Flourishing in Nature: Take Me Outside Day 2023

 

As the trees on campus continue to radiate shades of crimson, orange, and yellow, we can’t help but enjoy the natural beauty of our campus. We were reminded of the countless benefits of spending time outdoors this week as we acknowledged Take Me Outside Day on Wednesday. Take Me Outside is a non-profit organization committed to raising awareness about our connection with nature and time spent outside. 

 

As an Outdoors Every Day school, we were excited to participate in this day of recognition. Not only is spending time outdoors fun, it has many benefits to our physical and mental health; “nature-based interventions are efficacious as both a therapeutic response to manage pre-existing mental health problems, and as a preventive approach to keep people well” (Coventry, Brown, Pervin, Brabyn, Pateman, Breedvelt, Gilbody, Stancliffe,  McEachan, & White, 2021). 

 

Research has also shown that youth who spending time in nature feel an increased sense of responsibility to maintaining the health of the environment. “Children who perceive themselves as more connected to nature tend to perform more sustainable behaviors; also, the more pro-ecological, frugal, altruistic, and equitable the children are, the greater their perceived happiness will be” (Barrera-Hernández, Sotelo-Castillo, Echeverría-Castro and Tapia-Fonllem, 2020). This means that spending time outdoors supports our value of environmental responsibility.

 

Take Me Outside Day began with a sunrise paddle at 7:00 a.m. Although the weather was cool and crisp, the water was beautiful and this activity provided a tranquil and reflective start to the day for those who participated. Throughout the day, students and faculty were encouraged to find ways to be outdoors during classes and lunch. In the afternoon, students had the opportunity to join a service learning activity at Northcote and in the evening, they had the chance to spend more time on the lake, on a pontoon boat tour of Lake Katchewanooka. 

 

We love to see our students make connections with and to their learning, nature and the outdoors. As former LCS Headmaster Alexander Mackenzie (1895-1938) was known for saying: “There’s always something worthwhile doing outside!”…and that means in any weather!