Campers will fully embrace new media in this exciting major! Your child will learn the process for creating both audio broadcasts from start to finish. Campers will work as a team to produce complete podcast episodes, using technology as a tool rather than a time-waster.
Skills learned will include:
That’s just the tip o’ the iceberg! Read about the rest of our majors here.
The Trackers & Treehuggers major is designed to help campers spend some quality time with their Mother Earth.
Trackers & Treehuggers majors will…
That’s just the tip o’ the iceberg! Read about the rest of our majors here.
Under the guidance of an experienced staff member, Wood & Ashes majors will use a variety of hand tools (and sometimes get help with power tools) to create a wood-based project, and then learn to use a wood-burning pen to embellish it. One of our most popular majors every summer!
Instructor: Ron Cosens is our own much-loved program director, but in the off-season he is also the owner/artist of Wood & Ashes Woodworking & Pyrography. He specializes in custom orders and replicating photographs as unique burnings.
Majors are special programs for our Heartwood campers (aged 9-12) to choose from each week. Read about the rest of our majors here.
Strap on your goggles and get ready for an odyssey of pure fantasy! Steampunk is a fascinating sub-culture that is heavily influenced by the elements of the Victorian period of history as well as the novels of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne. It is a made-up, fantasy period of history (or the future) that imagines what it would be like if the Victorians had used steam power and clockwork to make modern gadgets. It is part science-fiction, part invention, part arts & crafts, and part fashion. Any camper that is creative, likes building/inventing, and has a great imagination will love bringing this concept to life.
Cyberpunk Variation: While Steampunk is set in a fictional past, Cyberpunk is set in a fictional future.
Click here to return to the Heartwood program.
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*NEW for 2017* Puppetry is the focus for this year’s performing arts major. We are thrilled to announce that Adam Zimmerman (aka “Eccentric Adam”) will be visiting as a guest artist to guide campers as they take a puppet character all the way from conception to reality.
The puppetry major program will include:
Instructor: Adam Zimmerman has been a featured entertainer at the Puppets Up! festival since it’s inception. With a degree in Theatre from the University of Ottawa as well as Certification in the Art of Clown from Advanced Studies – USA Virginia, he is a talented and versatile performance artist with skills in clowning, circus, balloon sculpting, puppeteering, music, and more. Adam is currently working on a new puppet production featuring giant mechanical dinosaurs.
That’s just the tip o’ the iceberg! Read about the rest of our majors here.
Current popular culture is obsessed with zombies! From TV shows to board games, you can find them everywhere. Prepare for a zombie epidemic by learning essential skills like tracking and camouflage, bushcraft, self-defense and packing a bug-out bag. (Skills that will help you survive any kind of disaster, not just the Zompocalypse!)
Zombie Apocalypse majors will…
That’s just the tip o’ the iceberg! Read about the rest of our majors here.
Click here to download your MKDC Valentines
Instructions:
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What is a makerspace?A makerspace is a physical location where people gather to share resources and knowledge, work on projects, network, and build. Simply put, a makerspace is an area with the tools and supplies needed to create.
Maple Key is transforming “crafts” into something much more meaningful. A Makerspace allows campers to have much more choice and control over their creativity – which means a higher level of engagement, more confidence, and the freedom to pursue skills that are most relevant to each individual camper.
To have a successful makerspace, we need tons of materials to allow kids to fully and creatively express themselves.
Many of these supplies are common items you may have around your house that we will use in uncommon ways.
If you are interested in donating any of the following, please contact us.
“The most important part about Star Trek captains isn’t which one you admire most, or which one you feel most closely reflects your management style. The most important Star Trek captain is the one who inspires you to be a better leader.” – Tarah Wheeler Van Vlack
Sometimes it’s hard to be a leader. Sometimes it’s even harder to be a leader when you’re a woman.
Since I became an entrepreneur there have been several times that I have been not taken seriously, disrespected, or straight-up taken advantage of because I am a woman – even from other members of my own business community.
