Trailblazer Schools and Centres
Pathway Trailblazer Program!
For several years, we have offered a Trailblazer program in the Peterborough region. To build momentum and a sense of collective effort, we’ve offered a range of grade-specific supports for schools and early learning centres willing to make a commitment to weave Pathway Landmarks into their daily routines. Educators signed an agreement to report Landmark activities for us to share, and selected supports linked to the age of their students.
Community Supports for Trailblazers
Growing stewardship takes a supportive community! These are some of the supports we’ve been able to offer to participating schools and early learning centres, through generous funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation:
- free consulting time with experienced Outdoor Activity Consultants who also shared seasonal activity ideas by email
- Free or subsidized programs from excellent local groups including Camp Kawartha, Think Outside (Nature Nancy), Otonabee Conservation, Bird Friendly Peterborough, TRACKS and the Kawartha World Issues Centre
- Virtual zoo tours or “Adopt an Animal” with Riverview Park and Zoo for primary grades
- Virtual nature-based music and story sessions with local musicians and storytellers
- A budget for purchasing materials to support outdoor learning
- Access to gardening advice and local naturalists to accompany group walks
- Access to guidance on integrating Indigenous knowledge into your outdoor programming
- Visitors from the New Canadians’ Centre’s ‘Living Library’ to meet people from different cultures and to learn their stories
What supports are available in your community to support outdoor learning?
Discover your School’s True Nature facilitates outdoor learning experiences with outdoor educators, who design and deliver curriculum-linked outdoor programming on school grounds.
ORCA offers many wonderful programs focused on Watershed Stewardship. Staff offer curriculum-linked activities from primary through secondary grades.
TRACKS is dedicated to empowering youth to recognize the fundamental importance of both Indigenous knowledge and Western scientific knowledge for scientific exploration.
Think Outside offers on-site outdoor programmings for children of all ages. ‘Nature Nancy’s’ many workshop topics incude A Bug’s World, Park Art, Snowshoeing, and Wilderness Survival.
Raising the next generation of college and university field naturalists starts with innovative initiatives like the BFP Heroes Program that will encourage young children to work, protect and advocate for the environment.
The Living Library program is a multi-modal storytelling program that aims to share human stories of immigration and integration by highlighting diverse and compelling stories of transition, settlement and belonging through in-person and virtual workshops.
Early Childhood Educator, Kerri Riel, will facilitate free-play experiences for young children in the outdoors beyond traditional playgrounds. The program is for Toddlers and Parents in a playgroup format at the Robert Johnson Trail in Douro-Dummer Township.
‘Learning From the Land and Indigenous People‘ with Anishinaabe Educator, Nicole Bell, offers land-based learning for educators, children, youth, and families. The program is framed around the medicine wheel and traditional Anishinaabe cultural practice.
The ‘Adopt an Animal Program‘ allows primary students to get to know a zoo animal through weekly virtual visits with a zookeeper for 6 weeks. This opportunity allows the students to learn about biodiversity, the importance of habitat, and the needs of living things.
‘Youth as Agents of Change‘ for the 2030 Agenda is an interactive virtual youth-led
webinar workshop series designed to educate and engage high school students in the important of the
Sustainable Development Goals.
Librarian Kate Jarett brings early years programming, which provides nature and community building based rhymes, songs and stories for the very young, their care providers, as well as for JK/SK classes and their teacher.
There are also opportunities to work with Master Gardeners, Local Naturalists and have interactive sessions with puppeteer, Glen Caradus through his Paddling Puppeteer Program.
Pathway Trailblazers for 2022/2023 School Year
Three cheers to the Trailblazers who worked hard during the past school year to help us blaze past our goal of 50,000 Landmark Activities!
- Babbling Brook Daycare
- Compass Early Learning and Care, Peterborough
- Lakefield Co-op Nursery School
- Old Millbrook School Early ON Centre
- Pearson Child Care
- Peterborough Child and Family Centres
- Peterborough Daycare
- Rowan Tree Children’s School
- Strath MacLean Childcare Centre
- Sunshine Daycare
- Trent Childcare at Kaawaate
- Edmison Heights Public School
- Highland Heights Public School
- Kawartha Heights Public School
- Keith Wightman Public School
- Lakefield District Public School
- Millbrook South Cavan Public School
- Otonabee Valley Public School
- Prince of Wales Public School
- Queen Elizabeth Public School
- Queen Mary Public School
- R. F. Downey Public School
- Roger Neilson Public School
- Roseneath Public School
- St. Alphonsus Catholic Elementary School
- St. Anne Catholic Elementary School
- St. Catherine Catholic Elementary School
- St. John Catholic Elementary School
- St. Patrick Elementary School
- Westmount Public School
Pathway Leaderboards
During our Ontario Trillium Foundation grant, participants submitted Landmark reports linked to their age group. With permission to publish, these were added to the Activity Page of our website. This allowed the entire community to share creative ideas for engaging with the outdoors.
Each report added points to a seasonal Leaderboard. Visit our Leaderboard Archive to see seasonal participants from 2020 to 2023.
Visit our Goal Tracker to see everyone who helped us reach the amazing goal of 62,591 individual Landmark experiences for local kids in three fantastic years!
