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Kathy Frederick Rockwood Public School Pembroke, ON |
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As part of our Earth Week celebrations, the Kindergaten classes at our school put on a "Green Garage Sale". This was a chance for the children at our school to donate and purchase used toys, puzzles, games, stuffed animals, etc. Children were very receptive to this and eager to participate. All the proceeds from this sale went towards purchasing a tree for our school yard. |
Nian Zhu, Vice-Principal C.H.A.N.C.E. Alternate School Chilliwack, BC |
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CHANCE students are 11-15 years old. VEGIE GARDEN - planted, harvested, donated extra food to Salvation Army Soup Kitchen TREES - grow & transplant about 50 each year to salmon streams and schoolyards needing shade BIKE SHOP - stripped and rebuilt enough old donated bikes for school field trips & outings FLOWER BOXES - built and grow flowers for school BLUE BOX - recycle school paper and school kitchen metal and plastic containers |
Vince Sacilotto General Amherst High School Amherstburg, ON |
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Fine paper recycling for the entire school every Friday as well as plastic recycling. Our school also recycles aluminum cans. Maintain the schools court yard and environmental patrol around the school grounds and surrounding area twice a week. We reuse newspapers and magazines for classroom projects. We landscaped the schools entrance as well as the courtyard and encourage students to get involved with the greening of our school. |
Chris Porter Tantramar High School Sackville, NB |
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The restoration of a 40-acre wetland adjacent to Tantramar High School was the beginning of a new adventure! From the rebirth of this fresh water marsh, an entire education program emerged, not only for the students of our school, but also for those in the surrounding regions of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Each year, as many as 60 students from grades 9 to 12 volunteer to participate in the wetland program, which receives over 2000 younger students from other schools. With these eager visitors we play fun games demonstrating the importance of wetlands to the plants and animals that depend on these unique ecosystems, including our own species. Our visitors and volunteers also participate in activities such as birding, aquatic invertebrate sampling, banding ducks, water quality testing,and many others. The involvement of the Tantramar High School students is amazing! Not only do they gain hands-on experience in field work, ecology and conservation education, but they are able to act as positive role-models for the younger kids who we hope will remember their wetland experience for years to come! |
Mr. Dawson (Aaron and Greg) Uxbridge Secondary School Uxbridge, ON |
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The first week of April began and our class began contemplating how we could contribute to earth day. Numerous applicable ideas were proposed and approved but two in particular seemed most beneficial to our community and the environment. As a group, our class decided to clean up our school. One of our activities that contributed to the school was the elimination of the garbage surrounding it. After the garbage was gone, thanks to the help of around 500 students, our next task began. Companies, Students, and their families donated numerous trees and shrubs. The trees were planted and mulch was spread. This mulch was generously donated by students and their families. Our activities seemed to motivate families neighbouring our school. Other lawns were cleaned and the entire neighbourhood seemed healthier. Our second main activity pertained more towards the community and not just our school. Our class split up into groups of three or four. Each group was assigned to a house in which the owners were not capable of maintaining their lawns. Each group volunteered for a house and began cleaning up its surroundings. Cleaning consisted of picking up garbage, raking, getting rid of sticks and branches, and in some cases a little bit of gardening. The grateful house owners offered us drinks and snacks, which were followed by appreciative smiles. Our class feels that we made a difference. We believe that everyday should be considered an earth day. Special Thanks to Mr. Dawson |
Mark Denomme (teacher) St. Dominic Savio Kitchener, ON |
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This year, we began involvement in a printer cartridge return program. Students and their families have been bringing in empty printer cartridges that would normally end up in the garbage and landfill. Parents are sending in cartridges from not only home but from work as well. In return for these cartridges, Greentec funds tree planting (1 tree for every 10 cartridges) and reimburses our school's environmental club $0.50 to $5.00 for every eligible cartridge. The money raised will be used for school grounds beautification which will include wooden garden borders to keep mulch in, and much-needed shade trees for our playground. The students in the school environmental club pack up the cartridges once per month. The response from our families and community has been overwhelming! So far, we've collected approximately 250 cartridges in a little less than three months! Prizes are also awarded to individual schools and there's a grand prize draw for the school's region. (Fact: Canadians use 30 million cartridges per year. End-to-end, they would stretch in a line from Newfoundland to British Columbia! Unless these cartridges are being refilled, that's a lot of plastic in the landfills, isn't it?!) |
