discovers they are capable of more than they ever imagined.

Christina and her team create an environment where learning feels fun, safe, and full of possibility — for both the riders and the volunteers. I can’t wait to return in the spring.



– Kim Zapotochny