Boundless students with solar panel

The Boundless School heals through the environment

The Boundless School heals through the environment

Friday October 26, 2018

For many Ontario teens, a 600-acre stretch of wilderness in the Ottawa Valley is a place of healing and growth.

The verdant grounds of The Boundless School are like a second home to young people who struggle with mental health issues and lack the resources to thrive in regular classrooms. Under the guidance of the camp’s instructors, they are given a chance to earn their high school diplomas while learning and bonding with each other and with nature.

The Boundless School, Ottawa Valley

The Boundless School is a non-profit that is transforming lives through its innovative outdoor learning programs. Immersed in the natural surroundings of the School, students engage in outdoor activities such as canoeing and fishing, while learning how to manage and protect the land. The School uses the environment as a place for students to build confidence, form relationships and overcome adversity.

For Executive Director Steven Gottlieb, the camp’s environmental health is critical to the success of its students. “In order to give our students the best learning experience we can, we need to protect and preserve the land’s beauty,” he says.

A plan is underway to preserve that landscape. “Our new Boundless Land Trust will be a blueprint to keep our property pristine for millennia,” Gottlieb explains. “This means ensuring Boundless’ forests are not plundered, its acreage and waterfront are never subdivided, and any farming shall always be organic.”

The Boundless School’s solar project

As part of that plan, The Boundless School recently completed a 20 kW solar project—in partnership with Bullfrog Power, who is the Lead Sponsor for the installation. “Our environmental ambitions include running our school with as much renewable energy as possible,” Gottlieb says.

He adds that the solar project symbolizes the School’s dedication to environmental stewardship: “For us, installing solar panels matters as much as the power they generate. We were thrilled to find that Bullfrog was eager to collaborate with us.”

Gottlieb hopes The Boundless School’s environmental efforts will inspire its students—past and present—to take action to preserve the planet.

His message to the bullfrogpowered community: “Thanks for giving us the faith and resources to make our environmental dreams come true.”

Learn more about the Boundless Conservation Plan.