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Adventure Traveler Garry Sowerby in his own words:
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Victoria, British Columbia
Environmental Initiative #83
Gordon
Head Elementary School, Victoria, British Columbia The driving drizzle outside makes it seem all the more cozy in
here. There is excitement and maybe a bit of nervousness in the
air. Presentation notes are crumpled and damp in eager hands. The
television camera is ready and waiting and a newspaper reporter
has pen and paper on hand to record the event.
Mission Green's second-last stop is in Victoria, British Columbia.
We've gone coast to coast and it feels good to be amongst children
that are obviously excited and passionate about what they are about
to present to us.
Charlotte Holton, Environmental Teacher, introduced the children
as the Green Team of Gordon Head Elementary School and gave us
a brief outline of the positive ecological action in which this
amazing group has been leading the rest of the school.
Gordon Head is one of the few schools in British
Columbia that has achieved 'Earth School' status as part of the
Green Schools Program of the SEEDS Foundation.
The SEEDS Foundation has been providing energy and environmental
education programs to schools across Canada for the past 27 years.
These programs have educated and inspired realistic choices and
stimulated action by millions of students and their families on
relevant energy and environmental issues.
The mission statement of the SEEDS Foundation
is "to support Canadian
educators in promoting student literacy and active personal and
societal responsibility for energy, sustainability and the environment".
Since 1990 when the Green Schools Program began, over 5500 schools are registered
and over 550,000 environmental projects have been completed.
Achieving Earth School status means that the entire school worked
very hard together to complete 1,000 environmental projects. And
not just little things like making sure you rinse and crush your
milk carton before you put it in the recycling bin (although these
types of little things are very important!).
To reach Earth School status, the 1,000 projects have to be BIG.
How big? How about a full garden grown for butterflies and other
beneficial insects? Or a study of different types of renewable
energy? Or a compost that has been going for 12 years?
It took three years for Gordon Head to reach this level. Whew!
And who better to tell Mission Green what the kids have done than
the kids themselves. We would like to say thank you to all the
children that took the time to prepare special presentations for
Mission Green today:
Ciara, for her speech on the neighborhood beach
cleanup. The school has taken part in the Great Canadian Shoreline
Cleanup since 1996. Whatever they collect is weighed and sorted
and sent to the Vancouver Science Centre for analysis.
Sharon, for talking to us about the school's recycling
program. The program is sponsored by Encorp Pacific (Canada) who
provides the bins and helps with the pickup of the sorted debris
once a week. Congratulations for raising $800 a year for the past
three years!
Kelsye and Jade, for telling us
about the Gordon Head Green Team and the recess garbage pickup
program. Those 'picker-uppers'
look like so much fun, no wonder everyone wants to do it!
Graham, for presenting us the Ivy Pull, the effort
to control the non-native plants in the forest nearby so that native
plants can thrive. We'd certainly never heard of an Ivy Pull before!
Taryn, for filling us in on the environmental award
that was bestowed upon the school by the Saanich Mayor Frank Leonard
for the school's on-going commitment and work to protect the environment.
Jessica, for her speech on the Butterfly Garden
that was planted in 1998 by the Environment Team as a habitat for
butterflies and other insects. It sounds like a beautiful spot
to hang out and watch nature.
Maura, for talking to us about Tree Appreciation
Week, a wonderful idea, and how the school takes some time during
this week to go and help the Friends of Mount Douglas Society plant
trees along Mount Douglas Creek to stop soil erosion.
Abby and Ruth Anne, for their sharing
of the Peace Poster and for offering the idea that, if just one
person makes a positive effort for something he or she believes
in, that will make a difference in the wide world.
Corina, for her concise presentation of the SEEDS
program and what it's all about. I meant to ask her to explain
the Green Team's ideas for an environmental Christmas!
Shawn, for her speech on garbage-free lunches (great
idea!) and the compost program. It's a stinky job but someone has
to do it and isn't it amazing how rich the soil is when it's all
done?!
Adriane, for describing the Stream of Dreams, painted
fish that decorate the fence along the outside of the school grounds.
Those fish are there to educate the entire school and indeed the
community about the importance of keeping watersheds clean. Adriane
told us that a male coho came back to the creek for the first time
in 75 years!
We had a great time at Gordon Head School and could have stayed
all day! The kids asked great questions about Mission Green and
other adventures. Adriane asked if GM made a vehicle that ran on
85% cellulose-ethanol and had a hybrid system at the same time.
Well, how about it??
There was so much more that we learned today. Yes, we did learn
from the kids, even though it's usually the other way around.
When I think back on Mission Green and the initiatives that have
come before this one, I remember the people with passion, the ones
with drive, the curious people, those that had a willingness to
work hard and those that believed in communicating with and educating
others.
Well, each of the children of the Green Team of Gordon Head School
had all of these qualities.
I think that Charlotte Holton summed it up
best when she said, "These
kids are deep thinkers, they're leaders in their class, they are
wholly committed to caring for the environment and they want to
make that caring a part of their daily lives."
Hats off to Charlotte for having the vision twelve years ago to
come into the school and decide to make a difference in so many
kids' lives. The Environment Team is going stronger than ever.
And a heartfelt Mission Green salute to Gordon Head School and
the Environment Team for keeping up the hard work and for always
believing that you can make a difference.
Here's to the future generation of the stewards of the Earth.
http://www.sd61.bc.ca/school/gordonhead/
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