Why Environmental Education Matters And Why CKBY Is Leading the Way

How over 1,400 students discovered the power of nature at Camp Kum‑Ba‑Yah Nature Center in 2025.

Every year, thousands of children across Central Virginia step into the woods at Camp Kum‑Ba‑Yah Nature Center and experience something increasingly rare in childhood: unstructured time in nature, hands‑on learning, and the chance to explore the world with curiosity and confidence.

In 2025 alone, more than 1,400 students visited CKBY on school field trips, not just from Lynchburg, but from Amherst, Bedford, Campbell County, and beyond. These visits weren’t simply “fun days outside.” They were powerful, research‑supported learning experiences that shape how young people understand themselves, their community, and the natural world.

A major academic review published in People and Nature (2026) reinforces what we see every day at CKBY: environmental education is one of the most effective tools we have for building knowledge, confidence, stewardship, and lifelong connection to nature.

Here’s what the research, and our own experience, tells us.

🌱 1. Environmental education builds real academic and cognitive skills

The article synthesizes eight systematic reviews and finds that environmental education consistently improves:

• Critical thinking and problem‑solving

• Observation and inquiry skills

• Science literacy

• Academic achievement across subjects

When students investigate tree rings, identify animal tracks, or explore biodiversity plots at CKBY, they’re not just learning science facts: they’re practicing the same analytical skills that support success in school and beyond.

🌿 2. Time in nature strengthens confidence, resilience, and personal growth

The research is clear: outdoor learning environments help young people develop:

• Confidence in their abilities

• Resilience when facing challenges

• A sense of belonging and connection

• Curiosity and intrinsic motivation

We see this every day.
A second grader proudly identifying her adopted tree.
A fifth grader writing a haiku inspired by the wind across Long Lake.
A group of students discovering the hidden world of insects in KinderWoods.

These moments matter. They build the foundation for confident, capable, compassionate young people.

🌎 3. Environmental education fosters stewardship and pro‑environmental behavior

One of the strongest findings in the article is that environmental education doesn’t just teach about nature: it changes how people act.

Students who participate in high‑quality environmental education are more likely to:

• Care for natural spaces

• Make environmentally responsible choices

• Engage in community stewardship

• Understand their role in protecting ecosystems

At CKBY, we see this spark ignite when students learn how trees grow, how animals adapt, or how seasonal changes shape the forest. They begin to see themselves as part of something bigger and as people who can make a difference.

🌳 4. Hands‑on, place‑based learning is the most effective approach, and it’s CKBY’s specialty

The article highlights that the most impactful environmental education programs share key features:

• Outdoor, place‑based learning

• Hands‑on investigation

• Real‑world problem solving

• Social collaboration

• Repeated or extended engagement

This is exactly what CKBY offers.

Our 47‑acre urban forest, protected forever by conservation easement, is a living classroom where students can touch, observe, question, and explore. From tree cookies to biodiversity plots to sensory hikes, every lesson is rooted in direct experience.

🌟 5. Environmental education benefits entire communities

The research emphasizes that environmental education:

• Strengthens community well‑being

• Builds environmental literacy across generations

• Supports long‑term conservation goals

• Helps children develop healthier relationships with the outdoors

CKBY’s role as a year‑round nature center means these benefits ripple far beyond summer camp. Families walk the Cosby Trail. Teachers return year after year. Students bring home stories, questions, and new ways of seeing the world.

This is how a community grows stronger: one child, one classroom, one experience at a time.

💛 Your Support Makes This Possible

CKBY’s environmental education programs are made possible by donors who believe that every child deserves access to nature, regardless of background or income.

Your generosity helps us:

• Keep field trip costs low for schools

• Provide high‑quality, standards‑aligned lessons

• Maintain trails, habitats, and outdoor learning spaces

• Train staff and educators

• Expand programming to reach more students across Central Virginia

When you support CKBY, you’re not just funding a field trip.
You’re investing in curiosity, confidence, stewardship, and the next generation of environmental leaders.

🌲 Help Us Continue This Work

If you believe in the power of nature to transform young lives, and if you want to help us reach even more students in 2026, we invite you to support CKBY’s year‑round programming.

