Goodbye to Wild Child School 2...sigh.

The very last of the visits to schools for this year. We are hopeful that the New Year should bring along with it good news on grant applications and money to help sustain our programs, so this really isn’t a goodbye.

With this group, our final party consisted of the YouTube video that we finally finished and a show and tell. These children were especially willing to share their stories, so I felt that it was important to give them a forum to share something special with the group. The experiences that some of these children have had already in their young lives is absolutely incredible!

They shared rocks and fossils, a rainstick, a beaver, a book about some incredible animals, two turtles, a decorated pine cone, binoculars, a hummingbird, and other awesome treasures that I was so fascinated with.

We then ran out to our special place in the woods where some children chose to work on a nest that has turned into a fort, to play games and run around, to look for smurfs, and a couple quick piggyback rides with a couple of the smaller children and ridiculous silly laughter. After burning off some steam, we came together one last time to quiet our bodies and our voices and to open our eyes and ears to the sights and sounds of  a dwindling day in the woods.

A very special thank you to all the children who shared their enthusiasm and stories with me, to the parents and guardians of these incredible little people, to the EXCEL staff who have been so fabulous to work with. I have learned so much from all of you and I look forward to seeing you sometime in the New Year!

And also thank you to EcoAction Community Grants Program (Environment Canada) who funded the pilot phase of this program.