Daljit Dhillon Roy Stibbs Elementary Coquitlam, BC |
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We have various school wide and classroom projects that are designed to keep our environment clean and healthy. The first project is our recycling program. The students are involved in recycling paper, juice boxes, aluminum cans, plastic containers and glass bottles. Two classrooms also have a small portable worm bin. Students are shown how items such as banana peels and apple cores, with the help of worms, can be recycled into soil. The soil will later be used for our Father's Day project. This year our school is also involved in a printer cartridge recycling program. Students are encouraged to bring in empty printer cartridges so that they do not end up in the garbage. We also have a school beautification program. Each class takes turns cleaning up the school grounds, a few classes have planted flowers, and we have a beautiful courtyard area with benches and flowers where parents and students can enjoy their lunches. We also have playground committee that looks for new ways to improve our school grounds. |
Brian Campbell/Casey Egginton Dunbarton High School Pickering, ON |
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We at Dunbarton High School have created a group of students concerned about the environment and have called ourselves "The Dunbarton High School Sustainability Crew". Our Mission Statement is, "to contribute to the maintenance of the ecosystem for future generations through developing a positive attitude relying on global team players who make responsible lifestyle choices." We currently have four projects in progress. 1) Naturalization- In cooperation with Toronto Conservation Authority we are planning a naturalization of our schools courtyard. 2) Composting- To introduce composting to our school and involving Family Studies classes and eventually the cafeteria staff. 3) Recycling- Reactivating the recycling program in our school by encouraging school-wide participation and awareness. 4) Our Community - In September we will be hosting a Environmental Awareness Conference involving school in our area. Thank you for your attention and consideration. The Dunbarton Sustainability Crew. |
Charles McEvoy Rothesay Netherwood School Rothesay, NB |
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During our Campus Cleanup day, we undertook a number of projects: groups were involved in the clean up of a stream that flows through our Campus, we cleared and worked on walking trails, did a general litter cleanup, raked School grounds, painted School benches, sorted our recycled goods, and worked on murals to beautify the School buildings. Out of 200 students, we had almost 120 involved in this activity. |
B.J. Swanson Red Lake Madsen Public School Red Lake, ON |
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Our school recycles lunch time food waste for compost. We are hoping to get started on a garden this spring (if it ever comes)It is still snowing here! We have a very active school Green Committee with representatives from each grade. They also look after the recycling of plastics, cans and fine paper. For Earth Day, they had a poster contest (the winning poster was actually made with recycled items!) and a school-wide yard clean up was organized. Our school is very energy conscious as it uses motion sensor lights in many rooms, it has solar energy panels on the roof and it has a geo- thermal heat source pump. |
Jo Davies-Stuchbery St. John's-Ravenscourt School Winnipeg, MB |
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Every second Tuesday, the SJR Green Team members gather in the Senior School office after lunch and sign up to empty a hallway bin. We have fourteen 90 litre blue bins around the school, twelve for paper and two for aluminum cans. Students collect the paper and cans and take them to the back of the Science wing for collection. Teachers and other administrative staff all empty their desk-side bins into the hallway bins on a regular basis. At this point, we are trying to find a company that will take the glass bottles which come from the boarders meals. Next up: A pizza lunch to thank the Green Team!! |
Elias Wipf Decker Colony School Decker, MB |
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Our school is continuously involved in all kinds of environmental activities. Here are some of them. All of our activities are run and looked after by our students. All activities are ongoing and grow each year. Should you have any questions please contact me. Recycle Program - we have a recycle program run by students in which we recycle papers, glass bottles and aluminum cans. Compost - our students have constructed a 32'long x 8'wide and 4'high, concrete composter in which students collect composting food scraps, lawn cuttings and fallen leaves from the entire community. Naturalization Of Schoolyard - students constructed flowerbeds, tree beds and shrub beds annually in which they plant and maintain trees, shrubs and flowers throughout the year. Beds are fertilized with compost from composter. Tree Planting Project - students plant from 200 to 300 trees annually within and around the community. All trees are tended by the students. Birdhouse/feeder construction - students construct approximately 50 to 60 birdhouses annually and put most of them up in and around the community. All birdhouses are cleaned each spring by the students. Yard Cleaning - students rake and clean schoolyard as well as the entire community yard annually. Printer Cartridge Recycle - students collect empty printer cartridges and return them to the STAR printer-cartridge recycling program for a refund ranging from $.50 to $5.00. Water Quality Testing - students take water tests at least four times a year from a stream that runs adjacent to the community. |
