Your Impact
- Elementary students at March Break camp crunch through fresh snow, peering through youth-sized binoculars to discover the difference between leaf-clump squirrel nests and sturdy stick nests made by birds of prey.
- After an autumn walk in the woods, youth use magnifying glasses and microscopes to get a closer look at the contents of owl pellets, learning about food webs and ecosystem dynamics.
- In a tall grass meadow, secondary students sweep nets through the grass to collect butterflies, grasshoppers, and beetles that showcase the biodiversity of our region.
What do binoculars, microscopes, sweep nets, and even owl pellets have in common? These interactive learning tools were all funded by Hamilton Conservation Foundation donors!
“You remember 30% of what you hear, but 75% of what you do. That’s why hands-on learning matters.”
– Ian Doris, retired radiologist, long-time medical student mentor, and Environmental Education donor
Outdoor Environmental Education Programming
HCA offers a variety of outdoor environmental education programs for elementary and secondary school students. All programs include hands-on exploration, nature walks, and educational games—each tailored to meet grade-specific learning expectations set by the Ministry of Education.
Programs focus on five key areas: natural history, natural communities and ecosystems, watershed management, applied conservation and stewardship, and active living. More than 3,000 students from 50+ schools participate in Outdoor Education programs each year.
These programs are 100% funded through Foundation donations and HCA’s partnership with the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board.
Giving Opportunities
Your gifts to the Outdoor Education Fund can support:
- Offsetting transportation costs for schools so they can participate in education programs, giving young people opportunities to learn about nature without financial barriers
- Providing tools for hands-on learning, from insect sweep nets to youth-sized boots for creek wading
- Supplying materials for stewardship projects, like planting native trees and shrubs that create wildlife habitat
- Growing education staff capacity to deliver more programs to students across more of the Hamilton region
- Planting seeds of stewardship, self-confidence, and connection in youth that will last a lifetime
- … and more.
We offer our heartfelt thanks to all our Outdoor Environmental Education Donors, including:
- Darling Ingredients
- The Dougher Community Fund
- Enbridge Inc
- Edith H. Turner Foundation
- Hamilton Industrial Environmental Association
- TC Energy
- …and many generous individual donors.
