Camp Kawartha's mission is to inspire environmental leaders and stewards of all ages through dynamic, accessible, year-round outdoor programming and powerful partnerships to create meaningful change. | |
Your October Updates from Camp Kawartha! | |
Scroll down to get all caught up on Camp Kawartha's latest news! | |
NOW OPEN:
Summer Camp Registration for 2 Week Sessions, Leadership Camps and Canoe Trips!
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Our great leaders inspire us with awe! Leadership is nurtured in our youth through being connected to gratitude, compassion and wonder. It is about being in community and rising to the exciting challenges that life brings us. It's also about having a whole lot of fun!
Looking for an awesome opportunity to explore, grow, learn, and make lifelong friendships and memories this summer? Check out our leadership programs now open for registration!
Come join us! Our leadership Programs, for campers aged 14-17, provide campers with formative opportunities for leadership growth. Apply for one of Camp Kawartha's Leadership Programs today!
To register or inquire about sessions, please reach out to our registrar Serhii at serhii@campkawartha.ca.
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Our Rotary Health Centre Named as a Top Sustainability Project in Canada!
The Clean50 recognizes the top Canadian leaders in sustainability over the past 2 years. Key criteria are their ability to innovate design and inspire others to a regenerative and sustainable future. We were named one of the top 25 sustainability projects in Canada!!
"The new Rotary Health Centre demonstrates how buildings can help heal more than just bodies. In order for the new building to reflect the camp’s commitment to environmental stewardship, the new centre would incorporate the very best in sustainable design. That meant creating a building that could act as a carbon sink by incorporating materials that soak up more carbon than that is emitted during construction. The Rotary Health Centre uses non-toxic materials such as earthen floors, hemp and strawbale insulation, a high energy efficient heat pump as well a living roof.
The Camp also wanted to show that it is possible to create spaces where both people and nature can thrive. It was important to the team that the new build and its surroundings encourage children to engage with their environment, while showcasing to the health sector that medical facilities can be designed in a way that is energy efficient and also healthy for the environment. [Camp Kawartha's] vision went beyond sustainability—they wanted to create a space that inspires and regenerates, fostering a deeper connection between people and the natural world."
To read the full article click here!
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Look Forward to Learning in the Outdoors! | |
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"We often forget that we are nature. Nature is not something separate from us. So when we say that we have lost our connection to nature, we've lost our connection to ourselves."
Andy Goldsworthy
(photo from The Art of Andy Goldsworthy (2007))
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Get your kids outside!
The fall weather has been beautiful! As we move through October, the leaves are lighting up the woods with their bright golds and crimsons. We have lots of exciting projects to connect you and your kids with the amazing outdoors! Check out some inspiring art ideas by Andy Goldsworthy!
For more ideas and inspiration, check out our extensive library of resources for educators and families!
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Camp Kawartha is a rich learning experience for all students. Learning goes beyond the curriculum and includes life skills such as: community building, curiosity, and a joy of our Ontario environment. I will always bring my students here. | |
Bring Your Class for an Overnight or Extended Day Visit! | |
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We thrive when we are outdoors! The Camp Kawartha Outdoor Education Centre has over 60 curriculum linked programs that connected students to nature, build outdoor skills and promote sustainable living. Through our award-winning programming, we engage students in experiential and whole-body learning in transdisciplinary activities linked to environmental science, geography, art, history, outdoor recreation and teambuilding.
Our programs are aimed at building an ethic of stewardship linked to the UN goals of sustainability from early years of exploration and wonder through developing empathy, relationship skills and eco-systems awareness to foster agency and resilience in our youth and young adults.
Come join us for an overnight excursion at our Clear Lake Site where students can engage in academically rigorous programs but also stimulate growth mindsets through our climbing walls and high ropes, snow-shoeing and voyageur canoe activities. Campfires, stories and night-hikes round off our transformative educational experiences here at the Camp Kawartha Outdoor Education Centre. If your students aren't ready for an overnight visit, consider our Extended Day Programs, which end with a fire and the option of s'mores!
Click this link to visit our new website, check out the new online registration form, and learn more! Spaces are filling up, so book now to reserve your space!
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Camp Kawartha is a rich learning experience for all students. Learning goes beyond the curriculum and includes life skills such as: community building, curiosity, and a joy of our Ontario environment. I will always bring my students here. | |
What's Happening at the Environment Centre | |
Teachers! Bring your class to the Environment Centre!
Our Environment Centre, nestled within in the Trent Nature Sanctuary, offers Day Programs for schools. Check out our extensive range of programming options centred at one of the most sustainable buildings in Canada, designed by Fleming students in 2009.
