June 2023 – With school coming to an end, it’s time to celebrate another year of exploring the magic of nature with young people we welcome through our Environmental Education program. Our Environmental Education program sparks students’ curiosity through hands-on, experiential learning outdoors and in classrooms. Youth can visit our Excelsior property to explore natural habitats and expand on in-class lessons.
Every year, we welcome over 4,000 youth through this program. All lessons are tied to Minnesota State Education Standards or focus on social-emotional learning (SEL). We reduce barriers to nature-based and STEM education through financial assistance on a sliding scale.
In celebration of another successful year, hear from young people and educators why this program is so extraordinary!
Young People Shared…
My favorite thing about Camp Fire is:
“Going on the canoes and falling in the water.”
“Everyone is really nice and the activities are fun!”
“The archery and the people there who are so welcoming and helpful!”
“Being outside with friends.”
Partners Shared…
Evergreen Park Elementary School
“Staff were phenomenal and super engaging with our students! Staff were super positive and very knowledgeable! Staff were a HUGE part of this field trip being such a great experience! Within our STEM programming around innovation, our 3rd graders are “problem solvers”. Strong connections to problem solving were present with the challenges around the group balancing challenge, the tile challenge, and the compass activity.”
Lucy Craft Laney School
“Students enjoyed looking for different leaves and learning about trees. The kids definitely enjoyed being outside in a beautiful environment that they could run around and be kids.”
Green Central Escuela Bilingüe
“Un abrazo y muchas gracias por tener tan maravillosa area de recreación y aprendizaje para nuestros estudiantes.”
(A huge thank you very much for having such a wonderful recreation and learning area for our students.)
Thank you to the Opus Foundation, Xcel Energy Foundation, Center Point Energy Foundation, 3M Foundation, and individual donations for helping make this program possible.
