The Rock Ranch, located at 5020 Barnesville Hwy., The Rock, Ga., is a 1,500-acre ranch created by Chick-fil-A founder, S. Truett Cathy as a foster home for children. Now, in addition to foster homes, the ranch has evolved into a public destination that serves all families and groups. Its tag line is “Growing Healthy Families.”  A day at the farm is filled with action-packed adventure and making memories with a wide variety of activities* to appeal to all ages including pony rides, locomotive train rides, zip lines*, paddle boats, carousel*, cane pole fishing, pedal carts, Farm Land animal zoo, rock climbing wall*, tractor wagon rides, gem stone mining*, a cow train, ball toss, giant jumping pillow, Tiny Town, and more. And, the new The Rock Museum*, which houses more than 5,000 Georgia gems and minerals, is available for exploring – including a fossil dig station.

Growing Room opens the door to a secure, quality, fun and nurturing educational environment based on a balanced partnership with parents.  At Growing Room, our goal each day is to provide an enriching environment with nurturing teachers using a planned developmentally appropriate curriculum for Infants 6 weeks of age through children age 12 years.

The CSU Dance Conservatory offers a distinguished recreational and pre-professional program in ballet during the school year with opportunities to perform with The Columbus Ballet at the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts. Our mission is to prepare young students for futures as dancers, engaged citizens, audience members, and responsible young men and women. Year-round classes are taught by a dedicated faculty with extensive professional credentials, providing intensive training and performance opportunities for our students. The Conservatory’s comprehensive curriculum focuses on strong technique that is rooted in the traditions of classical ballet and inspired by a contemporary vision of the future. This curriculum is designed to serve dancers of all ages by supporting the continuing quest for greater technique, artistry, clarity, grace, speed, and musicality. Annual performances of classical and contemporary works are also an important part of the training model at the Conservatory, allowing students to develop discipline, endurance, choreographic memory, and stage presence. Providing exceptional dance training, nurturing our students’ developing skills and instilling a lifelong love of dance extends far beyond our curriculum. We strive to challenge each student, whether dancing for enjoyment or pre-professional training. Our highly-trained teachers take great care to instruct students with proper technique and […]

The Columbus Ballet is a non-profit arts organization founded in 1998 that advocates for the artistic achievement of classical dance through the joy, spirit, and celebration of dance instruction and performance.  We strive to provide the most distinctive dance experience to the community through the development of a diverse curriculum for dancers of all ages and a season program that promotes art, education, and culture.  The official school of the Columbus Ballet is the CSU Dance Conservatory, which offers classes for dancers 3 years old through adult in classical ballet, jazz, modern, and contemporary dance.  The Columbus Ballet annually presents the beloved holiday story of “The Nutcracker,” and produces an annual spring production that has included such well-known ballets as “Cinderella”, “Sleeping Beauty”, and “Coppelia” as well as many others.  The Columbus Ballet is proud to be a part of the arts community in Columbus and strives to provide the highest artistic quality performances to Columbus and the surrounding areas.

Does your child have an interest in the medical field? Whether their appeal stems from a love for “Grey’s Anatomy” or a natural knack to care for people, Hughston’s Scrubs Camp will help explore medical career opportunities with hands-on experiences, tours, demonstrations and speakers. The camp provides a unique outlet for students to explore their passion in the medical field before deciding on a career path. Provided with their own scrub top, camp-goers will delve into medical writing and medical illustration, radiology, surgery and more. Campers will be given the opportunity to speak with medical residents, scrub nurses, radiologists, surgical technologists and physical therapists to learn more about career expectations, training and opportunities for advancement. Students will be exposed to anatomy through dissection and arthroscopy equipment on a cadaver specimen with corresponding surgical videos provided.

Visiting Historic Westville is like taking your kids on a trip back in time to the mid-19th century. The grand opening of the re-located village was in June of this year and about half of the historic buildings present in the previous location have been moved to the new Columbus location on South Lumpkin Road. Even though the village is still a work in progress, the structures present are maintained to be as historically accurate as possible both inside and out. When we asked Cindy Bowden, Historic Westville’s museum manager, about her organization’s mission, she replied, “Through exhibits, live interpretations, demonstrations, and hands-on activities, you’ll be immersed in the history and spirit of the South and the personal experiences of those who called the Pineywoods home.” A visit to the village starts at the Welcome Center, which is in the historic Thornton House. This building offers a gift shop filled with types of crafts common in the 19th century, such as woven baskets and pottery. Some of the crafts in the shop are made in the village by skilled crafters. After purchasing tickets at the Welcome Center, visitors proceed to the village on a stroller-friendly path. Once in the village, […]

Marannook mission is to know Christ through the study of His Word and to make Him known through summer camp experiences.  For more than 40 years, Marannook has been offering camping adventures for children going into grades 1-9. This summer will be no exception! We’ve planned another slate of week-long sessions, each packed with exciting activities and directed by counselors who bring the gospel of Jesus Christ alive in everything they do. Our name literally means “the Lord’s resting place,” and when you visit us, you’ll understand. The camp is tucked away in 200 beautiful acres of pines and hardwoods in eastern Alabama and features scenic trails, a stream-fed lake stocked with largemouth bass, a unique open-air din­ing hall, and air-con­ditioned cabins with private bathrooms and big porches. Each Day Packed with Adventure The fun begins with our junior Olympic pool, which sits on a hill overlooking our beautiful lake. Camp­ers zoom down the waterslide, enjoy aquatic sports like polo, basketball and volleyball, build sand castles on the white sand beach, and at times pause to admire the waterfall. Down at the lake, campers paddle canoes, navigate the channel challenge and eat s’mores around the campfire. Up in the woods, they […]