Spring 2016 Outdoor Education Season
Spring 2016 Outdoor Education Season
By Greg Santen- Program Director
We are reveling in the early Spring weather here in the Shawnee – already being serenaded at night through cracked bedroom windows by frogs and toads once again. The 2016 Spring Outdoor Education Staff is ready to begin another busy season. We are excited to have Xavier Tolbert back on the Spring Staff. He will join Chris Sedivy, Anne Rutledge, and Jake Pasdertz, who were with us last fall, and staying through the Spring as well. The Camp Ondessonk Family welcomes Jared Simoneaux and Kelly Carman to the Spring Staff. Jared is from Indiana where he worked in Catholic Outdoor Education and summer camp. Kelly is from New York City and has many years of experience with children both in the classroom and in the outdoors. 
We completed another successful Summer Camp promotional campaign organized by our wonderful Program Coordinator, Olivia Hammond. We visited over 175 schools across Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, and Kentucky in January and February. We all owe a huge Heepwah to Olivia, Tony Vrooman, and the staff for enduring long days traveling on the road to ensure a successful Summer 2016! The weather was beautiful for the second annual Maple Sugarin’ Weekend which hosted 23 people. We harvested and boiled enough sap for everyone to go home with a bottle of Ondessonk Maple Syrup. Camp Ondessonk is blessed to be able to continue its year round mission of inspiring growth through nature to thousands of kids of all ages from across the region. This Spring we will be hosting dozens of school groups, scout groups, spiritual and teambuilding retreats, and Road Scholars. Our schools come to Camp during the week for Outdoor Education and teambuilding, and are the core of our program season. We are also excited to be hosting more Road Scholar programs geared to providing adults with unique, intimate experiences exploring Southern Illinois on foot, on horseback, or in a canoe. Our Father-Son Weekend, Spring Lodge Reunion, and Stable Round-Up will be in April and our two Open Houses are scheduled for May. There are also many open weekends folks can visit Camp, hike around, sleep in a treehouse, and enjoy the most beautiful place on Earth. Keep an eye on our website and our Calendar of Events to learn how to keep Camp in your life all year. Give us a call to reserve a cabin for the weekend and bring the whole family!