"America, Take a Walk"

Get Hooked On Nature. 

The trend for today's youth spending less and less time outdoors is continuing to climb. In this Ted Talk from 2014, Ben Klasky states, on average, school age students' screen time use is 7 hours and 40 minutes per day. In his Talk, he repeats this statistic just to make sure those numbers sink in. This is a startling statistic that environmental educators are trying to curb. Listen to Klasky's Talk below to hear health benefits to getting outdoors and leave with some ideas on how to get your child out into nature even more! 

 "When you're just a little bit out of your comfort zone you're at peak learning" - Ben Klasky

Earth Day: Let's Celebrate with a Call to Action!

The work of today is the history of tomorrow, and we are its makers. - Juliette Gordon Low

Take a moment to really let this quote sink in. What are we doing on this earth if not changing and shaping the planet on a daily basis. Everything we do affects the world around us, and we live with the consequences of our actions (both positive and negative). So let us think about how we are using our impact for the greater good. In less than a week it is believed that ONE BILLION  people in 192 countries will take part in what is the largest civic-focused day of action in the world. 

Let's add to that number as a group! Let me hit you with some facts about Earth Day, our current earthly state, and what we can do to help!

First: Did you know, that the first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970 as a result of the negative impacts from industrial development and the Santa Barbara Oil Blowout of 1969 that spilled three million gallons of oil into the Pacific Ocean? Denis Hayes organized the first day of recognition and Senator Gaylord Nelson played a large role in making it a day of observance for years to come. Next year will be the 50th Anniversary!

"The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction." - Rachel Carson, Founder of the environmental movement and author of Silent Spring

Second: This year's theme for Earth Day is Protect our Species! Did you know that between one and five species will go extinct annually - BUT scientists are estimating that we are losing species at 1,000-10,000 times the normal rate, with multiple extinctions daily. Species are disappearing before we even learn about them! It's up to us as a human race to minimize our impact, educate ourselves, and be proactive in our protection of Earth.

Third: Here are some neat results of people working together on Earth Day to create positive environmental impacts:

• In 2012 - more than 100,000 people rode bikes in China to reduce CO2 emissions and save fuel
• In 2011 - 28 million trees were planted in Afghanistan
• In Panama - 100 endangered species of orchids were planted and maintained to prevent extinction

A HUGE endeavor and accomplishment is currently taking place. For the 50th Anniversary (2020) Earth Day Network is striving for 3 Billion Acts of Green. This could be no longer using plastic bags, giving up meat, planting a tree, eating organic produce, writing notes to the government, and the list could go on and on! It's anything that you do with a environmentally-conscious effort. 

What can you do to help get to this goal of 3 Billion Acts of Green?

• Check out the link with unlimited ways you can take action!
• Plant a tree/group of trees
• Try composting
• Take a walk in nature and just appreciate it
• Host a recycling party
• Start a letter-writing campaign to the government about ecological concerns
• Start a neighborhood garden
• Clean the highways and streams - litter control
• Monitor electricity being used in your house and cut back (shower length, leaving the lights on  when you leave the room, water faucet usage, TV/Phone screen time. 
• Have a zero-waste day (week, month, year!)

At camp, we're conscious of the amount of electricity we use, we host various schools during the month of May to teach environmental education, focus on taking only what you know what you'll eat while reducing the amount of food you take for yourself. It's important to know that these practices can be part of your life at camp and outside of it!

Most importantly, use these tactics in your daily lives, and together we'll be able to make a difference for our planet. As we prepare to celebrate this special day, I'll leave you with this quote by John Muir while we think of the bigger picture and what our impact truly is:

"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe." - John Muir, Naturalist, known as the Father of the National Parks

Let's make Earth Day 2019 something we're proud to be a part of!

The Enviro Center Closes (for the Season)

Enviro Ed - Week 1

Today at exactly 1:39 PM we said goodbye to our last students from Environmental Education for the season. We had an AWESOME three weeks that included ten schools and 431 students. Students got mucky in the muck pond, saw tons of creatures at Hidden Lake, roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over campfires and tons of other awesome things.

One of the activities is Solos, which is the students going out into the woods and spending 30-40 minutes immersed in nature. During their time in nature, they could read, write or just simply observe their surroundings. One of the students wrote a poem that she shared in front of the entire Enviro Ed group at breakfast this morning, and we figured it was something worth sharing with the entire Foley community.

Alone in the Woods

I am sitting at my tree

the birds have come to greet me. 

The wind is playing with the leaves

as they fall, the ground receives. 