Wade Potts Quest Alternative Sr. Public School Toronto, ON |
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ECOQUEST For over 20 years this school has studied ecology in an intensive period of study and presentation. While it has evolved and been refined,ECOQUEST'S beginnings and current form chart a clear path: to engage adolescents in a challenging learning format that will broaden and deepen their ecological knowledge. ECOQUEST's format is as follows: a three week intensive in which a student becomes an "expert" in a field of ecology.Week 1 immerses the student in many aspects of ecology through guest speakers, videos, websearches, magazine reading etc. Week 2 has the student carrying out research and interviews in a chosen area.Students are in and out of the school during this time as we value the importane of field research. This week also has embedded a series of mini-lessons designed to teach pamphlet preparation, booth design and public speaking. Week 3 focusses upon the channeling of information into a booth/talk format. The program culminates in an ECOFAIR. Each of our 72 students prepares a pamphlet and staffs a booth. We have 1200-1500 students, teachers and other professionals tour the gym in a single day.There is usually media coverage. Our students are challenged to present their topic to a range of ages. It is intense and very rewarding. Students many years later reflect on this occasion as being a key experience during their time at our school. It must be mentioned in addition that all students are involved in a committee responsible for one of 16 responsibilities e.g. ordering videos, greeting and thanking our guest speakers, contacting local schools and scheduling tours, photocopying etc. In this way we emphasize the importance of interdependence in the production of an event of this magnitude, and hopefully, have them understand the utmost imprtance of interdependence in ecosystems. Further details can be provided. There is a great amount of advance planning for ECOQUEST. We begin the process in October for the three week session commencing immediately following March Break. |
Dennis Wendland Outdoor Education Kitchener, ON |
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This project fits the youth group category of these awards. It was staffed by two coordinators and ten youth workers funded by Human Resources Development Canada. The project was supervised by the Outdoor Education Department of the Waterloo Region District School Board. It was a partnership of groups as diverse as TD-Canada Trust: Friends of the Environment Foundation, Youth Services Canada program of Human Resources Development Canada, school communities, parents, students, teachers, Conservation Authority staff, city staff and region staff. - Over 2000 students participated in environmental day programs using or developing a natural component to their schoolyard or local area. - Technical projects were undertaken at 20-30 schools to increase the schoolyard naturalization movement in Waterloo Region. - Environmental habitat enhancements were provided to numerous community properties: - Grand River Conservation Authority properties (FWR Dickson Wilderness area, Pinehurst, Laurel Creek, Shades Mills and the rail trail between Cambridge and Glen Morris,near Cambridge,Trail development in the Sudden Tract Region Agreement Forest) - Tools to encourage and support schoolyard naturalization projects were produced and distributed - including a poster, photojournal of 64 local school projects to motivate others , a supporting facts or idea booklet and a curriculum activity booklet. All of these tools except the poster are available on CD. This project reinforced for its participants and benefactors the importance of connecting and re- connecting society to the environment. To truly realize our role in environmental sustainability each of us needs to regain our ' sense of place'. |
John Poole College Avenue secondary School Woodstock, ON |
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Each year my Grade 9 geography class takes part in our Garbage Audit to ensure our school is doing its part to recycle at least 50 % of its daily garbage output. The garbage is analyzed and classified, weighed and calculated. We create buttons to give to students who demonstate good recycling habits in our cafeteria. A new area of concern this year is year end locker clean out garbage. Our class will distribute 2 plastic bags to each student at locker clean out to fill with paper and an information session will be given to each homeroom prior to the big day. |
Bob Shiell Thames SS London, ON |