We know that getting out on field-trips comes with additional costs of bussing students to and from the Environment Centre. For local schools, we offer a bus subsidy generously supported by the Gainey Foundation to help make our mandate of connecting kids with nature a reality.
| "Every time we bring classes you see the most unexpected students step up and take charge, demonstrating leadership skills that had previously gone unnoticed in the classroom environment. This inevitably gives them more confidence once we return to school." |
Parents! Enroll your children in Nature School!
The Environment Centre's Nature School is now in full swing - but we are still welcoming new members! We are excited to have a range of programs for students of all ages. Connecting with nature helps to establish a life-long bond with the beauty, joys, wonders and well-being found in the outdoors.
Forest Explorers (Mon & Wed: Ages 4-7): Forest Explorers fosters a love of Nature and a sense of belonging in our youngest students.
Woodsy Wednesdays & Forest Fridays (Wed & Fri: Ages 8-13): Students learn to deeply appreciate, understand, and feel at home in the natural world through play-based and inquiry-based learning experiences in the Trent Wildlife Sanctuary.
Rootwood (Tues: Ages 13-17): A dynamic and engaging program that fosters agency and belonging through active participation in understanding and promoting biodiversity and nature connection.
And introducing...
Forest Adventures, our new monthly Saturday program for ages 8-13! Each month, through lessons and adventures, games and play, projects and art, we enjoy the best of what each season has to offer and build knowledge, skills and a sense of community with nature and each other.
We still have some space in our Fall programs and registration is now open for our Winter sessions! Winter is when the world opens up to new possibilities and the animal stories abound in tracks and sightings of wildlife without the summer camouflage of leaves. Winter at the Environment Centre is full of outdoor fun that brings joy and resilience.
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PA Day and March Break Camps are Back!
Your children can come explore the outdoors on their next day off! The Camp Kawartha Environment Centre is excited to be offering PA Day and March Break Camps once again. Get a taste of our Nature School by using exploration, play and adventure to learn about the natural world. Camps run from 9am - 3pm with drop-off and pick-up happening at the front of the Environment Centre at 2505 Pioneer Road, Peterborough.
Registration is open now. Visit campkawartha.ca for more information or contact us at (705) 652-3860 ext. 201.
| You can always depend on a great experience at Camp Kawartha with Ontario Curriculum links, great facilities, friendly, knowledgeable staff and a well-run program. We look forward to returning each year for many years to come. A quote from the kids: “Do we have to leave?" | |
Take a Step Back in Time ...
As you go for a walk admidst the brightly coloured leaves, look down! You might see something from a different world…. Or rather, this world before there were maples with their crimson leaves and sweet, sweet sap and when the bright call of the jay was only a distant future dream of what might be possible in the world. Step back in time, back before the dinosaurs, to where life existed only in the oceans and was just beginning to emerge onto land.
Look down!
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Here in the Kawarthas, we walk daily through some of the thrilling events in earth’s history. On Turtle Island, we are part of the first continent to emerge as the earth cooled. The gneiss formations along the Acosta River in Yellowstone are the oldest in the world, dating to 4 billion years ago, geologically close to the formation of the earth and moon around 4.5 billion years ago. Rocks in the Kawarthas are much younger, the banded granite and gneiss are part of a mountain range dating back about 1 billion years, while the limestone around Lakefield was laid down 500 or so million years later, in the Paleozoic, when warm shallow seas covered most of North America.
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Life existed in the oceans then and was just poised to emerge onto land. There was a rapid diversification of invertebrates (likely due to an increase in oxygen!) that we mark as the beginning of the Palaeozoic Era. The ‘Cambrian explosion’ saw 35 new marine animal phyla evolve and was most rapid evolution and diversification of life on earth. This is the age of the arthropods such as the famous trilobites and the ectoderms, from which today’s five segmented creatures such as starfish evolved. The subsequent Ordovician Period, to when many of our local fossils date, marks the evolution of fish and the emergence of plant and animal life onto land!
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Our students and campers step onto the bottom of one of these tropical Ordovician seas whenever they walk on the range across the road from the camp. There you can see the fossils (pictured here) of this extraordinary marine environment. Some of them are quite visible, such as the cephalopods, but remember to look closely to see the small sea lilies, or crinoids, that look like small cheerios. Corals and other species such as gastropods and brachiopods are also common in our local limestone deposits that once were the floors of the Ordovician oceans.
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Protecting our Waterways through Innovation and Regenerative Design
We are delighted to celebrate the opening of our new biofilter septic system at Camp Kawartha. This is a revolutionary solution by Waterloo Biofilter, an Ontario company whose founder, Craig Jowett, developed this innovative and proven design at the University of Waterloo Centre for Groundwater Research in 1991. Managing wastewater is essential to protect our waterways, a key goal at Camp Kawartha! Waterloo Biofilter’s design incorporates foam cubes which absorb the water and provide a natural home for bacteria that love munching on phosphorus and nitrogen, removing up to 95% of these chemicals from wastewater! Using a natural design with a low ecological footprint, our new Waterloo Biofilter will help ensure that we are promoting biodiversity and healthy waterways while connecting our large community of campers, school groups and businesses to the awe and wonder of the outdoors!
