NatureBridge: A Kid's Point of View

Editor’s note: Guest blogger and NatureBridge student I.E.S. is the child of Robin DeGracia, head writer at Around the World with Kids. Adapted with permission.

Ever since I heard about the amazing experience known as NatureBridge from my sibling, I dreamed about the day it would finally be my turn. After watching them go off and seeing how much fun they had I’ve been even more ecstatic. Finally I was old enough and my dream was coming true. It all started on a foggy December morning. 

My friend and I had been talking non-stop about everything we were gonna do, what we were gonna wear, even where we were gonna sit on the bus, so you can imagine when I woke up at five o’clock in the morning from excitement, I was all ready to go. Once everything was ready, we loaded the luggage on the bus and took off. I sat next to my friend and we annoyed the whole bus by singing obnoxious songs. When we arrived we met our counselors, they taught us about what safety would look like at NatureBridge and sent us to the dorms to set up. 

After lunch and a rundown of what the day would look like, we started to hike. We learned a lot about NatureBridge like how it used to be a military facility, which is why there were buildings called “batteries” all over the place. We hiked past two batteries and down to the beach where we met another group and hung out with them. 

After a delicious dinner, we were brought for a meeting to learn about composting. Then we went on a hike to the beach. The soft melody of the waves crashing against the shore soothed me and made me ready for the bed that awaited me when I returned to the dorms. Once pajamas were on and teeth were brushed we laid in bed till the next morning came upon us. 

[The next day] we made our way to the Marine Lab with tons of underwater creatures like sea urchins and hermit crabs. Even though everyone was eager to play with the creatures, we had to go over what we can look at, touch, or hold, but once we were done with safety, it was a blast. I felt what a sea urchin felt like and had my hand tickled by a hermit crab that walked on it. 

Once we finished at the lab, we started hiking to the lighthouse, stopping for lunch and a fun game called jays vs. juncos [both are species of birds]. Along the way to the lighthouse, we stopped to gaze at some sea lions, take a group picture, and meet up with another group. Together we walked the rest of the way to the lighthouse. We walked across a shiny white bridge and tried to listen to each other through walls our instructors called “echo walls.” 

Finally the last day was upon us. After breakfast and “morning meeting,” we jumped right into the day's activity. We were brought to a different lab—a plankton lab. While we learned about plankton, another group looked at them under a microscope. We learned the difference between phytoplankton and zooplankton, and our teacher drew plankton from SpongeBob on the board.

After filling our brains with plankton knowledge, we moved over to the microscope room where we got to look at plankton under a microscope. We each got assigned a microscope, but after a few minutes everyone was chatting about their plankton and looking at other people’s microscopes. 

Of course this great experience couldn’t last forever and we went back to our dorms to load up the bus. We loaded our luggage and lunch onto the bus, took our seats, and before we knew it we were leaving NatureBridge behind. 

All in all, Nature Bridge was a great experience filled with new activities and a great time. 

Note from the author's parent, Robin: I love that the school has given both of my kids this fantastic opportunity. I believe it’s important for kids to have a chance to travel with peers and without their parents to learn independence. Not only did NatureBridge give them that opportunity, it also gave them an amazing educational opportunity they would not have had in their generally urban school. Also, in this day and age, getting them away from their phones and tablets can be difficult, so having the excursion be technology-free let them be kids, use their imaginations, and play and interact in a way they haven’t since the pandemic. Thank you to the school for providing this opportunity, and thank you to NatureBridge for creating this amazing educational experience.