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In February of this year, I organized a Trees for Tomorrow project. The project was a joint effort between the City of London, the Friends of Stoney Creek, Ministry of Natural Resources, Upper Thames River Conservation Authority, the Middlesex Stewardship Committe and the Thames Valley District School Broad. Almost 300 grade 3 students from 6 elementary schools used the greenhouse facilities at Thames SS to plant close to 5000 Bur and Red Oak acorns. The senior horticulture students at Thames assisted the grade 3 students with the seeding process. Each class was provided with a minigreenhouse containing 18 seeded pots. They cared for the seedlings until the first part of May. The whips were returned to Thames where they were "hardened off". Seedling beds located at Thames, the City of London and Bycraft Gardens will hold the young trees for 2 years. The whips will then be available for local schools and community groups for planing. Planning has started for next years project. |
Miss Irene Heltner Brantford Collegiate Institute Brantford, ON |
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Even though our school colours are blue and gold, the focus has always been "GREEN." Starting each September geography environmental classes create recycling awareness posters that are posted throughout the school. Every couple of weeks, students collect paper and cans from blue boxes found in each classroom and hallway. Within the curriculum, the grade 11 physical geography students focus their major project on a local environmental issue, be it water quality, waste disposal, or even the reduction of green space. Geography students even fundraised this year with a raffle to adopt an animal from the Toronto Zoo. We are the stewards of the planet. Our school even took 200 grade 9 students to the zoo this year to recognizethe importantance of wildlife to the planet. B.C.I. BLUE + GOLD = "GREEN" |
Glenn Anderson - Community Worker Ryerson Community School Toronto, ON |
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Ryerson Community School is an inner-city school located just east of Dundas and Bathurst Streets in Toronto. We are a Community School that serves about 700 students and their families from over 40 countries, working together in six major languages. Last year our Global/Environmen- tal staff workgroup decided to establish and re- establish environmental initiatives as part of our 125th Anniversary as a school. We literally decided to give our small place on the planet a hand by establishing a program for each "finger" of our helping hand. The initia- tives are Electricity Conservation, Paper Recycling, Bottles and Cans Recycling, Composting, and the establishment of a Peace Garden. At Ryer- son our motto is "Where You Belong", and we have taken major steps forward to having a strong environmental conscience belong in our school and our community. At the beginning of the year we started an electricity conservation awareness program. Gen- eral announcements, discussion at staff meetings, distribution of materials from the TDSB, classroom discussions, and posting reminders in every class- room have renewed our efforts to save electricity and save our schools money. A grade 4 class, lead by their teacher, has volunteered this year to be our Paper Recycling Team. Students visit every room in the school, complete with Recycling badges to collect recycla- ble paper products. The efforts of Room 20 have helped to relieve an already overworked and under- staffed care taking staff. By mid year, Ryerson re-established a Blue Box program for cans and bottles. We ordered new blue boxes and placed them strategically through- out the school. In addition, we educated staff and students about the values of recycling. In addition, we phoned the City of Toronto to have public garbage/recycling bins near the front of our school. Together, we are beautifying our school and community. Ryerson has always worked in partnership with local community centres and agencies to provide support for our students and their families. Two examples of this are our Composting Program which will begin next year and our Peace Garden project. Ryerson and Scadding Court Community Centre have co-applied for grant monies that would support the two initiatives. The Ryerson Peace Garden was inspired by the TDSB removal of playground equipment several years ago. A Playground Committee was formed consisting of students, parents, staff, and community members. A 'wish list' for our ideal playground was established in consultation with Kohn Shnier architects. We all wanted more than just new toys for the kids especially since we are blessed with large and beautiful school grounds. We decided to re-establish a garden that was planted many years ago, and allowed to grow over. After the trajedy of September 11th, our school decided to dedicate the garden to our theme of Making Our World a Better Place!. The new gardent project involves the efforts of students in Grade 7 and 8 that volunteer for our Community Service Program in the Urban Agricultural Program at Scadding Court, other classrooms, staff, parent and commu- nity volunteers. The Peace Garden is a place of peace, co-operation, and conflict resolution. In addition it will facilitate and compliment science curriculums and educate our kids and the community about our environment. The project is well under way and we will be celebrating our achievements on June 15th, 2002 at our school's 125th anniversary celebrations. Ryerson Community School's initiatives of Electricity Conservation, Paper Recycling, Bottles and Cans Recycling, Composting, and the Peace Garden are great examples of a Community School working in partnership with its families and community. Together we have made our world a better place! |
Merle Blumell Berry Creek Community School Cessford, AB |
