Canoemobile's 'floating classroom' makes first visit to Milwaukee, offering outdoor education for all
It was a nearly perfect summer morning Monday at the lakefront, bright blue skies and a slight breeze to keep temperatures around 70 degrees — a perfect day for paddling, as two canoes circled the lagoon at Lakeshore State Park.
But the canoes were bigger than your usual two- or three-seaters. Ten paddlers sat in the 24-foot green Wenonahs, among those students and a teacher from Escuela Verde, staff from the U.S. Forest Service, and outdoor leaders from Wilderness Inquiry.
The St. Paul, Minnesota-based nonprofit brought the canoes to Milwaukee as part of its Canoemobile program, a "floating classroom" that brings a fleet of six of the big canoes to cities around the country to teach kids and community members about science, geography and more.
The program has traveled the country from California to New York for the past 12 years, but this is its first stop in Milwaukee, with events throughout the week offering 500 kids and adults a chance to paddle the canoes for free and learn about their local natural spaces.
For 80% of those kids, it will be their first time paddling a canoe or even visiting a waterway in their backyard — which is the whole point of the program.
"Our goal is to think about how to break down barriers to outdoor access and connect all people to the outdoors," said Willy Tully, the development director for Wilderness Inquiry. "The outdoors have been shown to dramatically positively impact the mental health and physical health of everyone in our community, so we really view engagement in the outdoors as an opportunity to invest in the health and well-being of people in the communities we serve."
It was easy to see those benefits Monday as the kids first played a team-building game of One Fish, Two Fish before they circled up to learn about canoe safety and skills, then hit the water. They finished their time learning from outdoor professionals onsite, including some from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources who brought two animal ambassadors — a fox snake and an ornate box turtle.
It sure beat sitting in a classroom or behind a computer. And even the adults were having a good time.
"So much of what we do is joyful," Tully said, noting that while they're focused on education and improving health outcomes, "at the end of the day, we're taking kids in boats paddling. It's fun and wonderful to see kids laughing and having a really amazing time. And for us, that's a little bit of the magic that happens when a kid is able to see themselves in a canoe or in a local park or that kind of thing, and then really able to be like, 'Oh yeah, this is fun. I can do this, this can be safe.' And then they're able to hopefully bring their families out and sort of build from that experience."
Tully said the Canoemobile is part of Wilderness Inquiry's "pyramid of engagement" that begins with an introductory program like these and builds up to weeklong outdoor adventure trips in places like the Boundary Waters and the Apostle Islands. In 2019, the nonprofit connected 42,000 people with the outdoors through trips and programs. This year they hope to reach 22,000 people — 20,000 of those through Canoemobile.
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Paddling a canoe on Lake Michigan can be a scary thing for anyone, much less a kid who has never been to the lakefront or perhaps doesn't even know how to swim. But Canoemobile hopes to break down some of those barriers in a safe environment.
"My thing is I want kids to fall in love with nature," said Gina Owens, the regional forester for the Forest Service's Eastern Region who attended the event Monday and paddled in one of the canoes. "We want kids to care about nature. And that means they've got to come out and have positive safe experiences."
Not only does the Canoemobile help kids see themselves safely enjoying the outdoors, it also opens their eyes to other possibilities — including possible careers in the outdoors.
"They see us out here, and they see 'Oh, there's the possibility of, that's a career I could go into,' " Owens said. She recalled her own lightbulb experience when she saw a ranger at a state park and realized that was actually a job.
It's moments like that that the Canoemobile hopes to create through the on-water and educational experiences with partners like the USFS and the Bureau of Land Management. Partners provide everything from education stations to financial support (all Canoemobile events are free, and Wilderness Inquiry pays for school transportation to the event).
Typically the Canoemobile will play host to school groups during the week, then a community event on Friday where students hopefully return with their families — further building the scaffolding of the "pyramid of engagement" and connecting more people with the outdoors.
Three events in Milwaukee will be open to the public, the first from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Lincoln Park. That event is being held in conjunction with the Friends of Lincoln Park, Milwaukee Riverkeeper, the Sierra Club's Great Waters Group and Nearby Nature Milwaukee, an environmental justice and equity initiative.
The Canoemobile will return to Lakeshore State Park from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, followed by a beach bonfire and s'mores in partnership with the Friends of Lakeshore State Park.
The final event will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday in the Jackson Park Pond in conjunction with the Jackson Park Farmers Market.
All abilities are welcome at the events, and no experience or equipment is needed. Wilderness Inquiry provides the canoes, paddles, life vests and outdoor leaders who provide instruction and helm (steer) the canoe. Because of the size of the life vests, the paddling portion of the event is geared toward fourth-graders and older. All of the events are free and no registration is required.
For more information, see wildernessinquiry.org/programs/canoemobile.
Contact Chelsey Lewis at clewis@journalsentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter at @chelseylew and @TravelMJS and Facebook at Journal Sentinel Travel.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wilderness Inquiry brings Canoemobile to Milwaukee for free events
