Despite the wet weather earlier this month, educators and community members from Leelanau, Grand Traverse and Antrim Counties attended the first annual Branch Out! Conference, hosted by the Leelanau Outdoor Center (LOC). This conference was designed to provide attendees with an awareness of the significant impact of getting students outside of classroom walls, and presenters included representatives from the National Wildlife Federation, the National Park Service and the Leelanau Outdoor Center.