Welcome to our new summer programs.
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What is this?
Our Trailblazer Programs are an immersive full week experience where kids learn wilderness and survival skills and then they practise bringing them to life. Kids learn and master fire lighting skills, foraging and outdoor cooking, different shelter creations, tool making, orienteering/Compass navigation as well as ecology of the environment around them.
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Why are we doing this?
We provide kids with a hands-on opportunity to learn real life skills in a safe environment while providing them with opportunities to put them to good use through daily practise and mastery. Our days are adventure packed and often include wondering off the beaten path to explore and dig into their curiosities. Not everything goes as planned in the wilderness and kids learn to navigate these experiences so they can develop their grit and confidence.
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Who is this for?
Our Trailblazer camps are for children ages 7-13 years of age. Kids are assembled into groups of 10 with an experienced facilitator. The program runs at Hidden Valley ski hill and the group roams free on the 120+ acres including hills, trails, ponds that are full of unique natural habitats to be explored.
Jessi
Priestly
Meet our Program Facilitator
Jessi is the creator and lead guide of our Wilderness Expedition Program. Her wildly curious & passionate nature is what allows her to connect so deeply with children and guide them into the world of wonder that exists in the forests and lands of our beautiful Earth.
Jessi has graduated with a teaching and ECE degree from the Concurrent Education Program at the University of Windsor, teaching play-based learning in different parts of the world, now settling in the abundant nature of Northeastern Ontario, where she has been practising mushroom foraging for the past 6 years and guiding educational foraging hikes for the past 2. Jessi’s dream is to dedicate her life & career to creating a new pathway for education, through nature, while providing an enriching and transformational learning environment for children to reach their greatest heights.
Members of Muskoka Highlands Academy team will be onsite to support these adventurous day. If you have questions please email Hello@MuskokaHighlandsAcademy.com.