Together, we can ensure that every child has a place to explore, learn, and grow.

Because when children discover the world, they discover themselves.

Garden Day Lunch Pre‑Orders Are Now Open!

We’re excited to welcome visitors to Camp Kum‑Ba‑Yah Nature Center for Garden Day 2026 on April 21 as part of Historic Garden Week in Virginia. Whether you’re touring Lynchburg’s beautiful homes and gardens or simply enjoying a spring day outdoors, we’d love to have you join us for lunch at camp in the Schewel-Clark Family Cottage.

Our Garden Day boxed lunch menu is now available, and pre‑orders are officially open! Lunch will be served from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM at Camp Kum‑Ba‑Yah, with overflow parking across Boonsboro Rd. at Peakland United Methodist Church.

Pre‑orders are required and must be placed before April 13. Each Farm Basket lunch is $20 and prepared fresh for Garden Day guests.

You can view the full menu and place your order here:
👉 https://www.campkumbayah.org/garden-day

We look forward to welcoming you to camp for a delicious lunch and a beautiful day celebrating Historic Garden Week in Lynchburg.

Now Hiring 2026 Summer Camp Counselors

🌞 Now Hiring: Camp Counselors for Summer 2026 🌞

Camp Kum-Ba-Yah Nature Center is now accepting applications for camp counselors for Summer 2026.

Camp positions offer exceptional leadership development, hands-on experience, and skill-building opportunities that translate directly to the professional world. Regardless of college major or career path, former counselors consistently report that their camp experience strengthened their communication, teamwork, and management skills — qualities employers value across industries.

Beyond professional growth, camp counselors have the opportunity to make a meaningful impact in the lives of children while being part of a supportive, mission-driven community. As we prepare for our 75th year of summer camp, we invite passionate, thoughtful leaders to help carry this legacy forward.

🔗 Apply online:
https://www.campkumbayah.org/summer-positions

#Hiring #LeadershipDevelopment #StudentJobs #SummerEmployment #CampCounselor #NonprofitCareers #ProfessionalGrowth #CampKumBaYah #75YearsOfCamp 🌲

On Bev Cosby’s 100th Birthday

BEVERLY ROY “BEV” COSBY

Beverly Roy “Bev” Cosby was born in Lynchburg, Virginia on January 28, 1926 and died on January 21, 2002, which was, fittingly, the day on which the Commonwealth honored the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Bev attended Lynchburg College, served in the United States Navy during World War II, then obtained a Bachelor’s Degree from American University.  He worked in his father’s insurance company before earning a Bachelor of Divinity Degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where he was ordained to the ministry at Riverside Church.

In 1950, Bev and his brothers and two close friends founded the “Lynchburg Christian Fellowship” ministry on property acquired from Bev’s father and located in what was then Bedford County, Virginia. That organization changed its name to Lynchburg Covenant Fellowship (LCF) in 1974, to demonstrate greater inclusivity.

Bev was soft-spoken and shy, but had a powerful and lasting impact on Lynchburg. On October 4, 1954, he began the Church of The Covenant, an ecumenical church aligned with the Congregational branch of the United Christian Church, Disciples of Christ. Bev chose that alliance because it authorized inter-racial worship. Bev and his new church members’ viewpoints contrasted with Lynchburg’s highly conservative and segregated traditions and attitudes.  Bev advocated for social and racial inclusivity, believing that “everyone has a gift” and that individuals and communities’ benefit by identifying and promoting personal “gifts” and recognizing the “specialness of difference.”  Bev later expressed "the need for bridging the gap between religion and life, between church and business, between the secular and the sacred," and few would doubt that Bev Cosby bridged that gap. Bev and his church were publicly criticized for his quiet campaign for racial justice, but his opponents were practically defenseless, for he was neither an outsider, a rabble-rouser, nor an extremist; he was, after all, one of them.

A foremost mission of LCF was to establish an outdoor summer day camp for children. Now known as Camp Kum-Ba-Yah Nature Center, that camp and Bev’s church became highly controversial in July 1961, when Lynchburg’s city leaders sought to prevent racial integration of public facilities by closing all city swimming pools. In response, Bev promptly opened the Camp’s pools to Afro-Americans.  

