Nature's Calling receives $74,400 Trillium grant
- Chris Abbott
- May 21
- 4 min read
Chris Abbott
Editor
Nature’s Calling Environmental Education recently announced they were the recipient of a $74,400 Resilient Communities Fund grant from the provincial government’s Ontario Trillium Foundation.
Over a period of 24 months, the money will be used to update and expand curriculum-based outdoor programming for Nature’s Calling Environmental Education local schools.
The project will allow Nature’s Calling Environmental Education to update its curriculum-based learning units to comply with the Ontario government’s new STEM-based curriculum programming goals. Students from local school boards who attend the outdoor education units enhance their appreciation and respect for the land, while in a fun and engaging outdoor environment.
“We’ve been here (leasing land at 1353 Charlotteville Road 8, Simcoe) for just over a year now, due to the generosity of Rhyus and Andrea Reeves, who also have three boys involved in our Forest School. We were donated this school portable from Woodland RV near St. Williams…” said Bernie Solymnar, Founder & Executive Director of NCEE, at the April 23rd Trillium grant announcement.
Work still needs to be done on the portable, Solymar noted.
“Today we have 21 kids and three staff. We now have school groups coming as well – we will have 15 school groups coming, so we’re busy. And as soon as we’re done with Forest School, we transition into Summer Camp for the next eight weeks. We just had a new staff member start today, which is great.”
It’s a quiet area, except for occasional farm animals crowing and quacking and nearby birds, calling in the woods.
“You don’t feel like you’re close to Simcoe at all,” said Reeves. “Or close to anybody here.”
“You don’t hear the traffic most of the time,” Solymar nodded.
The Forest School – a registered, unregulated private school through the Ministry of Education - is primarily an outdoor school. Kids spend most of the day outside.
“It’s basically inquiry based, child led education,” said Solymar. “The educators here are basically facilitators and the children are the ones that make decisions on what they really want to do for that day, and what they want to get involved in. It is all outdoors, six-and-a-half hours out of seven, even in light rain.
“They’re learning – they’re learning math because they’re counting leaves or branches that they collect. There is some reading… and of course, science is in everything that we do out here.”
Solymar said Forest Schools started in Scandinavia, spread into Europe, then eventually came to North America.
“They were becoming popular 15 years ago when we first started, but during Covid, a lot of new Forest Schools popped up. Schools were closed and people were looking for alternatives.”
The Forest School year runs similar to regular schools, however most students only come to the Forest School once a week.
“Some come up to three days a week. A lot of them to school the rest of the time… but they need that one day outside.”
“I’m a big fan of Nature’s Calling,” said Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Bobbi Ann Brady, who attended the Trillium Foundation grant announcement on April 23. “I think it’s fantastic. I appreciate a property like this, and educating young people outside – the classroom isn’t the ideal place for all kids. It wasn’t for me, it wasn’t for my son, and I really wish this would have been an option when I was young.
“I think it’s great that in an outdoor space we can teach kids about STEM curriculum and the respect for the outdoors, and just taking that measured approach to common sense ways of life.
“I want to say congratulations and keep filling in those Trillium applications. I really love the fact that Trillium continues to invest in our community. It shows that people in Haldimand-Norfolk are doing great things because the money continues to come into this riding.”
“We certainly acknowledge how useful the grants can be to us continuing to develop Nature’s Calling,” said Dr. John Morrissey, Chair, NCEE.
Prior to the pandemic, Nature’s Calling popular outdoor education program Lessons in a Backpack included innovative and stimulating learning units with curriculum in science and geography. The program had busloads of school children from the Six Nations School Board, Grand Erie District School Board, Brant-Haldimand-Norfolk Catholic District School Board visit NCEE’s site and learn about local nature, history and geology through curriculum-based units developed for Grades 1-6, as well as non-curriculum programming for Kindergarten students.
Also offered were year-end adventure trips, which were popular with local teachers. NCEE averaged 40 busloads of students per school year. That all came to a halt during the pandemic. The grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation will allow NCEE to update their units based on the Ministry of Educations new STEM curriculum programming and add several additional units to their offerings. A focus on adding Indigenous wisdom and teaching will be pursued. The grant will allow NCEE to offer their outdoor programming to 45 local schools.
“With the support of the OTF’s Resilient Communities Fund grant we were able to not only bring back our outdoor programming for local schools, but expand and enhance our offerings to better align with the new STEM-based Ontario curriculum,” said Solymár.
Nature’s Calling Environmental Education is a charitable organization that started in 2012 on a mission to connect youth and families with nature and the outdoors, to raise awareness and appreciation for the natural world, and to foster a strong environmental ethic through community-based education and engagement. The organization operates two Forest Schools (one in Norfolk County and one in Brant), March Break and Summer Day Camps, and develops educational materials to increase their community’s appreciation and respect for Mother Earth.
The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is an agency of the Ontario government with a mission to build healthy and vibrant communities across the province. Last year, OTF invested nearly $105M into 732 community projects and multi-sector partnerships. Projects aim to enhance economic well-being, foster more active lifestyles, support child and youth development, provide spaces for people to come together and connect, and create a more sustainable environment. Visit otf.ca to learn more.
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