The student enjoyed several aspects of their camp experience at Camp Seymour, including canoeing and seeing wildlife, bonding with friends in the yurts, and hands-on learning about the environment. They found that learning at camp was more interactive and fun compared to a classroom, using all five senses and directly interacting with nature. The high ropes course and rock climbing were personally challenging but helped students support each other. The camp counselors were knowledgeable about animals and nature, and added humor and stories that made the experiences memorable.

1. Excerpts from Camp Seymour journalsWhat We Thought of Camp

2. The Night HikeOn the night hike, I discovered that the world can be as amazing at night as it can in the day. I learned about the different parts of the human eye and what they do, like how the rods give you the ability to see shapes in the dark, and the cones receive light in order to show us color. But the absolute best part of the night hike was the noctaluka in the estuary. I’ve looked at plankton through a microscope before, but I’ve never seen one glow before. It was like that one little thing opened up a whole new path in my mind. Were there other animals like that? What in their bodies makes them glow? Why do they glow? My mind went from one question to another. In short, the night hike was amazing. Allison

3. Hands-on Reptiles

4. You are a guest of nature, behave. FriedensreichHundertwasser Being on the nature walk at camp, I felt more connected, like I was part of every single tree, vine, flower, and root, like I was part of this enormous body of energy, of life. I had a feeling, that you don’t get a lot. The feeling was patience, wisdom, and respect for the organisms growing all around me. The quote reminded me of the narrow, humbling path we took on our last day at Camp Seymour. I think that this quote and that walk is the one thing that made me, and the rest of the class committed to helping the world. It was peaceful; no sky scrapers, apartment buildings, or loud, noisy freeways to cut us off from the nature around us. We don’t think about nature too often. But we need to start thinking about it more. We have torn down thousands of trees, to build our world. I don’t think that tearing down our environment is behaving. But maybe that’s just me. I think this quote gives a lot of meaning, a lot of wisdom, I think this quote reminds us of that. We are guests of this world, and going on that nature walk reminded me of that. Ariel

5. Caring Adults

6. Respect the EnvironmentOur class, 7th Grade, spent four days at camp Seymour. I think the purpose of this camp was to get to know each other a little bit better and challenge ourselves. Over the week I experienced many activities involving trusting and supporting each other. One of the classes at camp taught me about how to be respectful of the environment. For example, it is very important not to pollute the planet. One of the ways that we can reduce the trash that we use is by buying larger containers rather than individually packaged containers. Also, other ways that we can help our environment is by using reusable water bottles instead of plastic water bottles that people usually only use once. In conclusion, we should especially never pollute the stream. Benjamin G

7. Cutts Island

8. There are two ways to live. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is. - Albert EinsteinI think that this quote is great because it’s saying you can take life for granted or you can think everything is amazing and a miracle. Some people just think living is a given and don’t think about it. But some people pray to be alive when they wake up. And when they do wake up they are thankful. Just being able to walk to work or drive a car is just amazing. Some people don’t think that helping or giving is a miracle. People who think nothing is a miracle are not bad people, they just see the world in a different way and aren’t as positive about everything. The people who think everything is a miracle just choose to live in the moment and feel good about every day. Danny

9. Team Games

10. My Favorite Parts of CampMy favorite part of the Camp Seymour trip was the canoeing. We were out in open water, it was gorgeous. We saw porpoises and seals jumping out of the water, and when we finally got there we saw a seal lying out on the rocks heated by the sun. We were only about ten feet away from it and we got lots of pictures. On the way back we stopped and there was a place that you could yell and there would be a great booming echo. We yelled ‘bacon’ and ‘YMCA’ and of course ‘JDS’. It was a lot of fun.Part of the camp Seymour trip I really enjoyed was just being in the yurts with my friends. I enjoyed seeing what we did when we weren’t at school, also I liked telling jokes. I also loved the camp fire. When Dylan would say “do you know what I can do with my long green finger nails and my ruby red lips” I was laughing out of fear and actually just laughing. Something I noticed that made camp different the schoolAvi

