At Movespot, we believe that real-life experiences are the foundation of mental well-being. That belief is what brought us back to our home community — and into the schools that shaped us.
The digital age has given us more ways to connect than ever before, and yet isolation is at an all-time high. Movespot was built to change that — to get people off their screens and into shared, meaningful moments. The Climate Awareness Field Days program is that mission in action: bringing high school students across DeKalb County together outdoors, giving them tools to protect their health, and building the kind of community resilience that no app alone can create.
The challenge
Climate is a mental health issue too
Extreme heat and poor air quality are no longer distant concerns — they are day-to-day realities for young people in DeKalb County. The effects are physical, but they are also psychological. Heat stress, reduced time outdoors, and the anxiety of an uncertain climate future all take a toll on mental well-being, particularly for youth who have the least control over the world they are inheriting.
Movespot saw an opportunity to address both dimensions at once: get students moving and outdoors, while giving them the knowledge and confidence to navigate a changing environment.
Meaningful connections and shared activities can significantly improve mental health. We wanted to prove that in a field, with our hands in the soil, with students who deserved better than another classroom lesson about a problem they didn’t create.Carl White III, Founder & CEO, Movespot
What we’re doing
Three pillars of the field day experience
Tree planting
Students get hands-on with reforestation, learning how trees cool neighborhoods and clean the air they breathe.
Hydration education
Practical, science-backed guidance on staying healthy during extreme heat events — skills that last a lifetime.
Wellness conversations
Open, facilitated discussions on mental health, community support, and building personal resilience.
Each field day is held at a DeKalb County high school, with Movespot’s team leveraging direct connections to local alma maters to open doors and build trust. This isn’t an outside organization parachuting in — these are community members returning to give back to the schools and neighborhoods that raised them.
The bigger picture
Resilience you can build on
Our ultimate goal isn’t a single field day — it’s a generation of young people in DeKalb County who know how to take care of themselves and each other when the environment demands it. Students who have planted a tree understand their environment differently. Students who have talked openly about mental health are more likely to reach out when they need support. That’s the Movespot thesis: real experiences create real change.
This program is part of a broader commitment to using movement, community, and shared outdoor experience as tools for public health. We are proud to bring it home to DeKalb County, and we are just getting started.