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. | |
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Great news: Summer Camp Registration is opening soon!
We are so excited to announce that registration will begin on Tuesday, November 1st at 7 p.m. - check our website for more information on the dates and rates for summer 2024. Leadership applications are due on Wednesday, November 8th, 2023.
Spots tend to fill up very quickly, so make sure you don’t miss it! A letter will be emailed out to returning Summer Camp families announcing the opening of registration. You can also follow our social media platforms to stay up to date with registration deadlines and countdowns:
Instagram: @campkawartha
Facebook: @campkawartha
Contact our Summer Camp Director Emma if you have any questions at emma@campkawartha.ca.
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Camp Kawartha introduces two new Outdoor Education options: | |
The Extended Day Option for School Groups! | |
Here is a new programming option for teachers. If you are only able to come for one day – why not consider the Extended Day Visit?
The day is structured so that the class will not only participate in our regular curriculum-linked programming, but they stay for a dinner and campfire – with songs, stories, and games. A lot packed into a day of wonderful long day of outdoor learning and community building. Everything is finished by 7:00 p.m.
So, if you are a teacher or know a teacher, then reach out to our Clear Lake Site Outdoor Education Registrar, Susan (sramey@campkawartha.ca) to find out more about this exciting option!
| For more information, see our website. | |  |
The Return of Forest School for a Day! |  | |
Camp Kawartha will be bringing back Forest School for a Day! Forest Schools are a model of education where most of the learning takes place outside. Forest Schools still follow the curriculum – they just use the natural world as a venue for teaching about science, social studies, math, the arts and physical education.
Forest Schools encourage discovery, hands-on learning, working collaboratively, and exploring the local environment. Programs are taught by professional educators, many teacher-trained.
More and more studies are showing the health benefits of time spent outside, including improved mental health, increased focus and initiative, and the ability to cooperate more. Most importantly, students report being happier after spending even one day outside.
You’ll spend the entire day outside, participating in two of our award-winning curriculum-linked programs. Try your hand at traditional games, learn tracking and trailing, become a bird whisperer, and learn about bird ecology or create unique nature art. For a complete listing of programs visit: www.campkawatha.ca.
Location and cost:
- This takes place on our beautiful Range Area, which includes 185 acres of forest, fields, wetlands, and more than 6.3 km of trails.
- Our 25-foot teepee will be your home base.
- $25 per student.
- Minimum 25 students.
- To make a booking, contact sramey@campkawartha.ca
For more information, see https://campkawartha.ca/outdoor-education.
To make a booking, contact sramey@campkawartha.ca.
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The Healing Garden Officially Opens! | |
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The Healing Garden, which surrounds the Health Centre, was officially opened this month!
In attendance were donors David and Patricia Morton, whose funding supported the creation of this magical garden – consisting of a waterfall, bird-friendly habitat, sensory and Zen garden, gnome home building station and many features that welcome nature to our Health Centre, including berry bushes, bird boxes, bat box, and more!
This makes our Health Centre healthy both inside (as a negative carbon building) and outside.
It was so great to have the students from Chemong Public School present, who were the first to officially engage with this area. With mental health issues on the rise, having a tranquil, quiet space provides our guests with a chance to play in and engage with nature. Research has shown that kids who play in natural areas are less anxious, happier and focus better when they come back inside.
We are very grateful to the Morton’s for their generosity. The Morton Healing Garden is an exemplar of how we can naturalize landscapes that are healthy for both people and the planet!
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Our Summer Camp Registrar is Moving On
We are so sad to announce that James White, our Summer Camp and Environment Centre Registrar, has decided to move on. James came to us seven years ago from the hotel industry and brought a range of registration skills, problem-solving skills, and strong people skills with him.
He was quick to learn the Camp’s system and brought a drive and dedication to the pivotal roles he played here, always ensuring Camp families were in the know and were helped along when registration questions popped up. We will certainly miss his steady hand at the tiller, his humour, and his devotion to the Summer Camp families and the Environment Centre students.
James, thank you for your hard work, your gift with people, and your devotion to serving the Camp community! We shall miss you!!
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Tree Canada & LCBO Help Fund a Tree Planting Program! | |
Local Girl Guides, Trent University students, and Otonabee Conservation banded together to help Camp Kawartha plant trees on October 1st. Over 15 participants attended the Camp’s main site on Clear Lake and took up shovels and watering cans to help with the Camp’s reforestation project.
The derecho of May 2022 and another major windstorm in June toppled over 600 mature trees leaving huge gaps in the forest and destroying the tree canopy. By planting these trees in areas that were decimated by the windstorms, we are helping re-establish a new forest and vital canopy quickly, creating a healthy ecosystem and increasing biodiversity. This will have a very positive impact now and into the future.
With the guidance of Otonabee Conservation staff, volunteers were provided with instructions about the proper techniques for planting seedlings and plugs. Various native species, including pines, maples, oaks, and birches were spread over a large area, replacing the lost mature trees.
Funding from Tree Canada made the purchase of the trees possible. We are so grateful to Tree Canada for their funding and the LCBO for their financial support of the Tree Canada program. It helped accelerate our reforestation project.
This is the second year of partnership between the LCBO and Tree Canada. Camp Kawartha is one of 12 Partners in Planting projects across Ontario this year.
We also offer thanks to the Guides and Trent students for getting so many of the trees in the ground before freeze-up. It’s very generous of them to look to the future with us.
If you are interested in finding out more about Camp Kawartha’s reforestation project, reach out to Executive Direction, Jacob Rodenburg – jrodenburg@campkawartha.ca.
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It's time to Register for Nature School | |
Upgrading our Wastewater Management System | |
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Please note that our main facilities will be closed from October 23rd until the end of November as we are replacing our wastewater management system.
There will be portable washrooms and a wash station available for the programs running on-site.
Thanks to the help of our generous donors, CK is replacing its current aging septic system, which is at the end of its long, useful life.
The old system was installed all the way back in 1985 when the camp was acquired by Rotary members who saved the camp from falling into private ownership. This allowed Camp Kawartha to do year-round programming in order to stay viable. The wastewater system since that time has served our camp and its visitors well, becoming central to the function and operations of our organization. But with the increasing volume of visitors and students coming through our facilities each year, a newer septic system that can handle new demands is essential.
The new system is the greenest permitted by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. This will also enable CK to modestly expand its capacity by 25%, reaching an extra 3,500 campers, students, visitors and workshop participants per year.
This upgrade aligns with CK’s commitment to net-positive water and our goal of Branching Out for a Sustainable Future.
Camp Kawartha staff will not be on-site during the installation, but we will continue to be available to communicate over email.
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Nature Showcase
Fall Colours
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Why do leaves turn red, orange, and yellow every autumn? And what is their real colour after all?
A fun fact that some of you may know but many of us have never been taught is that the real colour of the leaves of deciduous trees isn’t actually green.
In the summer, leaves turn green due to the chlorophyll they use to turn sunlight into energy through the process of photosynthesis. This converted energy then serves to feed the tree in the form of sugar.
However, as summer turns to fall, the days get shorter, and the amount of sunlight the trees receive becomes less and less.
The chlorophyll in the leaves then decreases, and the new lack of chlorophyll reveals the real colour of the leaves: yellow, orange and red pigments, which had been masked with green in the sunnier seasons.
Make sure to take a good look around and soak in the natural beauty of our forests before the fall season is over!
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Credit: Rachel Greenberg via WholesomeNsuchArt | | | | |
