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The Canadian Environment Awards
The Green Team Challenge 2008
JUNIOR
Gold Award
Dunrankin Drive Public School
Mississauga, Ontario
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| PHOTO COURTESY NATALIE SCHNEIDER |
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In 2007, Dunrankin Drive Public School launched a creative series
of initiatives in the name of the environment. Inspired by a film
about the effects of global warming on polar bear habitat, students
scrounged through closets and basements for cast-off items, such
as stuffed toy animals, children’s books and skateboards,
for their fundraising Polar Bear Garage Sale. An object lesson in
reuse versus waste, the sale also raised $200 to sponsor two polar
bears through World Wildlife Fund Canada.
A computer program that allows students to measure their individual
ecological footprints while keeping tabs on the school’s
overall environmental impact has inspired awareness to reduce paper
and electricity consumption. Reusable lunch containers are now available
for Trashless Tuesdays at the student-staffed Tuck Shop, which also
sells lightly packaged toys and healthy snacks. This spring, students
are raising money to fund a well in rural India. “All the
proceeds go toward green causes,” notes teacher Natalie Schneider. “They’re
learning about having a common goal and being global citizens. Plus
it’s really helping to build a sense of community in our school.”
Runners-Up
J.W. Walker School
St. Francis of Assisi
Notre-Dame du Sacré-Coeur
J. Douglas Hodgson Elementary School
Ecole Grosvenor Wentworth School
SENIOR
Gold Award
Henry Street High School
Whitby, Ontario
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| PHOTO: NICK DRIVER |
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Earth Day at Henry Street High School each April has grown into
an all-encompassing Earth Week Festival. Students have naturalized
the school grounds by planting trees — 42 to date and another
20 this spring — and tending a native perennial garden. Festival
events include art displays, photo contests, guest speakers and
Earth-themed lessons. Awareness-raising signs (“If you choose
to drive today, make up for it another way”) offer students
the opportunity to collect a carbon tax from all comers. “The
tax helped preserve acres of Thickson’s Woods on Lake Ontario,
an important remnant of old-growth white pines,” says teacher
Elka Samanski.
The school’s green spirit also extends to annual cleanups
of nearby community parks and shorelines, such as Whitby Harbour
and Lynde Creek. In response to the widening of a highway through
a nearby wetland, students joined a letter-writing campaign that
convinced city planners to create an underpass for deer, beaver,
turtles and rabbits. “The kids felt that they made a difference,” says
Samanski. “They learned a life lesson — things really
can be changed.”
Amid the grove of newly planted trees, students and teachers are
designing an outdoor classroom. Complete with a boulder garden,
benches and tables, the multi-purpose setting will inspire creativity
and scientific observation, while providing an accessible
green space for lunch and recreation.
Runners-Up
Bracebridge and Muskoka Lakes Secondary School
Kincardine & District Secondary School
Vincent Massey High School
Elliot Lake Secondary School
Fredericton High School
The Green Team Challenge is sponsored by
TD Bank Financial Group.
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