A Memorable Winter OE

Another Winter Outdoor Education week, another unforgettable experience for our students. Students from Grades 7 to 12 participated in Greenwood’s Winter OE programming during the last week of January, 2024. 

Grades 7, 9, 10 and 11 students travelled north to participate in ALIVE Outdoor’s programming at Cedar Ridge Camp, Medeba Outdoor Centre, Camp Mini-Yo-We and Camp Wanakita respectively. There were many traditional winter activities that the students took part in, such as skiing, snowshoeing, broomball and ice wall climbing. Students learned survival skills like building a fire in the snow and navigating using a map and compass. The Grade 9 students also had an opportunity to try out dogsledding with Winterdance. Additionally, Grade 10s who chose to participate in the Snow Forest Adventures’ expeditions split up their week between Camp Mini-Yo-We and camping in Algonquin Park’s wilderness. 

Grade 8s travelled to Québec and Ottawa for Winter OE. There, they learned about Canadian history and First Nation cultures at museums, participated in traditional Francophone activities, skied and skated. The Grade 12s on the other hand spent Winter OE in Costa Rica. Students learned to surf, salsa dance, make tortillas and chocolate from scratch, identify native plants and animals, rappel down waterfalls and climb gigantic trees. Beyond these activities, students had an outreach opportunity to help build and paint a local school in the area.

This year, we also introduced a Toronto-based option at the Evergreen Brickworks for students who may prefer the day programming for a number of reasons. Outward Bound arranged the programming for students to experience many outdoor activities, such as cooking on a campfire, ice fishing, winter hiking and nature photography.

Winter OE is also a great opportunity to bond with your classmates in one of the many activities. Whether it’s trying to work as a team to solve a challenge or cheering on each other during a demanding activity, the experience is bound to be memorable!