More than 400 students got the opportunity to board a “floating classroom” at Lake Erie Metropark in May as part of an outdoor field-trip experience known as the “Canoemobile.”
The program aims to educate kids about the outdoors, local habitats, wildlife, invasive species and more while they navigate waterways on 24-foot-long canoes.
Wilderness Inquiry is a Minnesota-based company that brings the program to schools around the country. The Canoemobile spent five days in the metro Detroit Area, with students from six different schools participating.More than 400 students participated in Wilderness Inquiry’s “Canoemobile” program this spring.
At the start of the field trip, half of the students put on life jackets, grab paddles and board canoes. The other half make their way to the grass to sit, run and play as they learn more about what they may see — both in and out of the water.
When they’re on the water, the kids paddle as a team, navigating the river with the help of a “captain.”
Scout Trom, a captain with Wilderness Inquiry, says learning on the water provides more opportunities for students to get curious.
“They’re asking questions about the things we’re seeing, the animals we see, the birds we see, ‘what’s a marsh? What’s different than Lake Erie versus the marsh we’re in?’ And we get to talk about all of that while we’re seeing it,” Trom said.
“It provides a space for people to feel included in the outdoors and provides the knowledge and the message that everyone belongs, deserves and should have a space in the outdoors — no matter your age, ability, background or identity.”
– Scout Trom, Wilderness Inquiry captain
She says she hopes the field trip leaves the students with more than just random facts. The goal of the program is to give the kids lasting knowledge of how nature works and how humans can interact with it, she said.
“It provides a space for people to feel included in the outdoors and provides the knowledge and the message that everyone belongs, deserves and should have a space in the outdoors — no matter your age, ability, background or identity,” Trom said.
Friends of the Detroit River was the local partner for the project. McKenzi Waliczek, the group’s stewardship director, emphasized the importance of making early connections with nature.
“Oftentimes, just making that connection of, ‘hey, this resource is here, and it needs someone like you to care about it,’ is ultimately the ground floor of what we do and everything else just builds off of that,” Waliczek said.
After spending the day outside, the kids packed their bags, boarded buses and headed back to school. (Photo courtesy of Friends of the Detroit River)
The goal of the "Canoemobile" program is to teach kids about local waterways and habitats. (Photo by Emma George-Griffin, WDET)
But getting kids to connect with nature isn’t always easy, Trom said. A lot of the students haven’t been to public parks and most of them have never been on the water.
She says some kids hesitate before they board the canoes, while others jump right in.
“To see that mix of emotions come out and so very common, a group comes back, and you see everyone with a unified feeling, that in itself, is enough to bring me back to this program, year after year,” she said.
After the kids dock the canoes, they get an opportunity to explore and learn on land. Three activity stations were set up to teach the kids about local animals, invasive species and habitats.
“We kind of laugh because with the Animal Planet, you know, kids know more about South American animals than they do about what’s in their own backyard,” said Kevin Arnold, a supervisor for Huron-Clinton MetroParks — another partner of Canoemobile.
After spending the day outside, the kids packed their bags, boarded buses and headed back to school.
The Canoemobile will be back in metro Detroit for another five days in September, but this time they’ll be on Belle Isle.
Willy Tully, external relations director for Wilderness Inquiry, says this is the second time the program visited the area twice in one year, but it’s the first time the program will stay for a total of 10 days.
He also says that the program has been able to visit more often because of funding from the U.S. Forest Service. But they continue to raise money through local organizations to make sure they can keep coming back and to keep kids connected with nature.
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