Rachel Bond has deep roots at the South Shore YMCA Nature Center in Norwell. Her grandfather, Jon Bond, served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Nature Center prior to its merger with the YMCA, and her grandparents — both longtime supporters and volunteers — enrolled her at the Nature Center Preschool and Nature Adventures Camp as a child, where her love of the outdoors and its animals and plants that surround us blossomed.
She continued to stay involved, helping out at events and programs like Maple Day, Corn Festival and the launch of the EcoZone. After serving as an intern and camp counselor at the center, Rachel worked to became a Nature Center Preschool teacher, stepping up as a lead teacher three years ago. To this day, she continues to care for the Nature Center’s animals.
“I’ve just always wanted to be involved with this place,” she said. “I always kept coming back.”
Leading Nature Adventures Day Camp
This summer, Rachel served for the first time as Director of the Nature Adventures Day Camp.
“Here at camp, it’s all about connecting and having meaningful experiences with nature, experimenting, creating, being outdoors, feeling the elements, as well as making wonderful friendships between other campers and your counselors,” she said.
Rachel defines the Nature Center as “magical” and says it is the people that are connected to this place, its history and mission, that make it so special.
“We care so deeply, not only about the natural world around us, the creatures, the plants, the flora and fauna, but also our community and making those strong connections with our campers and our families, reconnecting them with nature and delivering these amazing, impactful experiences. These are the same experiences I had when I was a preschooler and camper, and they have stayed with me my whole life.”
A New Era for Nature Center Preschool
The South Shore YMCA, as part of its multi-year “Leave Your Mark” capital campaign, is building a brand new outdoor education building as part of its Nature Center Preschool, to expand the environmental education programming for generations to come. The building will be complete for the incoming 2024 preschool class and will be used for summer camp programming as well.
“The building is just huge,” said Rachel, “opening so many doors and possibilities for us. Come fall, once preschool moves out of the old building, I’m excited as a preschool teacher to have a new space that’s functional and like built to cater what our program needs, being that we are nature-based and we are outdoors.”
Reconnecting the Community to Nature
The Bond family history dovetails with those of other multigenerational families at the Nature Center.
“We have parents of today’s students and campers who came here as kids 25 years ago,” she said. The same can be said of summer camp, a program that is also poised to expand, thanks to the new building.
Rachel is also excited for the future of the original Nature Center building.
“It’s going to open so many doors up for the old building, bringing it back to what it was: a Community Center for all members of the Y, all members of our community to come in, reconnect with nature, explore, make new connections with the animals as well as our faculty here. We are excited to bring back a lot of programming and different opportunities for, again, overall community learning.”
A NEW ERA FOR THE NATURE CENTER
Learn more about the history of our South Shore YMCA Nature Center as we work together with our donors, volunteers, and community to build a bright future for environmental education on the South Shore.
A New Era for the South Shore YMCA Natural Science Center