THE LEAFLET

At Casey Trees, we’re passionate about nurturing the next generation of urban tree stewards. By uplifting youth voices and engaging children in our community, we empower them to become tomorrow’s climate change champions. Our commitment extends through various initiatives— our formal watershed school programming, volunteer partnerships, and school tree planting opportunities. And in the summer, we work with children in fun and creative ways to get them interested in caring for their environment.

This past week we hosted a full-week summer camp program for 20 students entering grades 3 through 6. The campers came from Wards 1, 5, 7, and 8 to join our “Branching Out in Brookland” summer camp adventure. This program, part of our TreeWise summer engagements, was a special one. It was entirely directed and hosted by our Casey Trees education team. It was our first time running a full week of camp and it was a hit! Activities were rooted in STEAM themes, including science experiments, crafts, neighborhood hiking, and a field trip! Programming topics included climate change, pollinators, urban forestry, caring for our local watershed, and environmental stewardship. Campers explored the natural world while working as a team, making new friends, and developing a connection to the outdoors. Our Casey Trees headquarters conference room transformed into a classroom and was the learning hub. Here is a highlight of what we were up to each day:

• On Monday we learned all about trees. We identified different species of trees in our neighborhood while on an urban hike to Turkey Thicket Park. Campers worked on making Tree Superheroes which required creative thinking into how trees can best help their ecosystems.

• Tuesday’s theme was pollinators! We took a trip to the gardens at Noyes Park to explore what pollinators were living there. In the afternoon, CT’s Policy & Land Conservation team led a letter-writing activity where campers wrote letters to their council members about their local environmental concerns.

• Weather and climate change were the theme for Wednesday. Campers created cloud spotters to learn the types of clouds and what they signify, made a cloud-in-a-jar science experiment, and crafted adorable cloud door hangers. They also learned about the urban heat island effect in a temperature and map activity.

• On Thursday we focused on seeds and stewardship! The group watered trees and the rain garden at Casey Trees which led to an all-out water war. Counselors Emma and Sam surely got dunked by many buckets of water. Campers also decorated pots and planted sunflower seeds to care for at home. The big activity on Thursday was a seed dispersal lesson in which campers got to create their own seeds that had to float in water and fly in the wind. Some commotion ensued as campers watched their seeds fly off the roof in a seed drop experiment.

• Friday was our field trip to the US National Arboretum. We got a tour of the Washington Youth Garden where campers got to take home some yummy produce. We also hiked the Fern Valley trail and were mesmerized by the tallest Beech tree that towers in the forest. Our week concluded with an ice cream party and a reflection on all that the campers had accomplished throughout the week.

Campers and counselors alike had a blast exploring the urban forest together. New friendships flourished through silly conversations, dancing, playing games, and learning to work as a team. One of the week-long activities that wonderfully captured what students learned was our Tree of Growth. Each day, in a final reflection, campers added a ribbon to our tree after writing on their ribbon something that they learned from the day. It was fun to see our tree fill up throughout the week and leave campers with a sense of pride as they became Junior Urban Foresters.

If Casey Trees nature camp is something your child would be interested in, keep an eye out on our social media and Leaflet articles for information regarding future winter, spring, and summer break programming.