COEO NEWS

Make Peace With Winter 2024: Call For Presenters and Registration Details

The Council Of Outdoor Educators of Ontario warmly invites you to attend COEO’s Annual Make Peace With Winter Conference at Camp Kawartha from January 19 – 21, 2024.

Winter in Ontario can be cold, dark and lonely. It is a season in which life seems frozen, trapped until the arrival of spring. Winter can also draw people together through the warmth of sharing songs, dreams, stories, and laughter. This year, we would like to highlight all the ways that winter can be a time for Weaving Warmth. COEO invites folks to come and build a stronger community through sharing of stories, skills, and aspirations at this year’s Make Peace With Winter Conference. We welcome presentations that showcase the creation of literal or figurative warmth and individual or community resilience.

Ideas include:

Bush Crafts including Fire building and keeping, whittling, knots, tracking , star navigation
Story Telling
Hand skills like knitting, weaving, crocheting, sewing, needle work, beading, felting
Community Building
Art Creation
Goal Setting
Trip Planning – map reading, packing, dreaming, budgeting
Music
Outdoor Games

Presentation submissions can be submitted here: https://forms.gle/DzCHzUwSCCDj799s8

In addition to the workshops, this year’s conference will also feature an open mic, a return of last year’s epic trivia game, and a collaborative art project. If you’re interested in sharing your talents during the open mic, please indicate so on your registration form. We welcome live music, poetry, storytelling, stand up comedy or anything else would lend itself well to an open mic format.

Take time this winter to share connections and support one other. Please invite folks who you see working to build community in the outdoors who may not yet be a part of COEO to consider attending. Registration is now open. Early bird pricing lasts until December 30th, so don’t delay! Bursaries and student rates are also available. For more information and to register, visit the MPWW 2024 webpage.

OTHER OEE & RELATED NEWS

New OUTSIDEPLAY Tool for Elementary School Teachers!

OUTSIDEPLAY is excited to announce the launch of a new free educational tool made by teachers for teachers who want to take their classrooms outdoors! Find it at: https://teacher.outsideplay.org

This tool is the newest addition to our OUTSIDEPLAY.org suite, joining existing parent and early childhood educator tools. It is the result of years of practical hands-on experience and the PhD thesis work of Megan Zeni, a teacher who teaches exclusively outdoors. She worked with teachers across BC and Canada to develop the material. The development of the Teacher.OutsidePlay.org tool was funded by the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation.

The 16 modules cover topics that teachers most want to know about, ranging from the basics of outdoor play and learning in schools to practical tips on getting started. We’ll continue to build out the tool with additional resources. We’re planning a speaker weries to dive deeper into the concepts introduced in each module.

For any questions or more information, reach out to our team at outsideplay@bcchr.ca. Also, please follow us on Instagram @playoutsideubc for regular updates and give our posts a thumbs up!

Outdoor Learning in Canada

COEO is delighted to announce the arrival of this open-access textbook of peer-reviewed chapters about the vast array of outdoor learning in Canada.

It is written for, about, and by Canadians.

It is edited by Simon Priest (now-retired professor; prolific author, editor and speaker) and Stephen Ritchie (School of Kinesiology & Health Sciences, Laurentian University).

The site currently hosts some 40 articles. This will increase to 60 in the fall when the site has its hard launch.

To access the site, visit https://ol ic.ca

OEE P.D. OPPORTUNITIES

Get Kids Paddling – New Webinar Series

Webinar Series 2023-2024 – Get Kids Paddling

Resurging and Sustainable School Paddling Programs in Southern Ontario

In recent times, changing demographics, stricter policies and procedures, rising costs, curriculum programming/timetabling priorities, and required teacher certifications have all challenged publicly funded school-based paddling programs. This webinar will present 3 unique school programs located in southern Ontario that represent highly successful outdoor education programs with a paddling component.

Date and time:

Wednesday November 29th
7:00pm to 8:30pm
Presenters:
- Jason Blair, Aldershot School, Burlington, ON
- Andrew Dyment, Ajax High School, Ajax, ON
- Andrew Stuart, Port Perry HS, Port Perry, ON

To register for the webinar, please access the online form

River Roots 2024, hosted by MHO Adventures

Outdoor Learning Webinars, hosted by LSF

Some of the newest webinar offerings include:
A series of webinars designed specifically for and by secondary teachers
Tips for getting outside even in cold winter months!
Connecting primary and middle school math curriculum to the outdoors

For an up to date list of upcoming webinars, continue to check LSF’s R4R outdoor learning page
Check out the recorded webinar sessions for each grade group:

Kindergarten/Early Years: Webinar recording | Webinar slides
Grades K-6: Webinar recording | Webinar slides
Grades 4-10: Webinar recording | Webinar slides

