School Programs
For over 40 years, Mt Seymour has guided students to success in a positive, encouraging, and safe environment created by our certified instructors and experienced guides. We are dedicated to connecting children with their natural surroundings. Mt Seymour is the ideal classroom - offering clean mountain air, healthy activities, professional instruction, and lasting life skills.
We understand the challenges and effort involved in organizing a group of students. Our team is ready to assist you every step of the way, helping you prepare your school, engage your students, and reassure their families.
Contact Us
Should you have any questions, our email address is schools@mtseymour.ca.
Meal Program
Students can pre-order from eight delicious menu items, including gluten-free and dairy-free options. A seating area will be reserved for school groups participating in the meal program. Contact us for the menu.
Bus Rental
Conveniently book your programs and transportation with us. Two school buses are available for rent. Contact us for rates.
Curriculum Links
At Mt Seymour, we understand that the BC Schools Curriculum has an emphasis on experiential education and place-based learning. Below we outline key connections between our outdoor education programs and the curriculum. We focus on learning by doing and aim to help students experience the mountain environment using all of their senses. This approach lays a foundation for further growth and inquiry. It is our goal to spark an interest in your students that will assist them to express and reflect on a variety of experiences, perspectives and worldviews through their connection to Mt Seymour, the sub-alpine region, and British Columbia as a whole.
Core Curriculum Linkages
Critical and Creative Thinking: Our programs will get students thinking about the world around them and discovering out of the box links between nature and humans. We use the art of questioning to help students solve mysteries concerning Mt Seymour`s natural and cultural history.
Personal Awareness and Responsibility: Our programs aim to cultivate an enjoyment of outdoor recreation in the winter environment and teach students how they can stay active and healthy both on and off the mountain. The Snowshoe Showdown program will get your students active and having fun! Winter Survival Challenge will have students think about being responsible for themselves when enjoying the great outdoors and make them aware of steps to stay safe whether they are enjoying nature in the winter, summer or anything in between.
Social Responsibility: We are lucky enough to have our programs take place in a BC Provincial Park, and we take our responsibility to pass that information on very seriously! Your students will learn about our place in the mountain ecosystem and how they can help to protect it. This theme is recurrent in many of our programs, however Nature Games is particularly relevant. We believe our programs will help your students gain an understanding of contributing to community and caring for the environment.
Communication: We recognize that sometimes students need a gentle nudge to work together and learn more about each other. We have various activities (such as shelter building!) that will get your students excited about teamwork. Snowshoe Snowdown has plenty of games, challenges and puzzles to keep your students entertained and working collaboratively.
Course Specific Linkages
Physical Health Education K-12: All of our programs will have students out and about, experiencing the mountain on snowshoes or their own two feet. We make sure that educational stops are broken up with exploration and games to keep your class moving. Snowshoe Showdown will help students “explore methods of monitoring and adjusting exertion levels in physical activity“ as well as gain an appreciation of outdoor recreation. Nature Games, Snowshoe Showdown, and Winter Survivor Challenge will help younger students to “develop and demonstrate safety, fair play and leadership in physical activities“. We are in the business of teaching students to get excited about being outside and exploring the natural world, which is beneficial to the physical, emotional and mental health of all children.
Science K-9: Many of our programs discuss life cycles and features of living organisms as well as the interactions of plants and animals with their environment. Our curricula are particularly aligned with biology and earth science learning outcomes and can be made to suit any grade level. For younger groups we would suggest Winter Discovery or Nature Games to get students thinking about the plants and animals of Mount Seymour, how they interact and survive in the mountain ecosystem.
Social Studies K-9: Our programs focus on the place-based education that is stressed in the evolving social studies curriculum. Our guides discuss what life was like on the mountain before roads and ski lifts, how people have interacted with the area over the years, and about local First Nations cultures.
Physical Geography and Earth Science 11-12: We delve into basic plate tectonics as well as how natural processes have shaped the landscape and contributed to human uses of it.