The Youth and Family Wellness Camp was swarming with kids on Wednesday for day one of the Northern Ontario Youth Climate Action Summit presented by Science North.  

Local school children from grades 7 to 12 were invited to the camp to learn about climate change and participate in different science demonstrations and activities.  

Grace Schmidt, a staff scientist with Science North and one of the organizers of the summit, said day one was all about learning with workshops and keynote speakers, and day two would be all about acting and planning projects to continue acting through the community.  

“We taught the kids how to talk to their parents about climate change, we also had a keynote speaker from Indigenous Climate Change Canada who talked to the students about her climate change journey,” said Schmidt.  

“We also had [a speaker] from the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada to teach the students about community climate mapping.” 

When asked about her favourite part of the day, Schmidt said “I loved seeing all the students together, sharing their ideas! We had lots of opportunity for them to give input so hearing all the different perspectives, their enthusiasm, and their excitement for making a difference, it was really great.” 

“We are super grateful, excited and happy to be out here at the Kenora Chiefs Advisory Youth and Family Wellness Camp! We wanted to emphasize connecting the students to the land and environment around them, so to be out at the [Camp], in this beautiful space with students together, was exciting!” 

The Northern Ontario Youth Climate Action Summits are presented by Science North in partnership with Roots and Shoots, and they were inspired by the Wild Centre.