SPARKS – Slices of apples dripping with brown sugar jostled on sticks over a campfire as young hands maneuvered out of the swirling smoke on an early November morning.
“Don’t get too close,” Stephen Herrera warned, then quickly added as he caught their anxious faces, “Don’t eat it right away. It’s hot.”
Minutes later, apples roasted and eaten, the children scattered into the woods across from Monsignor O’Dwyer Retreat House in Sparks.
“It is the highlight of the week,” said Elizabeth Mahon of Glyndon, watching her three children race ahead. “I like the cross-play over all ages. It’s a benefit of homeschool.”
From August through Nov. 21, youths ages 3 to 10 – sometimes accompanied by younger siblings – gathered every Friday morning for the Wildly Catholic Homeschool Nature Club, a two-and-a-half-hour program created by Brooke Herrera, a pediatric occupational therapist and a parishioner of Sacred Heart in Glyndon.
On Nov. 7, the young participants rotated among stations focused on fire safety and cooking, storytelling and free play. Each session began and ended with prayer.
“I wanted to incorporate the Catholic faith into nature study and nature play,” said Brooke, who homeschools her three children and is expecting another child in January. “I wanted my kids to have a connection to the Creator. I finally have a place to do it.”
After leading a similar program behind the Reisterstown Library last year, Brooke approached the O’Dwyer Retreat Center to see if her vision could expand. She collaborated with staff members, including Sister Florencia “Flo” Silva Cabrera, the center’s director, to determine how her nature program could fit alongside the center’s other offerings.
“We have this huge piece of land and wanted to do more outdoor education out here,” Sister Flo said. “She (Brooke) wanted to do three age groups, different themes. We’re trying it out with smaller groups. It filled up in two weeks.”
The program takes place entirely outdoors on the land across from the retreat center. Brooke, her husband, Stephen, and a team of staff and friends spent days clearing areas to create natural gathering spaces. Donated tree stumps form seating circles, while another clearing holds a makeshift outdoor kitchen equipped with donated pots.
“The kids discovered more areas,” Brooke said, gesturing toward an enclosed, fort-like thicket where children had disappeared with glee.
Nearby, a small playground was created. A portable toilet was made available by the retreat center as was space in a barn. Brooke stores supplies in a barn and uses the space during inclement weather, though the fall session saw no rainy days. Nearly everything, she noted, from kitchen pots to playground equipment, was either donated or sourced through online free markets.
“The staff has been super supportive,” Brooke said. “We sat down and talked through future programming to build more sites like this for groups.”
Nathan McVey, coordinator of retreat programming at O’Dwyer Center, participated in each Friday session and joined the children at the campfire Nov. 7. He recalled the day the children discovered a large corn snake while putting away supplies and his efforts to reassure them.
“They were convinced woolly bear caterpillars were venomous and not safe to touch,” he said with a laugh, explaining how he told them the caterpillars were harmless. “Now they are looking all over for them.”
Although rooted in Catholic teaching – with prayer, stories, and faith references woven throughout – the program welcomes children of all backgrounds. Klara Carlson and her three sons were the only Protestants during the fall session.
“It is a great opportunity for my kids to get out and meet other kids and to go in the woods and have an adventure,” Carlson said. “The thing that makes this nature school better is that it is centered on the Lord. They’re in a world God made. They pray together. It is so good.”
A second 10-week session is planned for the spring. Like the fall session, it will be limited to 40 children and offered on a single day each week. Sister Flo hopes to secure a staff position for Brooke by then. For now, Brooke and Stephen volunteer their time, and parents or guardians accompany their children during the sessions.
“She wants to do this all year round,” Sister Flo said. “This program is amazing. The moms love it, and the kids have a blast.”
Brooke hopes to eventually offer nature sessions every day of the week for all ages and even lead field trips for elementary schools. Those ambitions will take time, as staffing and funding conversations continue.
“This is all new. We’re just figuring it out,” Brooke said. “This has been in my heart for years. It’s nice to know we can do it.”
Email Katie V. Jones at kjones@CatholicReview.org
Also read: ‘Makes you feel like God is here’: Archbishop Lori dedicates renovated O’Dwyer Retreat Center Chapel
To view more photos from Katie V. Jones and photographer Kevin J. Parks of O’Dwyer Retreat House camp, click through the slideshow below:
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