Each spring, the forest at Pine River Institute comes alive with one of Canada’s sweetest traditions. Across our 200-acre campus, students help tap sugar maples and learn how sap becomes maple syrup — from traditional buckets on trees to the process in the sugar shack.
For many youth, it’s the first time seeing where something we enjoy eating actually comes from. The experience connects them to the land, to the seasons, and to the satisfaction of creating something with their own hands.
Watch below as longtime Pine River staff member John Killen shares how maple syrup season unfolds on campus.