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Beginning in September the Grade 3/4 class was asked to set up and be in charge of the paper recycling in the school, which is a small rural school of about 105 students K-12. We started by supplying each room with a recycling container. On Fridays the class gathers all the bins and sorts it into piles of white paper, colored paper, cardboard, and newsprint. This is then taken into the Recycling Center 60kms away. As of today we have collected 450kgs of paper products that did not end up in the landfill. However, we wanted to involve the whole community. So all year we have been applying for grants to buy a portable recycling trailer that the entire community would have access too. We have now been successful in securing the funds for this trailer. It will be set up and ready to go by September 1. |
Lezley Lischynski Bashaw School Bashaw, AB |
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Bashaw School is a 1-12 school in a community of approximately 1000 people. Our Green projects vary in their length and scope as much as our community does. Our grades one to three regularly re-use items for various art projects. Our grade four class is in charge of picking up the trash in the schoolyard and sorting it into the three R's. In addition our Grade Four Class is responsible for promoting a Waste Less Lunch throughout our complete school population once a month. The students are rewarded with varying sizes of stickers depending on the amount, or lack there of, of waste in their lunch bag. We are actively promoting being a green school (part of the SEEDS program); a program which we try reinforce annually. Finally our grade four class grew flowers to give their mothers on Mother's Day; and a second batch for planting in the school sign in time for our graduation ceremonies. Our grade five class is in charge of recycling pop bottles and juice containers. They have placed bins strategically throughout the school. They collect and sort these daily and then return them to the bottle depot for remuneration, the monies we use for our curriculum related field trips. Our Grade Six class collects the plastic rings from around six packs of pop and makes Christmas Stars to share with our Extended Care patients. Our staff and students are diligent recyclers-every classroom has a paper box, and our janitor volunteers his time to collect it all and deliver it to the community recycle bin. As a staff and student population we are very diligent in turning power sources off when they are not in use. As a final note , we may be a small school in a rural community but we are committed to these small tasks. Small steps will get us there too. |
D. Scoville student |
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My name is D. Scoville I am A grade 4 english student. My project for perserving the environment is Composting. I have placed ice cream Pails in all the elementary classes in our school. Each student will place organic ter(such as fruit or veg. scraps)from their lunches in these pails. Twice a week I collect all the pails and empty them into the compost( which is made of recycled/reused wood pallets). My project has a longterm impact for the good of the environment because composting these scraps will reduce the amount of garbage that will be put in our local landfill. Another effect composting has for the good of the environment, is the organic matter that is in our compost will turn into planting 'soil'. Which can be used for the flowerbeds in front of our school, and also for the entire school to use for other projects. My project will also teach the other students about recycling and maybe they will start a compost at thier home. |
Candice Stuart (Teacher) Centennial Secondary School Belleville, ON |
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Lifelines Class 2002 - Centennial Secondary School Treading lightly for a footprint free tomorrow We are a grade 12 class committed to environmental education by creating visual differences around our community. We have started four projects this year, projects that future Lifelines classes will continue and expand upon. The following is a brief summary of each. TransCanada Trail - Belleville to Madoc
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Derek Eidse Norway House High School Norway House, MB |
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Our school has just entered into a self-imposed waste-reduction plan. Because we live in a remote part of Northern Manitoba, recycling is very expensive, and the community has decided it's not in their economic interests to pursue a recycling program. With the option of recycling out of the picture, we have decided to reduce. On Friday, May 31st, our waste-reduction plan begins. We are doing a school-wide Waste Audit, to see what types and quantities of trash our school currently wastes. We are planning to use the statistics from this waste audit to lobby the school administration for our waste-reduction suggestions, as well as to promote reusing and reducing in the school community. The statistics we gather will also help us to see how well we're doing, as we will perform the Waste audit again in the fall. Derek Eidse (On behalf of the Norway House High School WORLD GEOGRAPHY 40S CLASS) |
Cheryl Telasky Brentwood School Sherwood Park, AB |
