Camp Abnaki
The Johnson State College Camp Abnaki program is an annual, week-long outdoor education experience run by JSC students for the sixth graders of Grand Isle County at Camp Abnaki in North Hero, Vermont. The program, which began in 1972, is a collaboration between JSC, the Grand Isle Supervisory Union, and the Burlington YMCA/Camp Abnaki.
During the spring semester, as part of the class Learning in the Outdoors, JSC students learn how to extend the grade school curriculum using the outdoors and to design learning opportunities that contribute to meeting Vermont’s learning standards for sixth graders. At Camp Abnaki, the JSC students teach a variety of activities that may include canoeing, camping and outdoor survival skills, environmental and nature studies, team building and ropes course challenges, nature arts and crafts, music and rhythms, and Native American studies.
The sixth graders gain practical knowledge and skills in a novel environment, getting an opportunity for personal achievement, self-expression and the development of cooperative and leadership abilities and positive attitudes towards the wise use of our natural resources.
For the college students, goals include applying, in a practical, hands-on setting, the theoretical knowledge and teaching/leading methodologies learned on campus.
The Camp Abnaki facility, with its Lake Champlain waterfront, is a beautiful and historic site that makes the experience all the more enjoyable and memorable for everyone involved.
Did You Know
Where service matters
Nearly 3,000 JSC students have contributed 100,000+ hours of volunteer service since 1987.
