Forest School Project Inspired by Online Social Innovation Workshop in Trent Hills

Eight families are participating in the forest school project/Image by Steve Dagg

Weekly Nature Connection Gatherings

Article by Sue Dickens

Trent Hills  – Inspired by a summer Zoom workshop that facilitated eight weeks of building relationships and exploring ideas for social innovation several families have come together to co-create a “forest school,” for their children.

Facilitators of the summer workshop were Heidi Schaeffer and Sasha Padron.

As a result of taking the workshop, Joleah Kunkel and seven other families started meeting with Heidi and together they launched a forest school this past September.

Kunkel told Trent Hills Now she decided to take the Zoom workshop because, “I saw the opportunity to connect with other local people.”

She added, “I got involved because I’m kind of in a transitional phase in my life and I saw an opportunity to connect with other people, other local people who had the same vision as I did, which was wanting to give back, wanting to be of service to our local community, you know, especially in these times… really wanting to find a place where I could do something that was positive for the community, for my family and for everybody.”

Joleah and her husband and family live about 12 minutes north of Campbellford. “So I’m a stay at home mom with a side business.”

Her partner Kyle works for the Township of Norwood Asphodel.

“We moved here four years ago to be closer to family and it was a job change for my partner so that’s what brought us to the area.”

The couple has two school-age children which they are home schooling this year because of the pandemic.

The concept for a forest school was one social innovation example that was presented at the workshop. “I had always dreamed of starting a forest school on our reforested farm.” said Heidi, “I was a nature-inspired homeschooler with my own children back in 2005, and I feel grateful for this opportunity to facilitate holistic learning in community with these inspiring local families.”

“With the changing times we all decided that this forest school was kind of the perfect idea to pour our energy into knowing that there are a few of us that are choosing to homeschool at this time.,” explained Joleah.

The opportunity to connect with other local parents seeking a fully outdoor learning experience during the pandemic made this an idea they all thought would work and be worthwhile for everyone involved.

“We all see a need for people to be more connected to nature, to the land around us. And so we just started having meetings to feel it out. And it all evolved very organically, and it has been just amazing,” said Joleah.

“The forest school started to take shape and it has been a lucky thing for all of us, particularly during this pandemic.”

Feelings of isolation are part of what the families were experiencing and the forest school gives the families the chance to safely interact with each other once a week.

“Getting to be out in nature on Heidi’s incredible hundred-acre property which is full of all types of forest, with so many trails and ponds, it’s the perfect space for this,” Joleah said. “So it’s been a huge, huge blessing and it definitely was birthed from the workshop.”

The forest school is in its eighth week now.

“The idea is to learn about plants and trees in the forest so each week we choose a plant or animal that we all learn about…so far we’ve also been harvesting  plants that we can make tea with, so we fill a big pot, we have a fire and we talk about the plant and make tea with it,” Joleah told Trent Hills Now.

Other weeks the group focuses on an animal that lives in the forest.

The group plans on continuing the forest school through the winter months as long as they can.

“We’ll see if we can find the animal’s tracks, look for signs of it on the property and we will learn about the animal,” said Joleah.

There are eight families participating.

They are very careful to follow pandemic protocols during their get-togethers.

The youngest child in the group is two years of age and the oldest is 14.

“It’s all about learning and connecting and nature,” Joleah concluded.

Editor’s Note: To read our article about the workshop go to: https://trenthillsnow.com/2020/05/11/making-life-better-in-trent-hills-with-zoom-workshops/