TOPICS: drum making & ceremonial smudging, powwow singing, social dancing, flint knapping-cordage-fire, paranormal
DESCRIPTION: for our indigenous educational experiences for schools please visit this page.
PRICES: Range from $225 per group and up.
Educational Guest Speakers for Schools & Interest Groups
Some speakers are available to do classroom presentations… pending distance.
You can enhance your floating or hiking classroom experience with an educational speaker.
For schools doing overnight adventures… many of our speakers can do evening presentations.
School Field Trip Speakers on Indigenous
School Field Trip Speakers on Wildlife & Fishing Conservation
TOPIC: Learn to Fish
DESCRIPTION: This presentation covers knots, choice of lures and bait, types of rods and reels, how to cast, where to fish and types of fish. Excellent for beginners. He supplies all the equipment for instruction. About 1.5 hours.
PRICE: $250.00 per group of up to 25-30 people
CONTACT: Barna Robinson
SPEAKER BIO: Barna Robinson owns BAER Fishing Adventures. He offers shore-wade, drift boat and kayak fishing expeditions in Southern Ontario. He is a very good instructor… both engaging and knowledgeable. Barna has been working with us since 2014.
TOPIC: Aquatic Renewal/Improving Stream Habitat, Improving Water Quality and Quantity
DESCRIPTION: Conduct in-stream workdays and classroom instruction. Identify aquatic insects to determine the health of the water course. Discuss biodiversity and environmental issues. Collect other data from the watercourse such as temperature and chemistry.
PRICE: For pricing contact Larry either by phone, text or email. Rates start as low as $10 per student. Corporate or group rates available.
CONTACT: Larry Mellors at 519-758-7052 (text or call) OR email at [email protected]
SPEAKER BIO: Owner/Guide/Instructor of Friends on the Fly. I have been involved in outdoor school education for 40 years. Currently teach in 3 universities, 5 high schools and 5 elementary schools conducting in-stream activities and classroom instruction. Have an active JK/SK class conducting in-stream monitoring and fish and aquatic insect identification in a warm water school neighbouring their school.
TOPIC: Wildlife Rehabilitation
DESCRIPTION: Learn about unique characteristics of different species, how to peacefully coexists with wildlife or how to help wildlife in need of help.
Presentations for all ages. Compare the structure of your own hand to the wing of a bat, or see the difference between the teeth of an omnivore and a herbivore and much more. Lots of hands on using bones, skulls and specimens. Learn how to peacefully live alongside animals such as coyotes or deer or what to do when you come across a wild animal you think needs help.
PRICE: $200/hour maximum group size 30
CONTACT: Chantal Theijn or visit her website
SPEAKER BIO: Chantal is the founder and current Wildlife Custodian at Hobbitstee Wildlife Refuge. At Hobbitstee she cares approximately 2500 sick, injured or orphaned wildlife of all species annually with the ultimate goal of releasing them back into the wild. Chantal has over 10 years of experience.
Topic: Fur Management and Conservation.
Description: Introduction to sustainable Fur management and Conservation, an overview of Trapping and its rules and regulations in Ontario today.
Price: Varies depending on events, length of demonstrations required, contact to discuss event and pricing.
Contact: Robert Gurney 519-770-6866
Speaker Bio: Robert sits on the board of directors for the Ontario Fur Managers Federation, is a licensed Trapper and a certified instructor for the Fur Management and Conservation course with over 30 years experience. Robert is also an agent for the MNRF. ( Ministry of Natural Resources and Fisheries)
TOPIC: The Bee+ Program: Students Helping Honey Bees
DESCRIPTION: A presentation about the life of honey bees and their importance to ecosystems and the growth of our food. Learn how we can all pitch in to help them thrive! Play interactive games to learn about how the honey bees live in a colony, observe real bees in an enclosed observation hive, and eat some honey! 1.5 hours
Come visit us at Whistling Gardens in Wilsonville, or have us come to your class or desired location.
PRICE: $250.00 per class goes towards sponsoring the care of a new honey bee colony
CONTACT: Vanessa Stewart [email protected]
SPEAKER BIO: After mentoring from other beekeepers, courses, and countless books, blogs, and video archives, Vanessa found opportunity and a true sense of community in Norfolk County. It is now her goal to work along side honey bees and benefit all pollinators where she can, by sharing with the public the importance of these tiny creatures and all that they do for us.
School Field Trip Speakers on History
TOPIC: Voyageurs: Supermen of the Fur Trade
DESCRIPTION: brings the life of the voyageur alive for you, with voyageur belongings (bedroll, personal bag and paddle), some furs and trade goods. In mild weather it can include a birch bark canoe. Participants sing, dance and try their strength and agility in voyageur games as well as talk about daily and seasonal patterns of voyageur life. The presentation can be from 60 to 150 minutes, in French and/or English, ending with wooden dancers and a lesson in playing the spoons.
PRICE:$300 for up to 60 GRR paddlers
CONTACT: Jay Bailey or visit the Voyageur Website
SPEAKER BIO: Having survived and thrived in over thirty years of teaching French, Jay Bailey has become an authentic voyageur, paddling over 4000 km on the fur trade routes of North America, mostly in birch bark canoes, bedroll on the ground at night, cold pea soup and bannock to eat, fires started with flint and steel. He engages the participants in song, dance, games of strength and agility, furs, trade goods, size of canoes and the nature and stature of voyageurs!
School Field Trip Speakers on Edible Medicinal Plants
Topic: Edible-Medicinal Plants & Trees of Ontario
Description: This is a hands-on “come to your class” experience of “touch-taste-smell” plants and trees with edible-medicinal properties. Talk covers about 30 different native species in Ontario. About 60 minutes in length.
Price: $150.00 per group plus mileage @ $.40/km
Contact: Garth Pottruff
Speaker Bio: Garth Pottruff is a Forester and outdoor educator. Introducing people to the outdoors is his passion. He is also one of the founders of the Grand River Rafting Company. Garth has been working with us since 2006.
Topic: Wild Teas of the Forest… and Experiential Learning with Wild Edibles
Description: Students will obtain ancient knowledge of identification and
medicinal application of wild edible plants within our local forests. With this
presentation students will experience plant sampling through the means of
drinking wild edible plant teas. All equipment is supplied. About 1.5 hours.
Price: $275.00 per group of up to 25-30 participants
Contact: Tara Carpenter
Speaker Bio: Tara Carpenter is an Outdoor Educator and Interpretive
Naturalist Guide with extensive knowledge on wild edibles, survival
techniques and wildlife biology. Founder of Grand River Outdoor Wilderness
Education (GROWE) she deliveries a variety of outdoor programs. Tara has
been working with us since 2016.
School Field Trip Speakers on Canoe Safety & Trip Planning
TOPIC: Canoe Certifcation & Safety
DESCRIPTION: ORCKA-certified courses for Basic Canoeing levels 1-3 (tandem) and level 4 (solo); Canoe Tripping 1; Safe Canoeing; Introduction to Canoe Tripping
PRICE: For prices visit “It All Comes Naturally” (Group discounts available)
CONTACT: Greg Derbyshire at [email protected]
SPEAKER BIO: Greg has been involved in outdoor experiential education for over 40 years both for the school system and outdoor education centres. He has been certifying paddlers for schools, camps, government departments, conservation areas, Scouts/Guides and the general public for almost a decade with a focus on safe and knowledgeable recreational paddling.