We hope you enjoy reading about what's happening at Camp Kawartha.
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At Camp Kawartha we've been busy creating a new Health Centre.
It's a sustainable, straw-bale, zero-carbon building. It’s an exemplar of what green design and construction can be. And it will be the place where we provide essential health services for our campers, students, families, and staff.
We're grateful for the hundreds of donations we have received so far; we just need a few more to reach the finish line.
Your donation will help us to outfit the Health Centre with medical supplies like beds, treatment tables, PPE and medicine cabinets.
These are not big things, but they are vital things… especially during a pandemic.
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The Gift Store has some one-of-a-kind cards available. These have been hand-painted by our great friend, Ralph Ingleton. Ralph has painted native songbirds, landscapes and incorporated many nature themes in his creations.
You can order online, and we’ll ship them to you or arrange curbside pickup. While you are in the Store, be sure to explore our educational toys, plush animal collection, clothing and so much more!
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Our Environment Centre is busy with its Forest Camps, and one of our instructors had this encounter with one of the students. It gave her pause…us too. We thought to share this with you so you can see what our staffer experienced and why we are all grateful to work here.
Here is a conversation that happened word-for-word with a student who was working in a very focused way to build the fire at lunchtime…and light it with flint and steel. They had lots of dry twigs and birch bark, and lots of determination!
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Instructor: "You can do it... I can SEE you're capable."
Student: "I AM capable!"
Instructor: "YEAH! Say it again!"
Student (dead serious): "I'm a capable person! With a good heart and a strong soul."
Our instructor told us “This made me stop dead in my tracks. It is true – we need kids who know and celebrate that!”
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Perhaps it is important to pause occasionally and think about teaching as not just transmitting information but as a vocation which fosters caring and supportive human beings – those who are strong in themselves so they can be strong for others and the for the Earth we all share.
Beautiful story Cedar. Thank you for sharing!
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You may already know that 2021 marks the 100th birthday of Camp Kawartha! To help celebrate and acknowledge this milestone, we will be sharing stories and memories through the year.
We are gathering stories and photos of for our centennial celebrations. If you or someone you know has photos and or stories of decades past, please get in touch with Susan - sramey@campkawartha.ca
We look forward to sharing these with you in the upcoming months.
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We have been interviewing past staffers and campers to build up our historic archive. As part of our anniversary celebrations, we would like to create a video with excerpts from these archives to give an overview of the Camp through the years.
Do you have the skills to create a 3-minute video for us? Would you consider donating your time and talents to help? We would certainly give you credit in a number of ways and make you a part of Camp Kawartha's legacy.
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Outreach Programs Are Here! |
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Thanks to a generous grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Camp Kawartha is offering its award-winning programs at schools, focused on learning in the schoolyard. We have over 20 creative outdoor programs on offer with more being developed.
Our Outdoor Education Manager, Neil Fortin, is gearing up to deliver these in the coming weeks. Not only are all the programs linked to the Ontario curriculum, but they also support the landmarks of Camp Kawartha’s Pathway to Stewardship & Kinship Initiative and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
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The provincial government announced that March Break would be postponed and moved to April. As a result, our Forest School programming has had to make some adjustments.
We now will host a mini (4 weeks) Forest School from March 15th to April 9th. The new March Break runs from April 12th to 16th, and then our spring term of Forest School will run April 19th to June 18th!
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Same great camp experience with a few tweaks for everyone's safety! |
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February Means 'Get Outside'
(It doesn’t really…but it should!)
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February is actually named after a Roman month-long festival of purification and atonement. We prefer our version.
It’s easy to get outside every day, even for a quick walk. Whether you are a senior, an adult, a youth or child, getting outside (even on a cold winter day) boosts your energy and immune system, improves mood and positive thinking, heightens focus, even enhances creativity. Studies show that a walk in the woods lowers blood pressure and stress levels, helps improve sleep and mobility. Being outdoors just makes sense for a happier and healthier you.
To help you get outside and explore nature, we encourage you to try our Winter BINGO game. Fill in a line across or down, or even diagonally to win! Fill the whole card and you are an outdoors superstar!!
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Animal Showcase: Snowy Owl |
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We chose the Snowy Owl as our focus this time because a dear friend of the Camp, Ralph Ingleton, had one strike his picture window. It lay stunned for a while, but eventually got itself together and flew off into the woods.
The Snowy Owl is a large, mostly white owl sometimes referred to as the Polar Owl or Arctic Owl. They are predominant in the Arctic regions, but because they are migratory, they sometimes erupt in large numbers to the south. This movement can be caused by the changes in climate, availability of food, the season, or for mating.
The adult female has more dark spots and bars than the male. She will lay a large clutch of eggs – 5 to 10 – with the laying and hatching staggered to ensure as many survive as possible. They live on prey like lemmings and voles, but they will also eat other birds like ducks and ptarmigan.
Their haunting yellow eyes are excellent, but they rely most heavily on their ears when hunting prey that is under a thick layer of snow. When flying they usually cruise low to the ground and once their prey is spotted or heard they pounce with their large, sharp talons.
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Jacob is back with a new series
of Winter Nature Notes!
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SUPPORT LOCAL AND SHOP CAMP KAWARTHA |
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CHOOSE CURBSIDE PICKUP OR HAVE YOUR ORDER SHIPPED RIGHT TO YOUR FRONT DOOR! |
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Camp Kawartha is an accredited, award-winning, not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to the promotion of the highest standard of programming, with a particular focus on outdoor environmental awareness, outdoor and environmental education and stewardship. Registered Charity # 12453 9214 RR0001
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705-652-3860 1-866-532-4597
info@campkawartha.ca
campkawartha.ca
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