We’re excited to announce our in-person Spring Camp for learners is happening May 8–11 at Cultus Lake, in the Lower Mainland.
“It’s a great opportunity for our grade 9 to 12 learners to gather and learn together in a community of peers,” says SelfDesign Vice Principal and current lead camp facilitator Vanessa Kuran. “We’ll be offering something for everyone at Spring Camp — time and learning in nature, Indigenous and makers’ arts and crafts, a ropes course, archery, time to reflect, environmental stewardship, disc golf and other sports, board games, silly games, strategy games, singalongs, campfire jams, time to chill, hanging out with new friends, and more!”
Spring Camp is the second in-person camp we’ve held since pandemic public health restrictions suspended the camps in March 2020.
Learners in grades 9 to 12 who are enrolled with SelfDesign® Learning Community and learners in grade 9 and up, or age 15 and up, who are registered with SelfDesign® Home Learning are eligible to sign up for our in-person camps.
Winter Camp a resounding success
Our first post-restrictions in-person camp took place in February at Gardom Lake Camp, Enderby, British Columbia. About 20 SelfDesign learners in grades 9 and up attended Winter Camp.
“I had a wonderful time and am so glad I was able to go,” one learner told us.
“Thank you so much for making these camps happen again!” another said. “All the facilitators and staff were amazing!”
“It was my first SelfDesign camp, and I really enjoyed it!” another learner shared. “Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to put it together!”
The learners gathered for three and a half days of winter camp activities, learning and fun. They connected to and socialized with each other, played games together, took part in outdoor and snow activities, and explored Indigenous ways of knowing and art as a way to express themselves. The Indigenous drum-making workshop, led by SelfDesign educator, and our former Indigenous education facilitator, Patricia Collins, was one of the learners’ favourite activities at the camp.
“It was difficult, but I felt really proud after creating my drum,” a learner shared.
Meeting and connecting with peers — in person
One of our core beliefs at SelfDesign is that learning is enriched and amplified through conversations and relationships with others — and that’s why we’re so excited to be offering our in-person camps once again. The camps provide opportunities for learners to connect, share and socialize with their peers in informal and impromptu ways that often aren’t available during online real-time meetings.
The learners told us that meeting and getting to know each other in person was the biggest highlight of the Winter Camp experience.
“It was really neat spending time with other home learners, singing songs and going on walks,” a learner said. “I made some friends and shared a bunch of little experiences both with the other campers and the facilitators that I’ll never forget.”
“I loved connecting with all the wonderful people,” another told us. “It was overall amazing.”
“A highlight was definitely being in such an incredible environment with such incredible people. The combination of being in nature, having fun, having structure, having space held so wonderfully and having everyone there putting so much effort into their presence was so amazing,” another shared.
More in-person camps to come!
In addition to preparing for Spring Camp, the SelfDesign Camps team is busy planning and organizing our in-person camp for learners for the 2023–2024 learning year. Due to popular demand, we’ll be holding Fall Camp 2023 on Vancouver Island in November. We’ve also booked Winter Camp 2024 at Gardom Camp in Enderby in February, and Spring Camp 2024 in the Kootenays. We also hope to reprise our popular family camps next learning year.
Read more about what our in-person camps mean to learners>
Read about how our learners can connect with each other at SelfDesign>
