Camp S.E.E.D.

Click here to visit the Camp S.E.E.D. Facebook page.

Click here to visit the Let's Move Outside website.

 

NPS Photo

During a two-week period in August 2011, kids from northern Virginia experienced a special outdoor adventure known as Camp S.E.E.D. (Students Encouraging Environmental Discovery). Camp S.E.E.D. campers spend a week exploring the outdoors at National Park sites including Great Falls Park and Shenandoah National Park. Along the way, the campers learn about the nature and history of these areas while they climb rocks, hike trails, and camp out underneath the stars.

The 2011 session of Camp S.E.E.D. began on August 8. During each camp, the campers documented their experiences through photos and video clips so they can share what they are learning with their families, friends, and the world!

Click here to access their Facebook Page and see what they've been up to!

 

NPS Photo

Each camp ends at Shenandoah National Park where the campers spend three days in the park. For many, this is their first experience camping overnight. As they hike with park rangers discovering plants, animals, and mountain habitats, they are challenged to complete the requirements to become official "Ranger Explorers." Campers also learn first-hand about natural resource restoration and "Leave No Trace" outdoor ethics principles by working with park staff on service projects to remove invasive exotic plants and rehabilitate illegal backcountry camp sites.

By completing all the physical activities during Camp S.E.E.D., the campers meet the challenges of the Let's Move Outside! initiative, part of First Lady Michelle Obama's nationwide campaign to end childhood obesity and reconnect kids with the great outdoors for a healthier and active lifestyle. After hiking a section of the Appalachian Trail in the park, one camper declared, "This place is special because it can teach you about nature and the environment. The trail can also test your will!"

Campers have been awed by the mountaintop views, the sunset, the stars, wildlife sightings, and the quiet. One camper summed up his experience: "We had so much fun outside! We don't want to leave."

Camp S.E.E.D. is a partnership program between Northern Virginia Community College, Fairfax County Neighborhood and Community Services, and the National Park Service.

 

• 

  Camp S.E.E.D. - 2011 - Week 1

  The 2011 session of Camp S.E.E.D. began on August 8. During each camp, the campers documented their experiences through photos and video clips so they can share what they are learning with their families, friends, and the world! This is video from the Week 1 participants.

  • Dialup
  • Standard
  • Broadband (HD)

 

• 

  2011 Camp S.E.E.D. - Week 1

  15 photos

  View Album | View Slideshow

  • Discovering the mysteries of the Big Meadow
  • Learning how to use a GPS unit
  • Environmental games help students learn
  • Learning about wilderness
  • Participants learn about the web of life
  • Taking a break after filling 15 bags!
  • Proudly displaying Camp S.E.E.D. shirts
  • Using GPS to navigate the meadow
  • Exploring the forest utilizing different senses
  • Discovering millipedes!
  • Rehabilitating an illegal backcountry campsite
  • Getting rid of those invasives!
  • Camp participants pull non-native invasive plants
  • Pulling non-native invasive plants
  • Intrigued by Shenandoah's geologic history

 

• 

  Camp S.E.E.D. - 2011 - Week 2

  The 2011 session of Camp S.E.E.D. began on August 8. During each camp, the campers documented their experiences through photos and video clips so they can share what they are learning with their families, friends, and the world! This is video from the Week 2 participants.

  • Dialup
  • Standard
  • Broadband (HD)

 

• 

  2011 Camp S.E.E.D. - Week 2

  21 photos

  View Album | View Slideshow

  • Amazed by the sunset!
  • After a tough hike, a sunset reward
  • A group of teens sit on a rock outcrop with a view of the mountains. a Ranger point out some feature in the distance.
  • A teen holding a clipboard and pen sits on a boulder and studies the lichens.
  • A teen in bright red leads a line of students along a path through Big Meadows.
  • A teen approaches with and armload of logs and twigs.
  • A young boy in a red football jersey lugs a large log through the woods.
  • A young boy looks skeptical as he tries on a fully loaded backpack.
  • A young girl tries to get her arms around two tree trunks.
  • Three students look at a GPS unit. A camp counselor with camera looks over their shoulders.
  • A young student wearing a backpack sits on a rock. With his elbows on his knees he holds a blade of grass between his thumbs and attempts to whistle.
  • Five students wander through chest-high plantlife looking for their waypoint.
  • Students sitting along a trail in the woods listen as a man in a PATC volunteer uniform explains the contents of his backpack.
  • A teen on a trail through the woods stops to take a photograph while others just up the trail wait.
  • Three young campers proudly display a large black trash bag full of invasive exotic plants they pulled.
  • A young teen kneels to in the woods to pull Japenese stiltgrass.
  • A group of teens hold a long log up over their heads.
  • A girl stand in front of several other youths in the lawn beside Skyline Drive.
  • A student acts out experiences as a Ranger drums and another Ranger, a counselor and other campers look on with smiles.
  • A student leans over to get a closer look at the scat some animal left along the trail as two other students look on.
  • A student sits on a rock outcrop with a view of the wilderness and writes in her journal.