The New Jersey School of Conservation is excited to announce our recent partnership with Trail Blazers! Trail Blazers is a Brooklyn-based organization with a 1,0000-acre site in Sussex County, New Jersey, and a rich history of nurturing outdoor education.
The partnership is set to spark a deeper connection between children and the environment, fostering not just knowledge, but also a sense of responsibility for the world around them. This summer, NJSOC hosted Trail Blazers’ day-campers and Leaders-in-Training (LIT) campers over six days in July and two days in August. We brought together young wilderness explorers, aged 7 to 15 for an immersive experience involving backpacking trips and spending the night in tents on our campus!
As climate issues are more pressing than ever and with unprecedented fires and floods across the globe, this partnership is a prime opportunity to prepare young people to engage, have conversations, and affect positive change.
NJSOC and Trail Blazers have a shared history of environmental education and share a founder, LB Sharpe! The two organizations, which have been just 8 miles apart since the 1940s, are now embracing the ways they can complement each other. With a focus on survival skills and outdoor exploration, Trail Blazers teaches crucial life lessons to campers, and now through their partnership with NJSOC, can provide campers access to new activities, expert-led curriculum, and a unique location. New activities include studying herpetology, studying live animals like turtles, snakes, and tadpoles, and engaging in field exploration.
NJSOC’s academic depth and Trail Blazers’ outdoor survival skills expertise provided campers with the most holistic learning experience possible. We crafted the experience to enable them to develop the skills and values needed to thrive as adults as well as pave the way for a generation of environmentally conscious leaders who are not only armed with knowledge, but inspired to make a difference.
We are thrilled about this partnership and looking forward to the opportunities that collaborating will bring to us and the community in the future!
Want to join in on the fun? Check out our public programming here!
