Manice Education Center
Where New York kids experience
the Great Outdoors
Since its opening in 1981, Christodora’s Manice Education Center (MEC) located in Florida, Massachusetts, in the Savoy Mountain State Forest has provided over 25,000 students with outdoor, leadership, and environmental experiences. For most students, MEC offers an opportunity to be immersed in the wilderness — to climb mountains, to paddle down a river, to gaze at the Milky Way.
The primary goals of the center are to:
Introduce campers to the world of nature, stimulating their enthusiasm for learning in the outdoors.
Nurture sensitivity to and understanding of the human place within nature systems.
Develop camper’s capacity for self-reliance, group cooperation, and camping and educational skills.
Involve campers as full, responsible members of the camp community, encouraging feelings of community spirit and harmony.
Manice Facilities Highlights
The Farmhouse
The Center’s main facility is a comfortable, spacious 200-year-old farmhouse, attractively remodeled to suit the program's purpose. The farmhouse serves the purposes of administration, dining and kitchen facilities, health quarters, classroom and laboratories, and indoor recreation.
Living Quarters
Students and educational staff live in large cabin-style tents made from canvas and on wooden platforms. Each tent has space for up to seven students and one staff member. The boys’ and girls’ washhouse (with toilets and sinks) is situated near the tents; showers are taken and laundry is washed on a regular schedule in the farmhouse. Our natural well water is managed by a licensed public water operator and heated using solar energy.
The Science Building
The science building is an important classroom for students during their time at Manice. Students conduct science experiments, give presentations, and use the space to gather for meetings and other camp activities. Filled with books, science equipment, posters, and supplies it is a treasure trove for our students’ creativity and imagination.
The Pond
One of the best parts of camp is swimming and canoeing in the pond outside the farmhouse. Fed by a creek, the pond is home to spotted newts, frogs, and small fish. Students practice their canoe skills and cool off with a refreshing dip when the sun gets too hot!
The Challenge Course
The challenge course is one of the most exciting parts about the Manice Education Center. It’s also a great way to build trust and friendship by experiencing the challenges together as a team. Communication, listening, and leadership is key to get through all obstacles. Sometimes it takes a few tries for students to complete them - but that is all part of the journey.
Garden & Composting
How does our garden grow? Very well thanks to the help of our MEC students! Our 2,400-sq-ft is a south-facing organic garden is located at the heart of our main campus. The garden is protected by a wood-and-wire fence from the woods, wildlife, and nearby chickens students tend. Nearby we have a small potting shed where we start seeds and grow crops such as tomatoes. Each new group of students looks after the gardens and attends to seasonal chores such as weeding, planting, and harvesting.
Savoy Mountain State Forest
The Savoy Mountain State Forest offers wooded trails and spectacular natural features. Students hike the Bog Pond Trail, with its floating bog islands. They climb up Spruce Hill for breathtaking views. Tannery Falls provides a clear pool below and a waterfall.
Chickens
For decades, chickens have been a beloved part of the Manice experience. Students tend the chickens as part of their daily chores, collect eggs, and just get to know these feathered friends. Don’t worry — we take care with a secure chicken roost to guard against natural predators!