The past
two summers have been very challenging for all. It has also been challenging
for the Gould Lake Outdoor Centre (GLOC). Because of COVID-19 restrictions, we
were unable to run our typical summer programing, which usually consist of
credit-based canoe, hiking and kayaking wilderness trips for students in grades
6-12. This past summer, the GLOC team got together with the guidance of LDSB
and KFL&A Public Health to create a weekly Nature Camp day program for
students in grades 1-3. We hosted the camps at different LDSB school sites in
July and August to accommodate different areas in our region. This was a new
endeavor for to run programming away from our home base at Gould Lake, but we
quickly learned that the lessons and activities that we are known for could be
adaptable to a school yard setting. We set up shade shelters for lessons, and
even filled up old canoes with water for daily water fun. We even linked
together tarps to make slip and slides on our Weather themed day. In the end we
were able to reach over 90 primary students at camp, where they spent over 7
hours a day outside learning through play and exploration. As hard as COVID programming
has been, it allowed us to think outside the box to create this new summer
program, which we plan to continue for years to come. To continue with our
usual summer program of credit-based wilderness trips, we will be delighted to again
offer our primary age Nature Camp next summer.