The new Nature Centre will be the home of Outdoor Education for children of all ages and abilities and our amazing Outdoor Education team and all the children currently participating can’t wait until they can walk through the doors of the new Nature Centre for this first time. It will be so exciting! While they patiently wait, here are some highlights of what they have been up to in in the past year.

  • After a two-year hiatus, school field trips finally resumed to the current Scanlon Creek Nature Centre andBoy with sunglasses outside in winter holding a work booklet ready for birding Outdoor Education team had a very impressive 14,180 engagements in school programming.
  • In March, a family event at Scanlon Creek called ‘Spring into Birding’ was hosted thanks to the generous support of TD Friends of the Environment.
  • A ‘Walking Together Through the Four Seasons’, multi-partner initiative was successfully launched to provide professional development to Early Childhood Educators in York Region with a focus on Indigenous ways of knowing.
  • Therapy in the Woods programming came back in a brand new summer camp model after a three-year hiatus, thanks again to support from TD FEF.
  • The Outdoor Education team hosted Pop-Up Scanlon School to provide families with childcare options during school closures.
  • There were 2,636 participant engagements in Community Programming.
  • This year, above and beyond our regular curriculum-based programming, the outdoor education team brought back our ‘Spring into Scanlon’ March Break Camp after a three-year hiatus and it was very popular!
  • This summer, a week-long session of Forest School will be piloted to gauge interest.
  • Finally, the Outdoor Education team and Foundation are working hard to get more support, so fingers crossed that our application to the Canada Post Community Foundation for an all-terrain wheelchair and to RBC Tech for Nature for multi-year programming support.

With your help, we will be able to continue delivering innovative programming in a building that inspires the climate champions of tomorrow. Thank you!