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Forest School Registration - Spring Term
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Is your child tired of learning in front of a screen? More and more research is revealing that time spent outside is healthy for children. Breathing forest air has been shown to boost our immune system. Simply being in nature elevates our serotonin levels, making us feel happier and energized.
Why not consider our Spring Term of Forest School for your child or suggest this program for someone you know! From April 19th to June 18th students can learn the Ontario Curriculum while immersed in 185 acres of forest, wetland and alvar ecosystems. What is an alvar? Well, your student could find out, and learn so much more through our creative and educational programming! Taught by qualified teachers, students spend 80-90% of their time in the outdoors, learning – and spring is a magical time to see the Earth wake up.
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Our 9-week Forest School Spring Program is open to students from Kindergarten to Grade 6. In keeping with COVID-19 protocols, the students are cohorted and remain in their group throughout their time here.
There are discounts for those who register for the full term (9 weeks), and there are sibling discounts as well. We also offer a busing option from Peterborough and Lakefield to the main site on Clear Lake.
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Join the Monarch Ultra Relay Run! |
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The Monarch Ultra Relay Run is an 1800 kilometre running event to raise awareness for monarch butterflies. Monarchs are a beautiful orange and black butterfly that during the fall, flutter their way over 4,000 kilometers to Mexico and settle in a small preserve. In the spring, monarchs migrate in waves northward, eventually finding their way back to Ontario. But Monarchs are in trouble. Their population has plummeted over the years due to habitat destruction, urbanization and the use of pesticides.
Camp Kawartha is honoured to be the recipient of funding from this year’s Ultra Monarch Marathon. We’ll use these funds to raise awareness about Monarchs in the Peterborough region and to support our environmental education programming.
You can help. Why not join the Ultra Marathon team?
You can either participate in the relay run or do your own run.
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Glimpse of our Early History |
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Here is an excerpt from The Evening Examiner, April 18, 1922.
THE DAWN OF A NEW ERA
Although Peterborough is situated close to some of the most beautiful lakes and finest camping grounds in Canada, many of the boys of this city have never been able to enjoy a holiday in the great outdoors. They might as well have been living a thousand miles away, so limited have been their opportunities to get away from their city surroundings. Thanks, however, to the Rotary Club and the co-operation of other organisations, and the generous assistance of individual citizens, a new day seems to be dawning for the underprivileged boys of Peterborough.
Thanks to Frances Gravel for taking the time to research the Examiner archives and finding these interesting glimpses of the past. We will be featuring more of these in coming newsletters.
Help us celebrate our anniversary with your memories!!
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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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Help Us Vote Karen into the
Camp Administrator Hall of Fame!
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Karen "Gates" Copson is our wonderful Office Coordinator and this year has been nominated into the CampBrain Camp Administrator Hall of Fame!
We'd love to see her inducted and WE NEED YOUR HELP!
It's only 3 CLICKS and you can vote ONCE DAILY!
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Outreach Programs Are Popular! |
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True Nature Outreach Update by Neil Fortin, Program Coordinator
Our new outreach program called Discover Your School’s True Nature has been now rolling for close to 2 weeks.
With programs and equipment ready, Nick and I have had the opportunity to visit several schools to pilot some of our outdoor programs. A unique dynamic of our school programs has been the adapting to reflect the differences between the natural landscape at Camp Kawartha and the schoolyard setting. Where we would normally be using forests, fields, and streams at the Outdoor Centre as our teaching setting, programming in a schoolyard can be quite different. We have even met some classes at local parks which is a great way for classes to explore the local “neighbourwood”. Our outreach programs also showcase to teachers various strategies, techniques and ideas for outdoor learning.
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With some creative thinking we have successfully managed to deliver engaging outdoor learning for a variety of different grades with programs such as Gnome Homes, Adaptations, Tracking, and Trees. Additionally, Co-operative and Team Building activities as well Traditional Games have been great for fun outdoor learning.
As another path to bring the natural world to students, we have experimented with taking students on virtual nature hikes looking for animal tracks, feeding chickadees or seeing other animal signs. These virtual hikes have been an interesting learning experience for us, as we try to figure out how to move through the woods with a selfie stick and smartphone. So far, we have not lost a phone in a pond!
As we move into the spring months with some drier and warmer conditions, teachers are eager to have us come visit their schools.
May is almost completely booked at this point!
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"We know how important this summer is to our children’s growth and well-being. We know how important it is to parents to get back on track to support their children’s independence. Camp is not simply an escape or an experimental venture in the time of COVID, it is essential skill building and a fertile safe-space in preparing your children for their current challenges and future opportunities.