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On April 19th, 2002, 394 staff and students walked to school. That is 83% of the Brentwood School population that took part in an Earth Day Celebration. It was a very exciting day with the bright sun and lots of smiles! It also marked the kick off to our Go for Green Project. In an attempt to reduce green house gas emissions all students and staff are being encouraged to walk at least one block to and from school. Not only does the environment benefit but reduced traffic around the school increases pedestrian safety and gets everyone active! We have made an exciting competition out of our project. Each class has selected a team name. Each day students who walk to school track their daily participation. At the end of the week, individual tallies are counted and points are awarded to each team. During the weekly Friday assemblies participation awards are given out. On Monday morning an announcement is made as to which team is leading. All the team points are posted in the library on a magnificent Spiderman bulletin board. At the end of our six week project prizes will be awarded to the top individual walkers and the two best teams. The students have really gotten into the program. They know the team names, how many points they have and what position their team is in. They encourage each other to walk to school and to earn as many points as possible. Prior to the start of our program we conducted weekly surveys over a three month period to find out how much traffic there was in the parking lot. As well, the students were surveyed to find out how they were getting to school. We have not finished with our final collection of data regarding the parking lot but staff feel that there has been a reduction in the number of vehicles driving through it. Parents have also commented that they have noticed a general reduction in the number of cars around the school. We are hoping that the children will get into the habit of walking to school and will continue to do so when the program comes to an end. In the future we plan to participate in the International Walk to School event and to challenge another school to match our participation. The long range goal is to have all of the schools in Sherwood Park get active by walking to school thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions. |
Mervin Stahl Odanah School Minnedosa, MB |
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As a school, we set up a paper recycling program in the school using carboard shipping boxes. Each classroom has such boxes, which are collected regularly and taken to the local recycling depot. We also use 1-sided paper as scrap paper whenever possible instead of using new looseleaf. Also, paper with only one side printed is being used to print rough copies of student assignments from computer. This drastically reduces paper usage in our school. Thus, the students get a test of recycling and of environmental management. Also, through a fund that we received, we bought large recycling containers which were placed in a central location a few years ago. These containers are used by members of the community to recycle metal food cans and glass jars, which are also taken to the local recycling depot when they are filled. |
Maureen Linklater and Sheila Bensley Semiahmoo Secondary Surrey, BC |
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The initiative that began in 1997 with a donation of startup funds from Alumni at the request of the grad class for a courtyard garden has snowballed into a multi-faceted GREEN campaign at Semiahmoo.
The environmental conciousness at Semiahmoo has grown organically from within - much like the garden itself. Participation has evolved to include support from students, staff, and senior citizens to produce a virtually self-sufficient garden, a beautiful demonstration of the benefits of a community working together. |
Tim Gulutzan Caswell Community School Saskatoon, SK |
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At Caswell Community School, we have undertaken many energy saving initiatives. Our School has had three focuses: Lights off, Computer shut down, and garbage free lunches. The Lights off and computer shutdown campaigns were done in hopes of conserving enregy on a school wide basis. Staff and students were encouraged to practice these plans at home. Staff members have purchased energy saving night lights and compact flourescent lightbulbs in an attempt to help conserve energy. We also encourage the shut down of computers on a daily basis and on weekends to reduce energy costs. We are also having garbage free lunches and will soon start a composting program at our school. |
Linda Fraser (teacher) Berner Trail Jr. Public School Scarborough, ON |
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Over the past ten years, our school has been involved in a variety of projects that have put us ahead of other schools in our quest to become a community leader for the environment. We started with Canada Trust to plant 2000 trees for the millennium, which was very successful. Most of the plantings have been in the Rouge Valley and next week our grade five class will go on their yearly hike to plant more trees. We have installed a habitat garden at the front of our school and won a tulip garden to enhance the beauty of our school habitat. As the habitat was built, a movie was made to teach other school how to grow one. Slides are being made this week to demonstrate the growth cycle of our habitat. We try to adopt animals every few years by having bake sales. This year we adopted a panda. We sold popcorn to put in a wildflower garden this year. Last year we won the system wide award for recycling paper and we hope to again this year. You are invited for a tour of our habitat garden and we will perform our Environmental Rap just for you. We are continuing to keep Ontario green and growing! |