School Camps

Middle school camp experiences allow students to get away from campus, get to know their peers and teachers on a different level in a different environment, and learn new skills outside of the classroom environment. Throughout a multiple night camp adventure, you watch students grow, build new relationships and cultivate deeper connections within existing relationships. You hear students open up in different ways than they do in the classroom and challenge themselves with opportunities that only arise from these camp adventures.

Some of the students I taught at Concordia had never left the city – they spent every day going from their high rise apartment building to the school campus and back.  Some students had not yet learned to ride a bike, and many of them were unsure about inviting bugs and dirt into their lives.  Middle school camp is an exciting and rewarding experience for both students and our teachers.

As a camp programmer and leader, I believe that camp experiences should provide an appropriate challenge for students. As it is from challenging situations, we develop a more in-depth insight into ourselves, our limits and our potential, and learn about the limits and strengths of our peers. We learn how we interact with the world, we cultivate a deeper connection to nature, and we learn how we deal with difficult situations in a group setting.  In the lead up to any camp experience, it is essential to engage in conversations with students about the importance of challenges, slight discomforts, stepping out of our comfort zones, and the potential for growth and forging new relationships.

Past camp experiences have taught me that situations that deeply challenge us, are the ones, on reflection, that become the most valued.  The very fact that students consistently demonstrate the ability to overcome challenges is why camp is an essential part of any school experience and why the students enjoy the camp experience so much.

My aim when leading students on camp experiences, whether it is for one night or one week, is for these camps to nurture resilience, independence, grit, and new friendships, empathy, and peace. Some of the contributions I made to the Green School school camp programming during my four-year career include the following:

Year 1

I led a group of seventh and eighth-grade students on a three-night and four-day middle school camp adventure to Jatilewh, Bali, Indonesia.  I also worked with three fellow teachers to develop, plan, and lead a group of high school students on a service and surf trip to Malang, Java, Indonesia. (click below to read more)

Year 2 

I spearheaded the fall and spring, MS Camp, planning for 100+ students. Unfortunately, due to the Mt. Agung volcano’s eruption, the fall camps were cancelled within days of the camp week. Come spring of that academic year; I initiated an alternative camp week to make up for the lost camp experience in October, which involved daily off-campus adventures and a camp-out and bbq on the campus field for our entire middle school learning neighbourhood. (click below to read more)

Year 3

With the volcano still active at the start of the school year and all overnight camps still at a halt, I once again took full ownership of coordinating and developing our October middle school camp week for 125 students. The camp week included three different daily activities for each grade level, including ziplining, waterfall hiking, mountain biking, and a new component, “The Challenge”. “The Challenge” involved a full day of on-campus team challenges of a physical and mental nature.  (click below to read more)

As the volcano settled later that year, I proposed an April elective camp opportunity for our middle school students.  I coordinated, budgeted, and created communication content for parents for six elective middle school camp experiences. On top of that, I also designed two of the six elective camps and led one for twenty middle school students.  (click below to read more)

Year 4

I took on a new role as highschool PW teacher and school-wide camps and trips coordinator. I coordinated four high school October camps and helped develop and lead one of the high school service-learning trips to Raja Ampat, Indonesia (which unfortunately never happened due to COVID 19). In the middle school division, I coordinated three October camps and co-coordinated and led a group of middle school students to the Borneo Nature Foundation Youth Initiative Camp in Palangkaraya, Borneo. Furthermore, I worked with the health and safety management team to develop our first thorough camps and trips policy documents. (click below to read more)

In the clickable boxes below, you can read more detail, see images, and find some resources I created from the various camps and trips I coordinated and lead in the last four years.