Right now, our children need less screen time and more camp! This means that we are preparing for our, 'best summer yet', with adherence to safety measures to ensure we are doing everything to mitigate any effects COVID-19 could potentially have on the camp community this summer."
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Same great camp experience with a few tweaks for everyone's safety! |
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Another Zero Carbon Primer
from Deirdre McGahern of Straworks
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The Health Centre will be a Carbon Sink!
Thanks to the Builders for Climate Action carbon calculator, we estimate the Health Centre’s material carbon emissions to be 6.9 tons. The wood, straw and cellulose insulation will be storing 12.5 tons that they absorbed during photosynthesis when they were plants. This means the net difference is -5.6 tons. So, as long as the building stands, it is a carbon sink!
In contrast, if we built the Health Centre conventionally, with a concrete foundation, spray foam insulation and brick on the exterior, the material emissions would jump to approximately 39 tonnes.
The Health Centre will be on the right side of climate change during its operational phase, too. Super levels of insulation and diligent air sealing mean the heating loads will be low. An ultra efficient air-sourced heat pump, powered by Peterborough’s relatively green grid, will do the job, and fit the project goal of low carbon construction and operation emissions.
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Thank you Deirdre! This is an excellent primer for those who want to understand how a ‘zero’ building comes together and how this kind of construction has huge environmental benefits! Follow Straworks on Instagram for ongoing updates on the construction process!
We continue to raise funds to outfit the interior of the Health Centre – beds, towels, curtains….shower curtains!
You are just a few clicks away from making a real difference in the lives of kids and the planet!
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Goats Visit the Environment Centre!
Yes ... Super Goats!
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Staff member Sue Clarke is an animal lover – dogs, cats, cattle, miniature horses…you name it, she has probably either saved one or is currently housing one! She enjoys sharing her friends with others and brought her goats Taco (Batman) and Cheezie (Superman) to the Environment Centre recently. The students in our Woodsy Wednesday program were thrilled to welcome the ‘kids’ to the Centre for some petting and hugging!
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Animal Showcase: Mountain Goats |
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It seemed appropriate that we showcase goats this month after goats were showcased to our students at the Environment Centre!
Goats like ‘superman’ and ‘batman’ may be super-goats but they are not indigenous to Canada. The Mountain Goat is native to Canada, descending from an ancient Asiatic goat-antelope and probably arrived in North America from Siberia in the last ice age. However, they are not a member of the ‘goat’ family but rather the cattle-antelope family, so the name is a bit misleading.
Mountain goats are found in the Canadian Rockies and have adapted to life on steep slopes and rocky outcrops where footholds are usually covered in snow and ice. The Mountain Goat is a sure-footed climber and is most active in daylight when visibility is good.
Both males and females have beards, short tails, long black horns, and woolly white double coats. Extra wool is shed in the spring. They are herbivores and eat grasses, herbs, sedges, ferns, mosses and lichens, twigs, and leaves. In the wild, they live on average 12 to 15 years.
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A Pathways to Stewardship & Kinship Update
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February's winter wonderland provided plenty of unique outdoor adventures for Pathway Explorers during the successful #Landmark Challenge, which encouraged families to log one Landmark activity to celebrate Family Day. From snowshoeing to ice sculptures and skating on the canal, participants boosted the total Landmarks logged to 3,200 by March 15th!
Want to get outdoors, have fun, and help the Pathway Project reach our goal of 10,000 Landmark activities by 2023? It’s easy to register and report your Landmarks right on the website. Every entry is entered into the monthly prize draw. Visit the Video Centre for a step-by-step tutorial of the reporting process and for other educational videos from local leaders and activity consultants. Get inspired by the Pathway community in the Activity Centre or see who else has contributed by visiting the Goal Tracker page. There are 30 amazing Pathway Landmarks to discover – all with the goal of encouraging a love of the great outdoors while building strong and resilient communities.
Camp Kawartha partners with many community organizations to help give regional children opportunities to develop stewardship skills. Working with us in school and family programs are groups such as Think Outside, Otonabee Conservation, Riverview Park and Zoo, Learning from the Land and Indigenous People, GreenUP, Farms at Work, and the Kawartha World Issues Centre. We strive to give important Landmark experiences to every young person, from birth through their teen years.
Working together, we're well on the way!
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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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Do you know someone who might enjoy these newsletters and learning about Camp Kawartha? Please forward this Newsletter along and help us build our community. |
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