UPCOMING CONFERENCES

Coalition for Education in the Outdoors Sixteenth Biennial Research Symposium

January 12-14, 2024

YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly Conference Center, Black Mountain, NC, USA

The purpose of this gathering is to advance the empirical, conceptual, and theoretical bases of outdoor education. Like the first fifteen CEO Research Symposia, this symposium will bring together a wide array of researchers to explore current and future trends in using the outdoors for educational purposes. In addition to spotlighting current research, the program includes featured presentations on timely issues and ample time for both structured and informal dialogue

For more information click here

LEAP Conference

February 29, 2024 at Canterbury Hills

Stay tuned for more details https://www.adventureworks.org/upcoming-courses

JOB POSTINGS

Outdoor Education Instructor, GRCA

The Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority operates the Ganaraska Forest Centre, an overnight outdoor education facility located in the Ganaraska Forest, north of Port Hope, Ontario. We offer curriculum-based programs in conservation and outdoor education to elementary and secondary school boards, as well as non-profit and corporate groups.
This is an excellent opportunity to work in a varied and active program with highly motivated and enthusiastic students using the outdoors as a classroom. This is a 6-month contract from January 8, 2024 to June 28, 2024.

To view the full posting and to apply click here

Winter Outdoor Centre Program Instructor, YMCA Wanakita

Come join our team and enter a workplace full of new opportunities and experiences! The Winter Outdoor Centre Program Instructor is a contract position responsible for delivering and facilitating recreational and educational programs throughout the season. The instructor is primarily responsible for
programming (snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, high ropes, initiatives, broomball, fire building, out trips etc.) and site support. The Winter Program Instructor will report directly to the Outdoor Centre Assistant Director under the supervision of the Outdoor Centre Director.

To view the posting and to apply click here

Overnight Teaching Assistant, TRCA

The Overnight Teaching Assistant supports immersive, curriculum connected overnight school visits at TRCA’s overnight Education Centres. This position involves teaching curriculum-linked programs to visiting school groups, supporting meal time delivery, overnight site contact, and completing administrative duties.

To view the posting click here

Director of Programs and Operations, Project Canoe

The Director of Programs & Operations is responsible for the design, delivery, and oversight of the summer and year-round programs, supervising staff and volunteers, and managing youth and organizational outreach.

This includes assisting with hiring, organizing and leading training, and coordinating ongoing skill development and training throughout the summer. The Director of Programs & Operations will also have training, maintenance, and committee responsibilities. They will lead presentations in the GTA and surrounding communities to promote Project Canoe’s programs, assist in maintaining the youth database, and conduct yearly analysis of program data and impacts.

To view the full posting click here

Outdoor Education & Events Manager, YMCA Camp Eliphinstone

The Outdoor Education & Events Manager (OEE Manager) will provide year-round leadership to YMCA Outdoor Education & Events operations at YMCA Camp Elphinstone, ensuring our programs and services deliver on our vision of building a community in which a generation of children and families can reach their full potential.

The OEE Manager will be responsible for maintaining and developing relationships with clients including schools, rental groups, weddings, and families; leading a strong staff team; the development and implementation of high quality experiential education programming; reviewing and updating systems and ongoing risk management and crisis response, ensuring adherence to YMCA policies and procedures.

To view the full posting and to apply click here

Manager, Research and Partnerships, Park People

As Manager, Research and Partnerships your role will include:

Develop and manage programs that support Park People’s mission, strategic plan and theory of change, including Park People’s Cornerstone Parks programs, research activities, and projects in partnership with various levels of government
Align research activities, partnerships, and impact measurement activities under a cohesive strategy to support impactful programming
Manage budget and operating plan for program portfolio
Supporting a healthy team culture of collaboration, accountability, support, ongoing learning, and effective processes.
Identify new opportunities to build partnerships with other park-based NGO’s and maintain collaborative relationships with other key stakeholders and community partners
Apply Park People’s anti-racism framework and Theory of Change to the design, delivery and evaluation of your projects
Supervising a small team of project managers and program coordinators
Bringing an equity-informed approach to relationship-building
Other duties as required

To view the full posting and to apply Click Here

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ABOUT THIS ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER

For consistency, the COEO electronic newsletter is now published on the first of each month. Anyone having an item of interest to outdoor & experiential educators and desiring publication in this newsletter needs to submit it to newsletter@coeo.org at least two days before the publication date.

The newsletter is generally organized according to the following headings: COEO News, Other OEE & Related News, P.D. Opportunities, Opportunities for Students, Resources, Job Postings. If your organization wishes to post information (e.g., notice of upcoming events, etc), it needs to be an organizational member of COEO.

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