The playground at the far back side of Boyle Park is empty.
The park is quiet except for the muted conversations of seven soon-to-be Junior Park Rangers fishing across the pond.
Xavier, 10, is the eighth. He sits in the shade of a picnic shelter with "Miss Karen," waiting to graduate from Little Rock's Junior Park Rangers Program.
He leans back against a picnic table. His shoes and legs are covered in dried mud, and there is a junior rangers first-aid kit attached to the belt loop of his Army-green cargo shorts.
His eyes widen, and he talks as if he's reading from the dictionary, excitedly rattling off facts about the Arkansas River watershed, discussing his favorite book -- Wonder by R.J. Palacio -- and talking about his love of history.
"I could tell you everything about Texas history," he says. A Texas native, Xavier talks about the Alamo and Gen. Santa Anna.
In a week, he says, he's learned how to drive a golf ball 137 yards down a fairway, that the average lifespan of a queen honeybee is 3-4 years, and how to bait and cast a fishing line.
"I'm a good fisher," he says, though adding that he didn't catch anything this time. "And I've never been fishing before."
Xavier's also eaten a worm because, he says with a grimace, "it looked good but tasted disgusting."
Xavier and seven other children ages 9-12 have spent the week exploring the flora and fauna of Little Rock's parks and learning how to preserve such natural areas.
Karen Sykes, Little Rock's park ranger and the leader of the Junior Park Rangers program, calls the program her "brain baby."
An Arkansas native, Sykes embodies the image the words "park ranger" call to mind. Her skin is browned from the outdoor exposure her job requires, and her dirty-blond hair is tied back in a short ponytail, with a few flyaway hairs hitting her cheeks.
Sykes speaks with the energy of someone whose job is an extension of her life, not just a way to earn a paycheck.
When she moved to Little Rock in 2008, Sykes said, she made it her mission to see all of the city's 62 parks within her first six months. Eight years later, Sykes hosts a park ranger program for adults, and now for their young counterparts.
Sykes put together the program for the younger generation of Arkansas' conservationists and park protectors in 2015 over the course of a month.
In its inaugural year, she sent out applications through the Dunbar Community Center. Now she accepts children from the Dunbar, Stephens and Southwest community centers, as well as the general public. She selects the program's participants at random.
Sykes said goodbye Friday to Xavier's class of junior rangers -- her third class this month. But she will get a new group Monday. That will finish up the Junior Park Rangers Program for 2016.
Family members begin to file into the shelter as other kids in the group return from fishing.
Xavier perks up when his aunt and grandmother arrive.
"I know how to say 'Little Rock' in French," he says matter-of-factly.
"Le petit ...," he pauses, furrowing his brow. "Roche," he finishes.
He goes on to explain what happens when the Arkansas River floods, and tells his family and fellow rangers that the river originates in Colorado Springs.
"You know more about Arkansas than I do," Xavier's aunt, Falonda Brazle, tells him.
Brazle's son, Omar, is also in Xavier's group. Omar is quieter than his cousin, but he's quick to flash bright smiles at his family and Miss Karen.
Sykes calls Friday's graduation ceremony to order, and tells the audience that she'll begin by asking questions and having the children answer them, showcasing what they've learned over the past week.
"Now, on Monday we went birding in Western Hills Park," she says. "What are some ways we identify birds?"
The kids' hands shoot up. Some strain excitedly in their seats hoping to be called on to answer. Xavier is one of them.
As other children laugh and play on the playground, the junior rangers don't notice. All of their eyes are on Miss Karen.
Sykes goes down the line and accepts an answer from each junior ranger, then moves on to the next question.
Just three words into the next question, Xavier's arm starts waving in the air. Sykes finishes and lets each ranger answer, the same as before.
Brazle leans toward her mother, Judy Hudspeth, after Xavier answers. "He's so smart," she whispers, beaming with pride.
Sykes finishes quizzing the kids and calls up Jasmine, an 11-year-old graduate of last year's program, to help hand out certificates. Jasmine smiles and stands beside Sykes, wearing her badge and Junior Park Ranger T-shirt.
One by one, Sykes calls up each child to receive a certificate, a badge and a T-shirt that identifies each as a Junior Park Ranger.
The ceremony ends, and families gather to take pictures of the graduates with their new gear and their group leader.
As the group scatters, some children gravitate toward their families or toward the playground, but Xavier sits next to Jasmine in his new Junior Park Ranger T-shirt.
"I just met her yesterday, and now we're best friends," he says.
Jasmine giggles and inspects a bite on her hand. Xavier offers her some of his newly learned first-aid skills and a bandage from his first-aid kit.
As Jasmine tapes her hand, Xavier says he wants to become part of the mentor group that Sykes allows graduates to participate in -- the group Jasmine is in now.
And because Sykes keeps in touch with the children after they graduate, he will probably be allowed to.
While the program emphasizes being a good steward of the environment, Sykes imparts one last piece of philosophy to the children.
"If you want to change the world, you start with yourself."
State Desk on 06/26/2016