Welcome to the Pathway Trailblazer Program!
If you are in the Peterborough Region and can recruit at least four participating teachers at your school or Early Learning Centre, you could become a Pathway Trailblazer for the year.
This gives you priority access to many support services to help your group on your journey. In exchange, you agree to submit Landmark reports and may be asked to submit simple pre-and post-program surveys.
Pathway Landmarks are linked to the Ontario Curriculum for each grade. They include opportunities for outdoor learning and for older grades, encourage community involvement and leadership skills.
Trailblazers work on Landmark activities, just like all participants in the project. Trailblazers sign an agreement to complete and report on at least one Landmark each school term. This agreement also allows you to select which supports would be most helpful to you and your students.
Available supports may change from year to year, but here’s a sample of offerings for 2022-2023:
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.
Taking your group outdoors requires special planning, and we have the perfect people to help you build your skills and confidence.
Our six Outdoor Activity Consultants have a wealth of specialized experience from years of working outdoors with children and youth.
Our outdoor consultants can help you with program planning, finding resources, offering guidance and connecting the curriculum with outdoor learning experiences.
While they’re not intended to do programming for you, they are delighted to work with you to discover the rewards of being outdoors.
Add your name, email, and a brief message highlighting your school, classroom, and what interests you about the Trailblazer Program. We will contact you with more information when a spot becomes available!
Three cheers to our current Trailblazers for leading the way on the Pathway to Stewardship & Kinship. We are currently recruiting for the 2022/23 school year. If you would like to be a Trailblazer school or early learning centre, contact our Program Co-ordinator, Cathy, at cathy@pathwayproject.ca
We are so proud of all our Pathway Explorers that every Landmark submission, with permission to publish, is added to the Activity Page of our website. This way the entire community can share creative ideas for engaging with the outdoors.
Want to see how you stack up against other classrooms? Every activity is awarded points, which are added to the seasonal Leaderboard.
To see how your group is helping to reach our community goal of 25,000 Landmark activities by 2023, check out the Goal Tracker. Look for your group on the Pathway Explorers dropdown list.
We hold a monthly draw from all the Landmark reports received that month. Every entry gives your class or group a chance to win! Winners choose a $50 gift certificate from a range of fabulous local businesses such as Kawartha Dairy, Wild Rock Outfitters, GreenUP Store, Ecology Park Plant Nursery, Camp Kawartha Store, Avant Garden Shop, and Gerri’s Arts and Crafts.
Note: Draw prize winners must be Ontario residents.
Subscribe to our newsletter to keep up with our work, and for ideas and inspiration on nurturing stewardship and kinship in children.
– Find the Landmark (from the dropdown menu) that best fits your activity
– Make sure you’ve completed the Landmark before submitting, or we may need to adjust your points (check the Landmarks page for complete directions)
– All entries must have a photo or video to validate your report; be sure to tell us if it’s okay to share your images with others (without permission, we won’t share them)
– Points are accumulated each season; the Leaderboard resets to zero at the start of each season
– Every entry submitted each month gives you a chance to win our monthly draw prize (winner chooses from a selection of prizes); note that prizes are available for Ontario residents only
– Organizers reserve the right to adjust points awarded or to veto a submission, to fairly reflect the effort made by participants
Have fun and keep active! Thanks for telling us what you’re doing!
Questions? Contact us at peterboroughpathway@gmail.com