Homeschool Outdoor Education

JPII Outdoor Lab Mission

JPII Outdoor Lab provides outdoor experiential education within the context of the Catholic faith. Through an authentic encounter with Christ in his Creation and sacraments, students are inspired to deepen their relationship with God, thus shaping their relationship with themselves, others and Creation. Students will further learn to apply faith and reason while exploring the wonder and beauty of the Rocky Mountains.

Our Homeschool Program

JPII Outdoor Lab is a program of Annunciation Heights Catholic Youth and Family Camp located at the base of Longs Peak in Estes Park, Colorado, two miles north of historic Camp Saint Malo.

Our three-day homeschool program offers inquiry-based lessons, exploratory hikes, small-group discussions, campfire activities, stargazing, Mass, Adoration, and Reconciliation. Students (your child) will participate in one of three adventure tracks in co-ed small groups based on their age. Our homeschool program is open to all homeschool students between the ages of 10-15. During their three-day stay, students are provided with meals and lodging. Chaperones are needed to make this program possible! If you are interested in attending the program with your child, please check out our “Chaperone Requirements”.

CHAPERONE REQUIREMENTS

OUR INSPIRATION

Founded in 2008, the John Paul II Outdoor Lab was inspired by Pope Saint John Paul II’s encyclical Fides et Ratio:

Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.

– St. John Paul II, Fides et Ratio

Dates:

October 30 - November 1, 2024

Age-appropriate programming and hike
$295/student | $60/chaperone

Multiple Child Discount: when registering multiple children from the same family, each child after the first child will cost $195

Every Program Includes:

Lodging & Meals
Altum Institute Missionary for each small group of 10-12 students
Sacraments: Mass, Reconciliation, Adoration
Lessons/Activities:
- Four Relationships Lesson
- Hike at Camp Saint Malo
- Evening Programming (campfire and night lesson according to track)