Theoretically, the world likes strong women. But then you look for examples on TV and the media… where are they? It’s really hard to find positive examples of strong women who hold positions of power. No wonder our daughters grow up unsure of how to assert themselves.
(If you don’t know who I’m talking about, stop right now and go watch some Star Trek. Seriously. Were you brought up in a barn?)
Captain Janeway, to me, is the epitome of a positive female leader. She kicks butt and takes names – but without being a jerk, and without surrendering her identity as a woman. Captain Janeway is an awesome hero. (Alongside my mom of course – who coincidently is the one who brought me up on Star Trek. Coincidence? I think not.)
Without further ado, here are the numerous ways that Captain Janeway teaches women (and men too!) how to be better leaders – and not be afraid of doing it.
1. Take care of your people first
Throughout the Voyageur series, Janeway’s one driving focus is getting her people home. She sticks to this even at her own peril. She puts her team’s needs above her own, because she recognizes that as their leader she has a responsibility to keep them safe. In turn, her crew is willing to walk through fire for her.
2. Never let anyone intimidate you
Have you ever seen what happens when someone tries to threaten Katherine Janeway?
3. Get the right people on the bus, and listen to them
“Many times, you’ll see Janeway change a thought or an opinion in mid-sentence because she understands that B’Elanna has an angle on a situation that she missed, or Chakotay says something that makes great sense and she changes her thinking. There’s a wonderful flexibility in this tower of strength.”
– Kate Mulgrew on Captain Janeway’s leadership style, in an interview in Starlog, March 1995 issue.
4. Listen to your trusted advisors, but in the end you need to do what you think is best
Sometimes Janeway’s gut is telling her to do one thing, even when everyone else is telling her to do something else. She listens respectfully, even when she doesn’t agree. Then she does her thing anyway.
5. Having differences doesn’t mean you can’t work together
When Voyageur got lost in the delta quadrant, they ended up “inheriting” a group of Maquis, who were essentially outlaws according to the Federation. What did Janeway do? She earned their trust, acknowledged their skills and talents, and included them – even giving some of them positions of rank on the Voyageur crew.
6. It is possible to be both tough and sensitive.
And there’s nothing wrong with giving a hug to someone who needs it.
7. Own your mistakes.
Like any human, sometimes Janeway messes up. When that happens, she is able to admit it, takes steps to resolve it if she can, and avoids blaming other people.
8. Be the guide, not the hero
There’s an episode where B’Elanna thanks her for supporting her through a problem. Janeway tells her: “You were the pilot, I just charted the course.” Being a leader doesn’t mean that you have to be the one holding the sword to slay all the dragons – sometimes being a leader is making sure that others have what they need to do it themselves. Guiding others to slay their own dragons is the ultimate leadership.
9. Never ask your people to do something you would never do yourself
Much to her first officer’s frustration, (and contrary to Starfleet protocol) Janeway frequently takes on dangerous missions herself. She doesn’t like to ask her people to do something dangerous while she stays behind.
10. Sarcastic humour cuts tension better than any knife.
Sometimes the best thing you can do is not take a situation too seriously.
Bonus #11: “Coffee: the finest organic suspension ever devised.”
‘Nough said.
It’s kind of hard to understand the awesomeness of Santa’s Workshop until you’ve been there.
There’s something so magical that happens when you watch a child get excited about a gift they’ve made for a loved one. It’s not just about the joy of giving – although that’s definitely a part of it. It’s about the confidence and pride they radiate when they are able to give something that they were able to create independently. How often do kids get the chance to give their parents or siblings a REAL surprise? (I don’t know about YOUR house, but in mine we have a hard time keeping secrets!)
It is in the spirit of holding onto the surprise that I can’t tell you what we’ll be making this year, but I CAN give you a few examples of what elves have made for their favourite people in previous years. We always look for projects that allow kiddos to learn a new skill as well as produce a useful product:
I’ve put together an example with instructions for one of our previous projects: How to make a Bami Ballen