11. Ready to Roll

12. Some of the Things I LearnedAt Camp Seymour I definitely learned more about myself too. I learned that I could challenge myself much more that I thought I could. I also learned a lot about how much I cared about the environment and how I wanted to change things. Dissecting the bird stuff really showed me how much the world is messing up. I also learned that being at a camp with my friends is a really good growing experience for me; it made me appreciate my friends more. Some of the most important things I learned about the environment for camp Seymour are about the earth’s water and how important it is to not pollute. Dissecting the bird stuff really made me realize how much humans have messed up and how we need to do something about it! Most of what the bird ate was garbage. It’s horrible. Tahlia

13. On the Spit

14. Wonder is the beginning of wisdom - Socrates I think this means that if you wonder or ask questions you can always learn new things by studying or asking a question. Then you get more knowledge and experience in life which equals to more wisdom. If nobody wondered, modern society wouldn’t exist. For example, “Can we move without feet?”, and then people made the bicycle. Then they wondered if they didn’t need to use any physical energy, and made the car. There were first only a few cars and bikes but people had experience and knowledge which they shared with others and taught them so the inventions are worldwide. Yoni

15. Kids Enjoying Each Other

16. The Classes We Had Were SO Cool! Learning at camp was different than learning at school because interacting with the environment and having a lot of freedom made it more fun. Because we were able to go into the living machine, hearing the eye patch story and being able to try it, going on the night hike and trusting our classmates are all things that we wouldn’t get to do in a classroom. We got to know our teachers and our classmates better by living with them for a week. We had zero food waste twice during our time at Seymour, but LOTS of compost. Being able to see where all of our compost was going and seeing all the worms in the living machine was a really cool experience. All in all I really liked having the experience of learning outdoors rather than in a classroom.Elana

17. The Climbing Wall

18. Learning is Different at Camp I really liked being with my friends in the yurt. It was really cool because I spent 4 days, all with my best friends. I think I really bonded with my class and teachers. It sometimes got really crazy in the yurt. But that was the fun part. I liked having a mini fashion show in the cabin. And Tahlia reading Harry Potter out loud to us. I liked learning at camp more than at school because at camp, we were very interactive, instead of just sitting. I also liked it because we learned very different things. I also liked it because after learning, we got to interact with what we learned, like the marine tanks and reptiles. Tania

19. Team Games

20. Challenges at CampThere were two main challenges that we faced; the high wire and the rock-climbing. These things were challenging for both me and my classmates. On the high wire we all were a little skeptical about going up there. Some of us aren’t big fans of heights, but this let us get out of our comfort zone. Even getting up to the wire was maybe scary for some people. I was very happy that I got to the end of the wire and was also happy that I helped Noam get pretty much to the end too. We worked together which is why we were able to make it to the end together. Not only did I help my partner, but I help the others while they were taking their turn. When they were going up there we all cheered them on, and they did the same for me. Izzy

21. Pristine Pond in the Living Machine

22. Hands-0n Learning is More Fun I never knew that I was such a camper! Before Seymour I had only gone camping once and it was not that great. Even though I wasn’t at school for a whole school week I still learned, but in an interesting way. At school it’s usually pen, paper, listen. At camp you learn in a different way. At camp of course it’s more outdoors and you’re interactive with nature. Also you get great use of the five senses. For example at night we went down to the water and saw the plankton that light up when you stir the water. We felt the moss on the trees, listened to the birds, and saw live seals. So learning at camp is more hands on then in the class room. Joel

23. Boys

24. We had the Coolest CounselorsCamp Seymour was a great experience that I will never forget. One of the best experiences at camp was the rock climbing. I get to go rock climbing a lot, but very few times do I get to do it in nature. I will always remember standing up on the top of the rock wall, just finishing, getting over the slant, and looking out in the forest. I thought the counselors were amazing. Kim knew all about the animals and Dylan was hilarious with his story about the woman with long red fingernails and ruby red “lipsss”. I also thought the night hike was a once in a life time thing. I thought the coolest part of it was the pirate story and getting to see how it worked. Josh

