Wanakita

In Grade Eleven, the pressure mounts, the workload increases, and by the end of the first semester in January, all the students and staff really deserve a break. Thus, in Grade 11, we have the annual Grade 11 trip to the Wanakita YMCA camp, in the Haliburton Highlands, for five days.

Here, students will rediscover Canadian winter by engaging in a variety of fun activities ranging from learning the techniques of cross-country ski to hiking in the snow to singing around a campfire.

And, for all those who are willing, students can also build and sleep in their very own quinzees for a night. A quinzee is essentially a snow hut and a shelter. It is similar to an igloo. Spending the night in a quinzee can be an exhilarating experience. The other nights will see students sleeping in cabins, which, thankfully, are kept quite warm.

At Wanakita, there are team-building activities as well. These include the 'Low and High Ropes' courses, which are always quite interesting when they're done in the freezing cold, and the 'Cardboard-and-Duct-Tape-Toboggan' building contest, which is the stuff of legends!

At the end of the day, students kick off their shoes and watch a movie, eat a snack, then get some sleep. The overall experience is both relaxing and exhilarating, and is the perfect break from the rigors of Grade 11.

Here's another video, this time from the 2010-2011 trip. Since Wanakita was fully booked that year, the students returned to Pinecrest, this time in the winter, for their winter break.