Announcing our 2023 t-shirt design contest!

Share your love for wildlife, outdoor education, and nature connection this Valentine's Day - and all year long. It's time for Piedmont Wildlife Center's annual t-shirt design contest!

Read on for contest rules, guidelines, and prizes:

• Designs must be nature-themed and reflect what you love most about Piedmont Wildlife Center. Creative interpretations highly encouraged!

• No color images, please. Line art works best on our screen-printed shirts.

• Be original! Please do not use another artist's work, or submit a design that has been used elsewhere.

• Designs must be submitted as a PDF or vector file (.AI or .EPS) to admin@piedmontwildlifecenter.org no later than 11:59 PM EST on Tuesday, February 28th.

All members of the Piedmont Wildlife Center community are eligible to enter - including YOU! The winning design will be clear, creative, appropriate for all ages, and capture the spirit of Piedmont Wildlife Center's camps, citizen science, and conservation programs.

Need some inspiration? View past t-shirt designs on our online Nature Store.
 

The first-place winner will have their design featured on our 2023 summer camp t-shirts. They will also receive a free shirt (with their design, of course) and a $50 cash prize! One runner-up will receive a Nature Store coupon and $25 cash prize.

Will your design be the perfect Valentine's Day match for this year's camp t-shirts? We can't wait to see what you come up with!

Summer camp registration is OPEN!

Calling all young adventurers, junior naturalists, and future wildlife champions: Registration for our 2023 summer camps is officially OPEN!

Will your camper challenge themselves to learn new wilderness skills in our Forest Edge and Deep Forest camps? Or will they explore their creative side (and the woods!) in our Natural Arts, ART-thropods, and Drama in the Forest camps? 

Maybe they'll become scientists and naturalists for a week, meeting our wild neighbors at Wildlife Science, Web of Life, and Wild Worlds - or engage their mind and body while playing our favorite Woodland Games! Whatever paths they choose, summer camp at Piedmont Wildlife Center is the adventure of a lifetime.

Summer camps will be held at Leigh Farm Park (Durham), Blackwood Farm Park (Orange County), and Umstead State Park (Wake County) from June 12th-August 18th, 2023. In addition to our youth camps, we also offer teen camps and backpacking trips for ages 13-17. (Otter Clan I, our introductory backpacking trip, is also open to adventurous 11 and 12 year-olds.) Scholarships are available.

Don't miss out on a summer of outdoor learning, connection, and exploration! Our summer camps typically fill up quickly, so register your camper today. We can't wait to adventure with them this summer!

Register now for Spring 2023 camps

Come grow with us this spring! Registration for all Spring 2023 homeschool, intersession, and Wild For A Day camps is now open. Spring intersession camp offerings include:

• Wild Worlds (March 13-17)

• Fairy Folklore (March 20-24)

• Coyote Camp (March 27-31)

Plus single-day Wild For A Day camps on January 16th, January 17th, February 20th, April 7th, and April 10th!

Aftercare may be added for an additional fee. Scholarships available for campers with financial need (applications due December 1st). Learn more and register below!

Community Spotlight: Meet Katie Zimmerman!

Autumn always brings many changes our way, from colorful leaves to the start of sweater weather. The change we're most excited about this year? Welcoming our new Education Programs Coordinator, Katie Zimmerman!

Katie grew up camping and exploring in the forests and streams of Georgia. After graduating from Georgia Tech and obtaining her Master's in Teaching from Kennesaw State University, she moved to North Carolina to teach Barrier Island Ecology in the Outer Banks.

Since 2009, Katie has been involved in both formal and informal science education, but outdoor environmental education is her passion! When not busy connecting children to nature, Katie enjoys reading, climbing, snuggling with her two cats, and acting in local community theatre productions.

Katie has been with us for about a month now, and we're already super impressed with her leadership, creativity, hard work, and sense of fun! Welcome to the team, Katie. We can't wait to see how our outdoor education programs grow under your leadership!

Registration is open for Woodland Afterschool!

School’s back in session - and afterschool is about to get WILD! Registration is now open for fall Woodland Afterschool at Piedmont Wildlife Center.

After a full day of learning, come join us at Leigh Farm Park in Durham to explore the natural world around us. We will use games and other experiential, hands-on activities to engage with concepts outlined by state science educational standards – all while spending time outside in the forest with fellow nature lovers!

Woodland Afterschool is offered Monday-Thursday, starting October 10th. Drop-off will be from 2:45-3:45 PM and pick-up will be from 5:15-5:30 PM. Parents may register their students for individual days of the week, or for the full week.

Bus transportation is available from Creekside, Club Boulevard, Morehead Montessori, and Pearsontown. For campers from other schools, we’re happy to connect families who want to carpool if there is sufficient interest.

We can’t wait for lots of autumn afterschool adventures! Learn more and register at the link below.