Graced with beautiful weather, Lower School students from grades 7 and 8 travelled to the Burgoyne Outdoor Education and Research Centre (BOERC) for a day filled with learning, creating and being inspired by the nature around them.

BOERC has acres upon acres of forested land, large fields and ponds, teaming with wildlife. It offers a great area for students to escape the classroom and grow in a different environment.

With that in mind, Lower School teacher’s led the students to the countryside to participate in an array of activities that allowed them to express their creativity, test their knowledge of the world around us and burn off some steam.

Divided into their tribes, the students rotated to various stations, consisting of unique activities. One such station was dedicated to frisbee golf. Using the expanse of land, students relayed discs, as a team, towards a net competing for goals. Students had to work as a team and support one another in order to claim victory. There certainly wasn’t a shortage of laughs and cheers.

At a nearby station was an ecology activity, where students had to identify varieties of trees located on the surrounding land. This helped educate the students to be aware and appreciative of the environment in their own backyard, while testing their knowledge of ecological terminologies. Upon gazing up at the leaves and searching the ground beneath their feet, the students stumbled upon caterpillars, acorns and a beautiful array of coloured leaves.

Our students also got into the Thanksgiving spirit with a mason jar craft station. The rustic DIY project called for the children to their jars with items they had found in nature, including leaves and acorns.

Finally, the students sat pond-side for mindfulness and meditation time. Settled together, the students made beaded bracelets , with each bead representing a symbol that would remind its wearer to be mindful ­– water, symbolizing  personal reflection and calmness; air symbolizing freedom and breath; mountain symbolizing strength and grounding; and flower symbolizing inner beauty.

As the day came to a close, the students piled on the bus; their arms full of their creations and minds full of new knowledge and perspectives.

How grateful we are to have a place like BOERC in our own backyard, where students can experience nature in its purest form, flourish in a new environment and be inspired by all that is around them.