It’s that time of year again —- back-to-school advertisements, anxious kids picking out their first-day-of-school outfit, teachers reporting to work to start setting up their classrooms… it’s the time of year when summer camps all over the country say ‘goodbye’ to their campers and wind down for the season.
But not Calleva! Instead of winding down, we are gearing up for what will surely be another amazing fall season. Throughout September and October, we will work with over 50 schools and organizations throughout the DC area to provide an outdoor education experience that will help students create and foster relationships, build strong teams, and have fun outdoors!
We’ll have a 2nd grade class learn about sustainable farming, interact with our farm animals, and pick their own vegetables to take home. We’ll take a sophmore class out whitewater rafting– and learn firsthand how important teamwork is. We’ll have a group of 7th graders spend the day on our ropes course, working on the teambuilding and communication that will serve them for the rest of the school year. We’ll take a group of 5th graders to our “adventure island”, where we explore the backchannels of the Potomac River and learn how to build fires. We’ll have a group of high schoolers compete in an “adventure race” where they work in teams to navigate through the wilderness, and create memories that will last far beyond their time at Calleva. Sometimes we have schools out for a couple hours, and sometimes we work with the same kids for a whole week!
Ask any year round staff member at Calleva, and chances are they will tell you that working the fall season is their favorite. Because we customize experiences for different schools, every program is different — and each day is truly a new adventure!
And that’s just during the daytime hours. When late October arrives, there are some downright SPOOKY things that go down on the Calleva farm after-hours….
-Sarah Reschovsky, Director of School Programs
