One Last Adventure: The Grade 12 Moosonee Service Trip

As the 2024/25 school year came to an end, some of our Grade 12 students embarked on an incredible trip to Moosonee with the wonderfully supportive Ms. Deathe. This service trip became one last hoorah for our graduates before they began the exciting new chapters of their lives.

Emma shared that the Moosonee trip was unlike anything she had experienced before. “We really didn’t know what to expect; our class was once again the high school’s guinea pigs for this newly developed Grade 12 service trip,” she explained. The start of the journey was filled with excitement, sadness, and hesitation—emotions heightened by the fact that graduation had just taken place and these were their final days together as classmates.

After a long stretch of traveling and a brief stay in a Cochrane motel, the group began adjusting to the colder weather and wide-open spaces of Northern Ontario. The first day out on the river was especially tough. “It poured rain and was absolutely freezing for six hours. We all agreed it was the roughest day ever,” Emma recalled. Yet those difficult moments made the group appreciate the sunny days even more, when simply being dry and still outdoors felt like a gift.

Her favourite memories came from their time in Moose Factory, where the students took part in the community’s National Indigenous Day celebrations—making local Cree crafts and eating fresh bannock. “The people were so friendly, and it was clear the community was very close-knit,” she said.

Even with mosquitoes, chilly mornings, and wet clothes, Emma found herself reflecting on gratitude each day. “I was surrounded by my very best friends, people I had spent the most important years of my life with. Being out in nature helped me reconnect with myself, understand my peers better, and reflect on bigger things in the peace of Northern Ontario,” she shared. Simple but challenging tasks, like getting the canoes in before the wind picked up and paddling 20 km, left her with a deep sense of accomplishment. “I am also so grateful for our two amazing guides and our incredible teacher, Ms. Deathe. They made the trip so much fun, and we were so lucky to have them!”

Below are some pictures taken by Emma that beautifully capture the starry night sky and some downtime between friends playing cards.

For Osyka, the decision to go on the trip was not an easy one at first. “Originally, I was hesitant to go, but in the end, I was very grateful I did,” she reflected. The experience opened her eyes to what life is really like for Indigenous peoples. She learned new skills, bonded closely with classmates, and discovered how much fun camping could be.

“This was the first camping trip I truly enjoyed,” she said. “The views were beautiful, the food was delicious, and the activities were challenging but rewarding. One of my favourite parts was that we didn’t have our phones to distract us. Instead, we spent hours talking, stargazing, and playing cards.”

The lessons carried back home with her were just as powerful. “I noticed small changes in my daily life: I wasn’t afraid of bugs anymore, I could eat foods I used to hate, and I didn’t even want to be on my phone. But the biggest change was internal. I feel like I grew both mentally and emotionally and became more appreciative of the simple things I had always taken for granted,” she explained.

Her advice to future students is simple: “I really recommend this trip to the next Grade 12s. Trust me—you will not regret going!”