In March, 1962, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. visited Bev’s “Lodge of The Fishermen” coffeehouse, in recognition and appreciation of Bev’s ministries. The Lodge of The Fishermen was one of only two dining facilities in Lynchburg where persons of different races could dine together.  

LCF was instrumental in establishing low-income housing by purchasing and renovating: the house at 412 Madison Street, the old Moose Lodge at 700 Federal Street, the old Lynchburg High School on Park Avenue, the Frank Roane School, the Joseph Nichols Tavern, and constructing the Shalom Apartments.    

Bev’s quiet, un-assuming and casual air, coupled with his hands-on approach, established programs that positively impacted a multitude of people throughout Lynchburg and beyond.  Today, few programs exist for Lynchburg's poor, homeless, disabled, or disadvantaged that were not initiated by Bev Cosby, who by remaining in the background and allowing others to take credit for his initiatives, multiplied his effectiveness.  He promoted the establishment of vital Lynchburg entities, such as Lynchburg Restoration and Housing Program, Miriam's House, the Haven, Elizabeth’s Early Learning Center, The Wood Ministry, The Gateway, Interfaith Outreach (Kum-Ba-Yah Association), The Lodge of the Fishermen, New Land Jobs, an AID’s hospice home, and ARC of The Blue Ridge.

Bev’s avoidance of personal attention or public praise even led him to decline an invitation to attend a Lynchburg City Council session wherein he was awarded the “Mayor’s Award of Excellence” for his outstanding service to that city.  Now, there is also a Bev Cosby memorial fund to continue his work. 

After his death, a joint resolution of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s House of Delegates and Senate concurring, expressed the esteem in which Bev was held by the members of the General Assembly and the people of Lynchburg.  

John Randolph “Randy” Nelson

Lynchburg, Virginia

2026 Camp Registration Update

Dear CKBY Families,

We are grateful to share that all 2026 Summer Camp sessions at Camp Kum-Ba-Yah Nature Center are now full and have moved to waitlists.

Families who wish to join a waitlist for a specific session may do so by completing the standard online registration and selecting the session they would like to be added to. Should space become available, families will be contacted in the order registrations are received.

If you have questions about transferring to a different session, scholarships, or payment arrangements, please reach out to our Programs Director, Gage McAngus, at programs@ckby.org.

We extend our sincere thanks to our camp families for your continued support and for the trust you place in us to care for and enrich the lives of your children. As we look ahead to a wonderful and historic 75th year of camp, we are deeply grateful to share this milestone with such a committed community.

Thank you for being part of our Camp Kum-Ba-Yah Nature Center family.

Historic Pools at Camp Kum-Ba-Yah Nature Center

More Than a Pool: The Historic Waters of Camp Kum-Ba-Yah Nature Center 🌲

For generations of campers, the swimming pools at Camp Kum-Ba-Yah Nature Center have meant laughter, relief from the summer heat, and some of the best memories of camp. Yet these pools are more than a place to swim: they are living witnesses to a defining moment in Lynchburg’s Civil Rights history and to Camp Kum-Ba-Yah’s enduring commitment to inclusion.

The first pools opened in 1961 to support the growing summer day camp program established by Lynchburg Christian Fellowship under the leadership of Rev. Beverly Roy “Bev” Cosby. From the very beginning, the camp was founded on a radical and simple belief for its time: all children deserved a place to play, explore nature, and feel a sense of belonging .

That belief was tested in that summer.

At the time, Lynchburg, like much of the South, was deeply segregated. When African American families sought access to public swimming pools, city leaders chose to close all municipal pools rather than integrate them. In response, Bev Cosby made a courageous and controversial decision: he opened Camp Kum-Ba-Yah’s pools to the entire community, welcoming Black and white children to swim together at a moment when such an act was considered unthinkable by many .

The consequences were immediate. Some white families withdrew their children from camp. Angry phone calls followed. Campers, both Black and white, were jeered and criticized simply for sharing the water together. Yet the pools remained open. During that summer, Camp Kum-Ba-Yah became the site of Lynchburg’s first racially integrated public swimming, offering a safe and joyful refuge at a time when public spaces across the city were closing their doors .

