Upcoming Camps
Wylde Center Fall Camp 2021
Click Here to Register
Open to current K-2nd grade students.
Dates, times & pricing:
September 20th-24th
Time: 9:00a – 2:00p
Location: Oakhurst Garden (435 Oakview Road, Decatur, GA)
Members: $250.00 Use code MEMBERCAMP at checkout.
Non-members: $275.00
Camp registration is first come first serve, and there is a 10 camper limit for each week. Spots will fill up quickly, so register soon!
Questions should be directed to Thomas Flynn, Camp Director: tom@wyldecenter.org
The Wylde Center offers unique camp experiences to families in and around the Decatur area.
During our Winter, Summer and Fall camps, your child will explore this urban setting complete with native plants, garden, resident chickens and native wildlife. Campers will enjoy planting, tasting fresh organic fruits and veggies from the garden, searching the garden for insects, birds, frogs and salamanders, creating engaging and thoughtful crafts, caring for our live chickens, playing games, exploring the creek, visiting the Cob House, having free play, making S’mores around a campfire and other fun, educational activities.
About our camps
Our camps are led by two highly trained Wylde Center educators. Cumulatively, our education team has over 40 years of experience teaching and leading outdoor education programs in areas such as science, agriculture, history, art and language arts. With the wealth of knowledge and diversity of backgrounds on our team, there is truly something for every camper!
Camp registration is first come, first served, and there is a 10 camper limit to maintain a low camper to educator ratio. Spots fill up quickly, so register soon!
Covid-19 Statement
Due to COVID-19, students and staff will be masked at all times (except when eating and drinking). Camp will be almost entirely outdoors, with the only exceptions being to use the restroom and in the case of inclement weather. All indoor spaces do have air purifiers running. Indoor spaces and teaching materials will be cleaned on a daily basis.
We are closely monitoring COVID-19 school numbers and will continue to do so over the next few weeks. While it is our intent to run camp, safety is our priority so if the decision is made to cancel you will be refunded entirely--camp will only be cancelled if we feel it is absolutely necessary. Thank you for your understanding!
Questions should be directed to Thomas Flynn, Camp Director: tom@wyldecenter.org
Meet the Education Team
Thom Flynn
Camp Director
Thom joined the Wylde crew in April 2018! He grew up into Chicago (and loves their pizza), but has since been bouncing around the United States working seasonal jobs. Most of his time has been spent in the woods of New England teaching at a residential environmental education company. However, during the summers, Thom has worked on farms and lead conservation trail crews in Connecticut, Illinois, and Oregon. While new to Atlanta, he is stoked to be able to combine his love for education and farming at the Wylde center; running around with kids and vegetables is his passion! In his free time, he enjoys kayaking, running, woodcarving, journaling, traveling, and hanging out with chickens.
Jillian Eugene
Camp Educator
Jillian grew up in Atlanta attending the Waldorf School during her formative years and later attended Eckerd College and majored in Anthropology and Spanish. While in college, she studied abroad for a year in Spain, did medical anthropology research in Mexico, and gained initial experience teaching gardening lessons to elementary school students with the Edible Peace Patch Project. After graduating, she taught English in a small, beautiful town in Thailand to 2nd-6th grade for a year and a half. She later returned home to become a FoodCorps Service Member at Wylde Center, teaching gardening, nutrition and cooking classes at two Atlanta Public Schools. She is happy to continue as an educator with Wylde Center! When not working, she enjoys traveling, swimming reading, painting and spending time outdoors.
Nichole Lupo
Farm to School Manager
An educator and musician, Nichole Lupo grew up gardening with her dad in Lexington, South Carolina. She got her first job in a restaurant and her love of good food was born. Searching for a way to combine her love of growing and eating fresh food with her desire to continue teaching children, Nichole began working with metro Atlanta’s Farm to School movement in 2007. She has spent the years since writing and implementing garden-based whole foods nutrition curricula, leading Farm to School workshops for teachers, instructional coaches and principals, and teaching in classrooms and gardens connecting existing curricula to delicious, garden-fresh food. Nichole has been the farm to school manager at the Wylde Center since November 2012. She enjoys working with her committed colleagues, her talented teachers, and her excited, inquisitive students.
Sarah Dasher
Education Director
Sarah joined the Wylde Center in 2016 as an educator after a brief career as a copywriter and editor. Though she has been actively engaged in the Atlanta food system since college, her love of teaching came as a surprise in 2014, when she spent a year teaching in school gardens as part of the first cohort of FoodCorps service members in Georgia. During this time she discovered the absolute joy of supporting young eaters' explorations in garden and kitchen classrooms. Her happy places are leading a class through the Wylde Woods for an ecosystem exploration, spending time with the chickens during after school programs, and sitting around the table with young eaters trying a meal they prepared together.
Camp Safety and Security
The safety and security of our campers is always our first priority. There is a CPR and First Aid certified counselor present for each day of camp, and we have the following safety measure in place:
- All Wylde Center staff members, including camp counselors, have current background checks.
- We maintain a small ratio of campers to adults, and Wylde Center campers are never left unattended. Counselors perform headcounts regularly and always before and after changing locations.
- The entire camp site is walked before camp week starts to identify any hazards and address them before the start of camp.
- Outside visitors to our camp locations are limited during camp hours.