New nature school aims to reconnect kids with the great outdoors

Kendra Martin worked as a teacher for 25 years but says being outdoors and with nature is her passion.

So she combined both of her favourite things and started the Coyote Nature School.

“I retired in January and I decided that I would follow this dream of opening up a school that is specifically about nature and getting kids reconnected,” said Martin.

Martin said it’s important to get kids outdoors, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic forced many families to stay inside and on screens.

Coyote Nature School founder Kendra Martin and students examine a tree. (Heather Senoran/CTV Kitchener)

“A lot of things happen outside," said 9-year-old Ryder Boemer. "And you don’t see any of those things when you’re on screens."

Boemer was at an open house for the nature school on Monday, but it wasn’t his first time meeting Martin. She was his teacher for several years.

Boemer said he learned a lot from Martin, but his family said he loved being outdoors since he was a baby.

“He teaches his father and I a lot about trees and plants that we didn’t even know anything about,” said his mother, Amanda Boemer.

Kendra Martin and students at an open house for Coyote Nature School on Feb. 21, 2022. (Heather Senoran/CTV Kitchener)

The Coyote Nature School will take place at several spots in Harrington Village like Harrington Hall, Harrington Mill Pond and the Grist Mill on Victoria Street.

The Harrington and Area Community Association co-hosted the open house event and helped restore the historic mill and all the equipment inside.

“The mill behind me and the whole pond area has been here since 1846 so we’re pretty proud of what we’ve done,” said Harry Jongerden of the Harrington & Area Community Association.

Harrington Mill Pond is one of the locations where the school will take place. (Heather Senoran/CTV Kitchener)

The Coyote Nature School is for kids aged six to ten and will be open during March break and for the rest of the spring and summer. In the fall, Martin plans to offer a year round program.

“Our curriculum is really about the cycles of life and seeing what changes happen, what a life cycles, what are the predator and prey relationships and the food chain,” Martin said.