From September 14 to September 16, our Grade 6 students traveled to Camp Gesher for the annual Grade 6 Eco Trip. They began their exciting itinerary with an ice breaker activity run by our shinshiniot, Tamar and Tamar, a canoe outing, an interactive eco-drama game, a delicious dinner, and, of course, a bonfire with s’mores and a singsong. On day two, the students spent the day exploring at Bon Echo Provincial Park. Within this park is Mazinaw Lake, which features an escarpment adorned with indigenous pictographs rising out of the water at 100m tall. Mazinaw, named for an Algonquin word meaning “picture” or “writing,” is the largest rock site on the southern Canadian Shield and the only major pictograph site in southern Ontario. These pictographs are images which depict human and animal figures, as well as a remarkable number of abstract and geometric symbols.

We interviewed Leigh and Osheir, two Grade 6 students, following the trip. Here is what they said:

What was your favourite part of the Grade 6 Eco Trip?
Leigh: My favourite part was canoeing and seeing the rocks with the pictographs.
Osheir: I liked canoeing because it was my first time doing it and it was something new.

What connections did you make between your favourite part of the trip and your Jewish learning?
Leigh: We can connect it to our Generative Topic which is, “We come closer to God through our words,” but in this case it was, “We come closer to God through the pictographs.”
Osheir: Well, our Generative Topic right now is, קָר֣וֹב ה׳ לְכָל־קֹרְאָ֑יו, which means, we come closer to God through words. I can connect it because we were in nature, and we were looking at rocks and the water. The water is very calming and peaceful, and so is doing tefillah, and that is what helps me come closer to God.