Rain comes down but trees protect

I'm a little wet, not wrecked.

Many bugs crawl all around

but they do not make a sound.

Lots and lots of grass blades grow

sprouting up from ground below. 

There is moss on lots of things

overpowering like kings.

Many sticks and twigs have fell

all around the ground as well. 

As I leave this peaceful spot

things I've seen won't be forgot.

Now it's time for us to get ready for our summer camp season to begin in 17 short days! We've already got some staff here and more come this weekend before the rest of the staff arrives for work week on June 7. A lot of happening and we couldn't be more excited! 

Environmental Ed - Week 1

Last week we had an AWESOME time with sixth graders for five schools in Minnesota (St. Bartholomew, Annunciation, Holy Trinity, St. Boniface and Marquette) at the Foley Environmental Education Center. Not only did we have some super fun students in camp, but we did some pretty cool things as well.

A Day at the Enivro Center

Dr. Earth

Each day students woke up in their cabins and then cleaned their cabin (in hopes of winning the Ms. and Mr. Spic and Span Award). Students then made their way to the Weather Station to predict what the weather would be like for the day. Each day at Foley we focus on a different character trait - Caring, Respect, Responsibility, Trustworthiness and Citizenship - so before breakfast each morning a couple of students would do a reading about the day's character trait. After each meal, Dr. Earth would visit to see how wasteful we have been. Dr. Earth would also remind everyone to stay on the paths (so we wouldn't become "Soil Destroyers") and to turn off lights when we left a building (so we wouldn't become "Energy Wasters") Throughout the day students attended academic classes and later in the day  had rec time (free time to go climbing, shoot at archery or play other games) and late-night adventure (going to look for snakes or frogs, large field games, twilight canoeing, etc.). On Wednesday night, the students went to various campfire-sites for Team Hotdog where they cooked hotdogs and s'mores over a campfire for dinner. 

Academic Classes

Wildlife Viewing

Aquatics & Wildlife Viewing: Students traveled to Hidden Lake to take in some beautiful scenery and canoe. Using binoculars students were able to spy some pretty cool things including two eagles' nests. As students traveled to Hidden Lake and canoed around they saw a variety of animals including eagles, painted turtles, snapping turtles, deer, beavers, muskrats and a variety of fish and birds.

Blind Hike: After every student put on a blindfold, they held hands and made their way through the woods without using their sense of sight and without talking! Over roots and rocks students used each other and their available senses to maneuver.

Climbing & Team Games: Students had the chance to take on Foley's 38-foot climbing tower! Using the commands they learned on the first day students used teamwork and encouragement to make it up the wall. When they weren't climbing, students had the chance to use teamwork skills during team games.

Critters

Critters: At critters, students learned all about the turtles and snakes in the Camp Foley Nature Center. Everyone had the opportunity to hold a Western Hognose, Pueblo Milk Snake or King Snake. Plus they met Foley's two turtles, a Painted Turtle named Muncher and a Snapping Turtle named Bowser.

Fish Survival: Students had a chance to get their science on while determining what kind of fish can survive in Whitefish Lake. Using samples of lake water, students went through several steps to come to a conclusion. about their fish.

Geocaching: Armed with a GPS ("Trust the GPS!") and a partner, students navigated through the woods to Upper Tree Houses where the group met up. Students then used their GPS to find different caches located around the tree house.

Geology: Students learned all about ROCKS in geology. They learned about how different types of rocks are formed, how the continents formed and separated, and all about erosion.

Muck Adventure

Micros: At micros, students had the chance to find microorganisms in water from a nearby Arrowhead Lake. Using their microscopes and their partners students recorded what they found.

Muck Adventure: The theme for this class seemed to be: How many worms can you eat? Students took off their shoes and socks, rolled up their pants and waded into the below-the-knee deep water to explore the muck pond.

Solos: Probably the quietest academic class, students had the opportunity to spend some time in nature all alone, away from their classmates. Students could write, draw, read or just enjoy their natural surroundings as they listened to the wind in the trees and the other sounds of nature.

Woodskills

Woodskills: Students spent their time at woodskills sawing, peeling the bark of wood, throwing tomahawks, starting a fire with flint and steel and whittling! Some of the tasks were easier than the others, but each student found something they seemed to excel at during their time at woodskills.

Overall it was a great week! We are so thankful for everyone that helped make it possible (including Mother Nature who provided us with some beautiful, sunny days)! We hope you left the Foley Environmental Education Center with as many great memories as we did!