High-school-age campers from Camp Nor’Wester at the Ellis Family Preserve

Earlier this month, a group of eight high-school-age campers and three counselors from Camp Nor’wester (on Johns Island) came to Shaw Island and stayed at SJPT’s Ellis Family Preserve for a two-night community-service outing.

The campers slept under the stars, brought and prepared their own food, and hauled away all their garbage/recycling. They helped build part of a new, quarter-mile-long trail loop.

Most of the campers had never built trails before, so Stewardship Manager Kathleen Foley provided training in tool use. During work breaks, they spent some time identifying trees and shrubs and talking about forest ecology. Caretaker Ruthie Dougherty gave a nice introduction to the preserve to help set the context.

The gathered to share daily reflections, and even wrote a song about their time “on the Ellis land.”