This moment was not an isolated act of defiance, but part of a broader legacy of justice rooted in the camp’s founding values. Just months later, in 1962, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would visit the Camp Kum-Ba-Yah grounds, meeting with local leaders at the Lodge of the Fishermen, one of the only places in Lynchburg where people of different races could gather together safely. The pools, like the Lodge and the camp itself, stood as quiet but powerful symbols of what community could look like when fear gave way to courage.

Today, campers splash, swim, and cool off in those same pools. Every visit carries forward a legacy of bravery, welcome, and moral clarity. These waters remind us that Camp Kum-Ba-Yah Nature Center has always been about more than recreation. It has been about creating spaces where children are free to be children and where the values of dignity, justice, and community are lived out in real and tangible ways.

As we approach our 75th year of summer camp in 2026, we honor the history held in these pools and recommit ourselves to the vision that shaped them: a camp, a community, and a future where all children are welcome.

75 Years of Camp!

Celebrating 75 Years of Summer Camp at Camp Kum-Ba-Yah Nature Center 🌲

In 2026, Camp Kum-Ba-Yah Nature Center will celebrate a remarkable milestone: our 75th year of summer camp. Because there was no camp season in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the summer of 2026 represents the 75th summer of camp since our beginnings: an enduring tradition rooted in community, inclusion, and a deep love for children and the outdoors.

Our story began in 1950, when the late Rev. Beverly Roy “Bev” Cosby and his family helped found Lynchburg Christian Fellowship, guided by a simple but powerful question: “Where will our children play?” That question led to the creation of an outdoor day camp on family land: an idea that would grow into something far bigger than anyone could have imagined.

As the organization evolved, so did its name, reflecting a widening circle of welcome. Lynchburg Christian Fellowship later became Lynchburg Covenant Fellowship, signaling a commitment to greater inclusivity. Over time, the camp itself became widely known as Camp Kum-Ba-Yah, a place where children from all walks of life could gather to play, learn, and belong. In recent years, as year-round environmental education and community programming expanded, the organization became Camp Kum-Ba-Yah Nature Center, honoring both its camp roots and its broader mission today.

Throughout these changes, one thing has remained constant: a belief that every child deserves access to nature, joyful experiences, and a community where they are valued. From its early role in social justice and integrated recreation to its present-day programs serving families, schools, and campers across our region, Camp Kum-Ba-Yah has always been about more than summer fun; it has been about shaping lives and strengthening our community .

As we look ahead to this historic 75th year of camp, we do so with gratitude for all who have made this journey possible and with excitement for what lies ahead. We are proud to carry forward this lasting tradition: serving children from every corner of our community and helping them discover joy, confidence, and connection in the natural world.

School Field Trips at CKBY

Learning Comes Alive on Field Trips at Camp Kum-Ba-Yah Nature Center

School field trips to Camp Kum-Ba-Yah Nature Center offer students something increasingly rare: the opportunity to step outside the classroom and engage directly with the natural world. Situated on 47 acres of protected urban forest in the heart of Lynchburg, CKBY provides hands-on outdoor learning experiences that support academic instruction while fostering curiosity, confidence, and connection.

Working in partnership with schools in Lynchburg and the surrounding counties, Camp Kum-Ba-Yah Nature Center welcomes students from across the region for curriculum-aligned programs that emphasize environmental education, wellness, and experiential learning. Whether exploring Cosby Woods, walking the 1.25-mile Cosby Trail, or participating in guided nature lessons, students are encouraged to observe, question, and learn through doing.

CKBY’s outdoor classrooms and gathering spaces allow children of all ages to engage with science, ecology, and teamwork in meaningful ways. For many students, these field trips provide their first immersive experience in a natural setting—an opportunity to build confidence, strengthen peer relationships, and develop a lifelong appreciation for the outdoors.

As Camp Kum-Ba-Yah Nature Center enters its 75th year of summer camp, its commitment to serving students through outdoor education remains as strong as ever. School field trips are an essential part of this mission, helping to ensure that children from all walks of life have access to enriching, place-based learning experiences that extend far beyond the school day.