We Are In A National Magazine!

Camping Magazine for July/August features House In The Wood...

Take a Look! Click on the Cover.

Outdoor Ed Program Assessments

We have started doing pre and post assessments of our lessons to see if we are doing what we SAY we are doing. We also do post assessments on social emotional learning (SEL) topics like teamwork, responsibility and independence.

The academic assessment results below come from a Chicago Middle School (7th grade) who did one OUTDOOR EDUCATION lesson with us called "Meet the Herps". This lesson met our amphibian and reptile friends at the Valerie Hall Outdoor Education Center. We also talked about animal classification, metamorphosis and adaptation.

While they were here for three days, they also did tree climbing and archery as well as activities designed by their teachers.

Here is the academic assessment for the Meet the Herps lesson.



Here are the results from their SEL assessment.

Feedback from the middle school leadership...House In The Woods was such a magical experience for us this year! 7th grade had a turbulent school year and it was so awesome that we ended the year on a positive note. Thank you for your hospitality, and patience with our group! This was the first end of the year trip that the principle has ever attended and she was deeply impressed. I did strongly recommend that both 6th and 7th grade should experience HITW every year.

Copyright 2016

House In The Wood Honored for Program Excellence by American Camp Association

House In The Wood is proud to announce that its Summer Camp program has been selected for the Eleanor P. Eells Award for Program Excellence. Our Summer Camp program has recently been recognized at the state and regional levels, but this national award from the American Camp Association is an especially high honor.

From ACA:

Eleanor P. Eells Awards for Program Excellence are designed to honor camp programs that:

1. Develop effective, creative responses to the needs of people and/or societal problems using the camp environment,  
2. Encourage continued development of such ideas,
3. Stimulate the exchange of creative ideas, and/or
4. Present to the public examples of positive contributions camp has made on the well being of individuals and society

The award will be presented at the ACA National Convention on February 9, 2016. We at House In The Wood and Northwestern Settlement are very proud to be the recipients of such an honor. We are proud of the Summer Camp program and the people who earned it. The inspiring programming and transformative experiences provided at House In The Wood are a vital component of our mission as an organization. This award strengthens our resolve to always reach higher for our campers.

We thank our staff, volunteers, supporters and the community whose tremendous efforts make Summer Camp possible. This honor is for all of you.

House In The Wood is ACA Accredited

House In The Wood has been accredited by the American Camp Association for many years. But those familiar with the ACA's accreditation process know that this mark of accountability does not last a lifetime; camps must work to keep it! ACA accredited camps are visited during programming once every three years and assessed on an exhaustive battery of guidelines and standards. House In The Wood was visited this past summer and we passed our assessment with flying colors!

The ACA Accreditation standards are focused on the safety and well being of campers, staff and the facilities and environment that make up the camp. Compliance with these standards is what allows House In The Wood to provide the safe, nurturing environment to its campers year after year. There are many standards and they are assessed strictly, so we are proud of the hard work of our staff in keeping House In The Wood in full compliance.

Rouse Cottage-New Lodging

What it will look like when it is done...

It should be completed in April 2015 or maybe even BEFORE! 

The building will have 5 bedrooms. Each bedrooms sleeps 4 people in bunk beds. 

It will have two restrooms with showers and a living room with a kitchenette.

A very BIG thank you to the Rouse Family for the donation.

House In The Wood

A program of Northwestern Settlement

NEW Program-Recreational Tree Climbing

Just started a NEW program at House In The Wood...Recreational Tree Climbing!
Join us for a day of hanging our in the trees.

We can run six lines up in the tree. Once up in the tree, you can climb as high as your rope, sit on a branch, stand on a branch, or even sit in a chair. We have two trees certified to climb--THE FIRST and WILT (named after Wilt Chamberlain). 

Our certified facilitator Curt Andrews who has over 20 years of experience in the tree business is our Tree Climbing Director. Our staff will help you with your harness and helmet. They will hook you into the rope and teach you all you need to know to climb up the tree. Call us at 262-728-2752 or e-mail at vwright@nush.org to book your fun now.

House In The Wood is operated by Northwestern Settlement

Just Opened...New Outdoor Education Center

WOW!
That is what most people say when they walk into our new OUTDOOR EDUCATION CENTER. As one our our new user put it "the website does not do you justice".

The Entrance to Our New Center

Downstairs--the Birdwatching Area with Bird Nest

The Classroom in the Trees

Our Herps--Turtle, Tortoise, Frogs, Toads, Snakes!

Our Nature Center with Interactive Things to Do

Our Stump Meeting Space

House In The Wood is operated by Northwestern Settlement

TO INSPIRE, NURTURE AND EDUCATE!