Brightwater Science and Environmental Camp – May 13-14, 2015
By:Carolyn Barton
From May 13-14, 2015, I traveled to Brightwater Science and Environmental Camp, located at Beaver Creek, Saskatchewan, with thirty-five grade six students. To make camp possible, I had the help of one other teacher, and fourteen dedicated parents who did everything from food preparation, to supervising groups, to cabin chaperoning. In small groups, students learned from four facilitators who shared their knowledge over the course of the two days. At Brightwater, students focused on deepening their connections to the prairie landscape through hiking, ethnobotany learning, artistic representations, and traditional indigenous knowledge. It is though this deepened connection that my students are able to better understand the importance of preserving the diversity of the prairie landscape, and understand their responsibility to it.
Upon returning from camp, I asked students to, in writing, tell me why camp was important to them. Below are some of their responses:
“Camp changed the way I look at and feel about the Saskatchewan landscape…during one of the hikes, we wrote windspark poetry to express ourselves. I wrote about the new connections I feel between us and nature.” – Omair
“At Brightwater, we learned interesting things in a fun way we wouldn’t have been able to at school. For example, we learned about ethnobotany by going on a hike and experiencing nature.” – Lexi
“Camp changed how I think about Saskatchewan. Brightwater inspired me to go outside more often.” – Nate
“My favourite part of Brightwater was that we weren’t just sitting down in school, and we could actually see the plants and experience them.” – Joe
“My favourite part of camp was ethnobotany—I could have learned that stuff in class but it was more fun being there because I actually got to see the plants.” – Tanys
“At camp I learned many things, but something that really stuck with me was that this land has to be protected. My favourite part of camp was experiencing the beauty of our landscape.” – MacKenzie
“This trip taught me to notice things in nature that I’ve never noticed before.” – Elaine
“It was a great opportunity to be able to go to camp because it was a hands-on experience that we could not have had at school or at home. We are so thankful for you [SaskOutdoors] because we could not have had these experiences without you.” – Kadie
