IslandWood

Had a wonderful time strolling in Islandwood’s campus while on a 2.5 hours tour. Islandwood offers program to help integrate nature and science into education. In many people’s minds, the way Islandwood introduces nature and science to kids is really an excellent way to allow kids to learn (rather than just in classroom settings).
What’s quite amazing is how modern the facility can be and how environmentally friendly their buildings were (their buildings are Gold LEED certified). Staff there are environment and nature lovers, so it’s nice that everyone looks out to keep the nature there and as untouched as possible.
Take a look at IslandWood program if you want to see an alternative way to educate and let kids learn outside of classroom settings. It’s a fun and interesting way for kids to learn for sure.

I went to the Ales and Tails fund raiser for the West Sound Wildlife Shelter. The food and beer pairing was good. A couple of the dishes were a «meh», but the location, the facilities, and the cause were so worth it.

We went to a wedding, a BIG wedding, for a gay couple who were finally getting married in their 50’s so there were lots and lots of friends and family who wanted to celebrate.
As a former camp director I was highly skeptical of the location, memories of backed up toliets and uncomfortable bunkbeds lurking. But the place is gorgeous with a cheerful greeting center, Dining Hall Classrooms and huge playfield. The cabins are essentially dormitories with names like The Invertebrate or Mammal house. The rooms are very basic, bed (bunk beds in some rooms) small wooden desk, shower. But they all have a gorgeous common area with a fireplace and comfy couches.
The food for every meal was really outstanding, smoked salmon, pork roast, fancy sandwiches, not PBJ, oatmeal and navy beans like you might expect at a camp type facility. The staff were fantastic, offering nature based activities during the day and impeccable attention to detail for the wedding and dinner. They even have a huge campfire circle which can also have sound and video (the couple had a slideshow going). They offer s’more setups for everyone, including fancy skewers and real Hershey’s chocolate.
If I have one complaint is that the rooms are quite a long walk from the compound, and even me who walks regularly found it a little tiring. This probably wouldn’t be a great place for a large group of disabled or elderly folks.
A fantastic place to celebrate a long awaited and well deserved celebration!!!

My daughter loved this camp! She went with her 4^th grade class last year in November. At the time we thought it was a strange time to go to a camp setting… it was freezing! But she totally loved it and we have tons of pics to prove it! She loved all the activities her and her class did, the food was good, she wants to go back!

I will never be able to praise this place and concept enough, and there should be more stars. IslandWood, in many respects, is heaven on earth. Well, I’m not religious but you get the point.
Its founder, Debbi Brainerd, is a phenomenal woman who is married to Paul Brainerd, the equally enterprising fellow who created and sold Aldus (later Adobe). This forward-​thinking couple invested millions of their own money into creating what can only be described as a perfect marriage of architecture, education and sustainable design/​living.
The facility is one of the nation’s finest, and one of five in the nation when built to receive LEED Gold certification. On 255-​acres, it has incorporated the physicality, including the outdoors, into a learning experience with ingrains its visitors with the reality of inspired environmental and community stewardship.
IslandWood offers programmes for children, teachers, adults, and graduate students alike. There are also speaker series and cooking classes, special events and fundraisers, and one can rent rooms for meetings. I’ve not even touched upon the specific sustainable design features, and could not name them all here without turning this already growing review into an epistle. Suffice to say it has photovoltaic roof panels and solar heating, floors made from recycled bamboo, cork, or concrete fly ash, bathroom partitions made from recycled plastic, composting toilets, salvaged woods, countertops made of recycled yogurt container composite, or soybean/​sunflower seed bio-​composite, recycled carpet, an on-​site treatment system which provides tertiary wastewater treatment, which is then used for landscape irrigation.
Truly, I can’t go on. My head starts to feel as if pressed between two water-​filled balloons. Or to paraphrase the men in the diner to Randy Quaid’s character in the movie «Independence Day», I’m almost feeling «sexual things».
You shall simply have to visit the website to see more, and by all means stop in if you’re anywhere in the vicinity.