25. Hanging Out - Exploring

26. Humans should be aware of their interdependence not only with each other but with the world – Lois LowryMan did not weave the web of life. He is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself. – Chief Seattle I think that this means that whatever we do the earth affects us. If we don’t throw out our garbage will have a trashed earth. So don’t do bad things to the earth. We are still part of nature no matter whether we like it or not. Even if you think that you can change the world you can’t by yourself, you need the cooperation of everyone. Max

27. Marine Biology Class

28. You are a guest of nature, behave.” - FriedensreichHundertwasser Behaving while in a natural place is important. I think that nature is a fragile thing that can easily get hurt by a simple touch on a butterfly’s wing, or a misstep into a bush, or even an accidental snap of a branch. When you step into another person’s house you should be respectful and use your manners. The same thing goes for nature, you should respect it. You may just think that you snapped a normal branch, but in reality that branch could have been a future bird’s home. Whether you believe it or not, nature is a home for almost all animals. We wouldn’t want an animal to come in our house and destroy it. When we squash a spider that’s in our homes we feel no pain. Well when we go into nature we’re in their house and they must feel like they want to squash us, but because they’re so small, they can’t. So to not make the animals feel that way about us we must respect their home, nature. Nature is important to respect because if we destroy it, will eventually hurt us. Ben F

29. In the Woods

30. Man did not weave the web of life. He is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself. - Chief Seattle Humans should stay where they are and not do anything to change or disturb the web of life because if you change one small thing or take out one small thing the whole web becomes affected and eventually it will affect humans. Humans may be at the top of the food chain but they are not the most important, in fact all things in the web of life should be equally as important because if you take out one thing everyone gets affected. When it says “Man did not weave the web of life” it explains that we are not the most important we might be the most technologically advanced but we are still just another part of the web of life. Liam

31. Our Classroom at Seymour

32. Wonder is the Beginning of Wisdom. - SocratesIf you think about that quote you can get a lot from it. For example in the scientific method, the first step is to think of a question and come up with ideas about the question. After you finish the experiment using the scientific method, you have more knowledge on the topic and as the quote says, you have more wisdom. Another example is when teachers want you to ask questions and they say that there is no stupid question. When they say that they’re not just trying to get you to talk but they are trying to make you smarter, because first you wonder about something, then you ask the teacher about it and then if they give you a correct answer you are smarter and you have more wisdom. If you wonder the answer will always come to you some way or another. Noam

33. Team Work on the High Wire

34. You Are a Guest of Nature - Behave Nature doesn’t belong to anyone and it has a very important function in life. It has trees and plants which give off oxygen, clean the air, and help the environment tremendously. Nature also is a home for many animals. You should respect nature because you are a guest. Nature is not your home. It is the home of others, so you should treat it with respect, just like you would treat your friend’s home. You also should behave well in nature. Behaving and respecting nature means don’t litter and don’t destroy or damage natural things. Also, to help nature you should clean up before you leave and make sure the place is the same way it was before you arrived. This is what I think the quote “You are a guest of nature, behave” means. Richard

35. Canoeing – Teamwork At It’s Best

36. Adopt the pace of nature, her secret is patience. – Ralph Waldo Emerson. The big and main idea of going to camp Seymour is to bond with teachers and classmates. Although, I liked the activities, it was also really fun to have free time together. We really got to know each other just by being together. In the yurt we practiced Harry Potter Puppet Pals that we would show at the campfire. We also read aloud Harry Potter and played games such as Charades. At the campfire it was really cool to see the skits and jokes that people presented. Some just made up something on the spot. And then the s’mores we had were really good. I just really liked when we could just have free time for ourselves. In fact, food really does bring the community together. And living together connects people. I wasn’t as close to my teachers as now because I didn’t know them as well as now and now I do because they went to Seymour with me. Yael

37. Trust Game

38. It All Depends On Us We are living in the world as nature’s guest so we should be kind and respectful to the nature and conserve it. People don’t know the impact they can have when they throw the garbage into the river or on the grass. But we can also do the opposite; we can clean up garbage or plant trees, or use less plastic and more reusable items. In Seymour when we had the albatross lesson, it really opened my eyes that something seemingly harmless could have a gigantic chain reaction. Next time, before you toss your can or wrapper in the river, think about what the consequence could be. Ben S

39. Living Together – The Best Way to Bond