Funding for “Outdoor Education” success for public boards

by Taylor Desjardins

Trips to Muskoka and nature centres wouldn’t have been possible without the provincial grant given to the public school board.
In 2013, the Ontario Ministry of Education gave the Greater Essex County District School Board and all publicly funded boards extra funding to be put towards outdoor activities such as hiking, camping, nature centre visits, rope climbing and more activities to learn and experience the outdoors.
Sandra Seslija, a health and physical education consultant for the public board said the funding is used to give students outdoor experiences on field trips. Teachers have also integrated field trips into their curriculum.
“It is also used for science, we take kids out to do field studies in places such as parks,” said Seslija. “Outdoor education is not just what we think of with hiking and camping, but it can also range out into the geography and science fields as well.”
Seslija said the the money has been well spent and some students have done some great things with the funding.
“Some high schools have even went up the Muskoka and have some kids go out to do the ROPES courses in the Gesstwood Camp & Retreat Centre,” Seslija said.

Sue El- Baba, a registered nurse and social worker, said the school board is going in the right direction by funding outdoor education.

“We can’t tell kids that things are important, we have to show them that they are important,” said El-Baba. “When we fund things extra-curricular, it teaches them to care about their surroundings and get out there and experience it.”

El-Baba said it is important for the kids to enjoy outdoor education as it helps them with their physical health along with their mental wellness.

“You can clear your head from the things that bother you and a way to release some the emotional energy that we have, especially as kids,” said El-Baba.

Seslija said the focus is for students to have access to unstructured play and under adult supervision to grow and develop healthy lifestyles.

The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long term Care recommends children between the ages of one and five should get 60 minutes or more of unstructured play daily.

Applications for the grant are available to all publicly funded elementary and high schools in the province, but the school has to go through the application process in order to receive the funding.