Environmental Education Continues into the Evening at Mayville Public School’s Sixth Grade Camp

As the lyrics go in Ken Lonnquist’s “Life is a Web” song, “That’s why we’re gathered here. Same as we do every year.” This year, Mayville Public School’s sixth grade environmental education camp started with 68 sixth graders and 18 high school counselors.
When asked to comment on this year’s camp, Courtney Renderman, the Friends of Mayville Camp and Camp Director, went on to say, “The sixth grade teachers and I spent the last few months preparing our campers for their camp week. They were excited and nervous to head out to Camp Anokijig. Upon arrival at camp, there were cheers and screaming! Our schedule for the week kept everyone very busy from 7:15 a.m. [with] warm ups on Western Lodge porch to our night walks around 8:45 p.m. Our sixth graders had the opportunity to experience many firsts: being away from family, horseback riding, canoeing, archery, being without a phone, and so much more. Our sixth grade class learned so many lessons throughout the week for what we ended up calling writing their own ‘Camp Story.’”
Next year will be the 50th anniversary of Mayville attending a camp for the entire week. Camp started out at the Kettle Moraine Youth Camp near Kewaskum and shifted over to its present home at Camp Anokijig on Little Elkhart Lake near Plymouth, Wis. in 1997. As best as can be found, 1975 was the first year Mayville went to a full-week format with staff moving into camp on a Sunday night with the sixth grade students coming out Monday morning and returning home from camp on Friday after lunch. There was a year or two of either day camps and one-night stays, prior to 1975; and the first year of Covid, camp was cancelled with a day camp held for both the seventh graders who missed camp and the sixth graders in 2021.
Principal Becky LeBouton considers “sixth grade camp as the capstone experience for Mayville Elementary School learners as they transition to Mayville Jr./Sr. High School.” Not only do students develop a greater appreciation of natural resources and the environment, but they also acquire social skills that make for better world citizens; this cannot be duplicated in a regular classroom setting. Besides the classes offered during the day, the evening activities are an important part of the educational experience. Many of the evening presenters have been coming to camp for years. Most share their knowledge of natural resources and the environment through story and song.
David Stokes - 1991 - Hales Corners

Is there a special place for you with Mayville’s Camp?
Oh, yes. I love the residential outdoor environmental camp experience. That’s where I started my career in 1974 while a college student. There is nothing better than living together in nature. Able to program all hours of the day, including night experiences. Nothing else compares, the time spent on helping young people grow.
How does Mayville’s program compare to other schools in Wisconsin?
Mayville is the only school left that I know of that gives their sixth graders a full weeklong experience in outdoor environmental education.
How do you think music adds to the camp experience?
Music is a right-brained experience. It’s creative and is primal. Right-brained activities are what people remember over their lifetime. They remember the affective more than the cognitive. Although I am not a musician, my evening entertainment session is spent on hands-on nature and science. Edutainment is a good name for it.
Ken Lonnquist - 1983 - Madison
Is there a special place for you with Mayville’s Camp?
I relish my long history with the Camp and the dedicated teachers, volunteers and friends who make it happen. There is an obviously deep affection for - and dedication to - its mission, the network of friendships involved, and the good it offers to the young students who benefit from the Camp.
How does Mayville’s program compare to other schools in Wisconsin?
I’ve experienced nothing quite like it. For many years I participated in Waukesha’s environmental education camps, which were terrific opportunities for that District’s sixth graders. Although it was a shorter and much less “intimate” camp experience, I admired and appreciated the value of what they provided for their students. Then, in the year 2010, political winds in our State began to shift dramatically to the right, and Waukesha eliminated the environmental education camps for sixth graders. It was a real shame, and a great educational loss. Mayville has sustained it’s program for more than half a century, through changes of leadership, location and personnel. The commitment is deep, and passionate. It’s really an honor to be included within it!
How do you think music adds to the camp experience?
I think storytelling and music are some of the most cherished traditions of a camp, a campfire, or any group gathering. It combines entertainment, information, laughter and inspiration. My aim is always to provide these elements in my camp concerts. Pete Seeger - the late, great American folksong hero - told me that when we get the audience singing, we build a bridge between each other’s hearts. We connect. We’re drawn together. And when we sing a powerful idea together... like “life is a web” or “walk lightly now” - we connect with a unity of purpose and action! We are making a strong, positive statement in unison. That’s impactful!
Will Ulrich – 2014 – Wauwatosa
Is there a special place for you with Mayville’s Camp?
I attended sixth grade camp in 1982 with Mrs. Fuller and Mr. Sadowski. I enjoyed camp so much I later attended as a high school camp counselor. I have met so many wonderful people through Mayville’s sixth grade camp. Every time I attend camp, I feel as though I have returned “home.” I love catching up with friends, making new friends, and learning more about earth sciences.
How does Mayville’s program compare to other schools in Wisconsin?
I teach in Wauwatosa. There are a few schools in my area that attend environmental ecology camps, but only for one or two days. Mayville is unique in that they allow students a full week of outdoor education.
How do you think music adds to the camp experience?
Music helps to solidify memories. You can hear a lecture about eagles and think “that’s interesting.” When you learn a song about eagles, you’ve just learned something that will last a lifetime. Music brings words to life.
Terri Fuller has been my mentor and role model since I was in senior garden. After having Mrs. Fuller as a music teacher, I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I am so grateful to be able to share my love of music with today’s sixth graders. I look forward to many more years of sharing music with others.
Camp continues because of a partnership between Mayville Public Schools and Mayville Friends of Camp Inc (MFoC Inc), a committee of concerned citizens and parents founded in August of 2023. MFoC is the non-profit fundraising vehicle for the Sixth Grade Camp program with a mission to raise and distribute funds for Mayville sixth grade campers. Corporate and individual sponsorships and grants from local businesses and non-governmental organizations have helped in raising funds for camp. Corporate sponsorship has included Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Modern Woodmen Fraternal Financial, Metalcraft of Mayville, Jamie’s Clubhouse Childcare Center, Wings Over Wisconsin, Team Logic IT, Coder Accounting, Mayville Rotary Club, The Meating Place, Krapfl Home Realty, Mayville ACE Hardware, GFL Environmental, ACE Construction and Engineering, Avid Landscapes, and Handmade Wonders. The Mayville Parent Teacher Association makes a major contribution to camp each year with funds raised through script.
Although the campers have returned to Mayville, plans are already underway for next year at Camp Anokijig. Camp is scheduled for April 27 through May 1 2026, as the cycle continues. Renderman went on, “Each of us at camp, including counselors and adults, come to Camp Anokijig as one person but leave as another. We learn together. We grow together. We become better together. I am honored to lead this program but could not do it alone. The time, effort and dedication of high school counselors, MES teachers, camp volunteer staff, parent volunteers, camp instructors, night entertainers and Anokijig staff make the experience to write a Camp Story possible for each of our MES sixth graders. Mayville is truly blessed to have a program like this for our youth!”
Ken Lonnquist concluded, “I’ve written hundreds of songs about Wisconsin, nature and the environment, and have performed them for nearly five decades all around the State and beyond. But there is no place that knows them more deeply than the community of Mayville... because the students, counselors, staff and community have taken them to heart and appreciated something of value in them! What greater compliment could a songwriter and performer receive? What greater satisfaction? Thank you, Mayville Camp!”