Many thanks to the Ontario Trillium Foundation’s capital grant that served as a catalyst for supporting this venture. As always, we are grateful to the other donors who enabled this project to move from dream to reality. It was a delight to host our MPP Dave Smith (Peterborough-Kawartha) who did the honours of officially cutting the ribbon launching our new biofiltration unit. Emma Deyo from Waterloo Biofilter was also here to provide her expertise. Thanks to all who helped make this happen!
Check out Waterloo Biofilter’s website if you are interested! They offer small household and cottage units as well as more industrial-sized options.
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Birch Cabin: A new build with an old name!
Construction has begun on a new cabin at Camp Kawartha! Birch Cabin needed to be retired and in its place will be a new straw bale cabin. Straw-bale is considered one of the most sustainable building mediums, especially in our climate where insulation is important in both winter and summer. The new Birch Cabin will take its place in Camp Kawartha's fleet of straw bale designs, from the administration office, to the dining hall and our new award-winning Health Centre! And of course, our flagship Environmental Centre which promotes a number of different sustainable and regenerative choices.
Deidre from Straworks is hard at work getting the foundations laid. Progress is happening daily, so check out our Facebook and Instragram posts for further developments!
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“In recognition of Jacob’s outstanding contributions to the promotion and development of Outdoor Education in Ontario.”
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Celebrating Our Achievements
Congratulations to our Director, Jacob Rodenburg, who was awarded the Robin Dennis Award from the Council of Outdoor Educators of Ontario: “in recognition of Jacob’s outstanding contributions to the promotion and development of Outdoor Education in Ontario.”
We wholeheartedly agree! Thanks Jacob for all the enthusiasm, encouragement and downright awesome commitment to Outdoor Education for people of all ages!
To read the Instagram post from COEO click here!
Check out Jacob's latest book: The Book of Nature Connection: 70 Sensory Activities For All Ages.
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The food was delicious, varied, and thoughtfully prepared, catering to all dietary needs. Every meal felt like a special occasion, thanks to the care and skill of the kitchen staff.
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From Our Kitchen to Yours...
Garlic Cheese Biscuits
Ingredients:
2 c. flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 c. sharp cheddar cheese
1 c. cold buttermilk
1/2 c. unsalted butter, melted and cooled for 5 min.
Topping:
2 Tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp dried parsley
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt, garlic powder and cayenne pepper. Then mix in the cheese and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, mix the buttermilk and the melted butter until small lumps form.
- Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and mix until the dough is formed and the ingredients are no longer wet. Do not over mix!
- Lightly grease 1/4 c and scoop out the dough with it. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet (or silpat), leaving slightly more than an inch between each. You should have about 10 in total.
- Bake for about 12 minutes, until they are golden brown.
- While the biscuits are baking, combine the melted butter, garlic powder, and parsley. Brush the tops of the biscuits when they come out of the oven and serve immediately!
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Here are some amazing pictures of the life all around us! Send in your pictures and a story! We'd love to hear about your moments of awe and adventure! In our next newsletter, we'll share some of the moments from around our community. | |
One of our resident frogs in Abbey's Garden. | |
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Bees collecting the last of the goldenrod pollen. | |
A Hello From the Author!
Dear CK Community,
The wonder of tracking is one of the joys that Camp Kawartha has brought into my life. I'm looking forward to the snowy mornings before the hustle and bustle of the day, when the tracks of all who wandered, leaped and paused for a moment, ears twitching and eyes bright, are inscribed in the snow or on the frozen ice of our local silver maple swamps.
It's always a little difficult to walk in-step with the deer and coyotes or to bound like a rabbit! I'm following a superb editor and media whiz and offer much gratitude to Mira for both her leadership and inspiration in this role.
I've always been close to the land, as an archaeologist, educator and writer. My own relationship with Camp Kawartha has grown through my son's amazing experiences with the Environment Centre Nature School programs. I have an extensive background of teaching for the Trent Anthropology Department right across the road from the Environment Centre. My passions are landscape archaeology, well-being-for-all, transformative education, writing, music and photography. I've created and taught the teen-based WILD course at the Environment Centre as well as participated programming and sustainability endeavours. I am also one of the Outdoor Science Team at the Toronto French School. I am a member of the Trent University Archaeological Research Centre and teach for the Anthropology Department at Trent.
I'm excited to take on a new role at Camp Kawartha as the social media and fundraising lead. I look forward to getting to know the wider Camp Kawartha community and to participate more fully in building conversations and connections that build nature connection and well-being-for-all!
Leigh Symonds, PhD.
P.S. Can you see the chickadee in my picture?
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~ You made it to the end! Thank you very much for reading - Until next time! ~ | | | | |
