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SCHOOLS
- BALMORAL JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL
---- (Upper Mission Creek)
RECYCLING
Recycling at Balmoral is fairly extensive. Students involved in the Outdoor Club manage the program and any profits from deposit items fund outdoor activities.
BIOME PROJECT
In class, Grade 8's work on the Biome Project where they research one of 12 biological regions in BC - such as alpine tundra, grasslands, coniferous rainforest - and write a report.
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
Grade 9's study Alternative Energy then work in teams of two to produce an information poster on one of 30 different types.
FAST FOR OXFAM
Since April 1993, students have participated in an annual 24 hour fast for Oxfam. The Student Council organizes the event and raises funds which are donated to an environmental project chosen by the students. About 100 take part each year, raising $5000 to $6000 in donations.
WATER QUALITY
Balmoral planned to conduct water quality testing on Upper Mission Creek in 2000-2001.
- BRAEMAR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
---- (Thain Creek)
STREAM STUDIES
Braemar Elementary School is taking advantage of its "outdoor classroom", Thain Creek. Students from Kindergarten to Grade 7 participate in a variety of stream studies and activities. These include physical stream measurements, water quality sampling, invertebrate sampling, storm drain marking, habitat comparisons and a walking field trip following the course of the creek down to the ocean.
TREE PLANTING
The entire school celebrated Earth Day 1999 and 2000 with each student planting a shrub or tree along the stream bank.
THINK THAIN
Parents-4-Science, a sub-group of the Braemar Parent Advisory Council, initiated the "Think Thain" program in conjunction with teachers in the Spring of 1999. The objective is to generate enthusiasm for protecting the local stream by providing students with an opportunity for hands-on learning and to promote an understanding and respect for the environment.
- CARISBROOKE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
---- (Wagg Creek)
PLANTER BOXES
In 1998, the Grade 11 woodworking class at Carson Graham Secondary School built large wooden planter boxes, then joined students at Carisbrooke for a mutual work day as the boxes were installed and planted. Herbs and strawberries, sunflowers, perennials, and vegetables have been grown since then.
COMPOSTING
In October 1999, Carson Graham students built and delivered a compost bin.
EDUCATIONAL TRAIL
The school completed an Educational Trail in the Greenway alongside the school. In May 2000, 24 adults and 18 kids cleaned up the area and surfaced the trail with wood chips made from windfalls. The trail leads to an outdoor classroom, a ring of tree stump seats in the forest nearby.
A formal Opening Ceremony was held on September 9, 2000 with students and neighbours participating. This event coincided with the Official Ceremony in Ottawa to Open the Trans Canada Trail.
THE BLOOMING BUNCH
The Blooming Bunch, a group of 16 to 18 parents, was formed in 1998 to help facilitate and coordinate students' and teachers' environmental projects. In 1999, the group arranged a donation of tulip bulbs and soil, and prepared the planting beds for a work party.
- CARSON GRAHAM SECONDARY SCHOOL
---- (Lower Mission Creek)
BUILDING PLANTERS
The Grade 11 woodworking class built large planter boxes for Carisbrooke Elementary School in 1998, then helped to install and plant them. In 1999, they added a compost bin.
ENVIRONMENTAL CLUB
Students involved in the Environmental Club have initiated different events to promote awareness. On "Tupperware Day" edible rewards were given to students who pack lunches in reuseable containers. To mark Earth Week 1999, an apple tree was planted in the school courtyard.
- HIGHLANDS COMMUNITY SCHOOL
---- (Mosquito Creek)
PLANTING
Highlands' students planted trees in the forest near the school in 2000 and added more flowering plants to the Butterfly Garden they started in 1997-98. Everyone has enjoyed seeing butterflies up close as a result.
RECYCLING
In November 1999, the school set up a recycling program and arranged to have a recycling company pick up beverage containers.
EARTHSHAKERS
Parents involved with the Earthshakers Environmental Science Club brought in guest speakers to talk about biology and entomology.
- LARSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
---- (Lower Mission Creek)
RECYCLING
Larson recycles everything that can be recycled. Students grow bulbs and flowers in planter boxes which were donated by a local business, and maintain a compost bin.
Playground clean-ups are done daily.
ENVIRONMENT AWARENESS
Some classes have marked storm drains in the area with the yellow fish symbol.
Guest speakers have included Grizz-Ed and Bugs - about entomology and beneficial insects.
ANNUAL PLAY
In December 1999, Grades 3 and 4 put on a play with an environmental message adapted from "The Sea Serpent" by Emily Carr. All the students in the class participated and each made a paper mache animal mask to wear. During the last 10 years, different legends from First Nations have been presented as plays which express respect for nature and for others.
- LONSDALE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
---- (Wagg Creek)
RECYCLING
Lonsdale emphasizes recycle and reuse, including organic matter which goes into their compost bin. The compost is used to grow flowers in several planter boxes located on school grounds.
ENVIRONMENT STUDIES
For Earth Day each year, if possible, the whole school goes somewhere else to experience and study a different type of environment - Boundary Bay to do beach studies, Maplewood Flats for estuaries, Seymour Demonstration Forest for resource management, or Stanley Park. This ties into their science program on water/land transitions and exposes students to a variety of habitat types.
Grade 2's also take part in the Outdoor School Program.
ENVIRONMENT AWARENESS
One of the school's goals is to assure that each student is transit literate - knowing how to use public transit and how to go from one place to another.
In the 1999-2000 school year, Lonsdale welcomed Grizz-Ed and an entomologist who spoke about butterflies and identified a potential site for a butterfly garden.
- MONTERAY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
---- (Upper Mission Creek)
Monteray's location in the upper watershed provides a close-up view of wildlife. Deer browse their way through the school yard and in the spring of 2000, a raccoon gave birth to three babies in the storage compound.
RECYCLING
The school recycles and keeps a compost bin.
BUTTERFLY GARDEN
Each year since 1998, students have raised Painted Lady butterflies in the classroom, then released them into the Butterfly Garden where they linger before moving on.
Guest speakers included an entomologist who spoke about Living with Insects.
- QUEEN MARY COMMUNITY SCHOOL
---- (Wagg Creek)
COMMUNITY GARDEN
The Queen Mary Community Garden includes 3 planting areas and raised beds where vegetables and flowers are grown.
In October 1999 a wildflower meadow was planted on the west side of the school, in a partner project wth the City of North Vancouver.
RECYCLING
The school recycles and composts.
GREEN TEAM
In 2000, the school's Green Team sponsored a plant competition based on height. The team also helps with the recycling program and clean-ups.
- ST. THOMAS AQUINAS HIGH SCHOOL
---- (Wagg Creek)
STREAM STUDIES
STA's Environment Club has been making connections with various stewardship groups on the North Shore working to enhance local salmon habitat. Plans for the 2000-2001 school year were to focus efforts on streams near the school in the Mosquito Creek watershed, particularly Wagg Creek.
Student plans included monthly water quality sampling as well as periodic bug studies. Also, field mapping of Wagg Creek using differential GPS and the ArcView 3.2 Geographic Information System software. The club acquired digital orthophotos at 1m. resolution.
www.aquinas.org
- WESTVIEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
---- (Mosquito Creek, Lower Mission Creek)
PLANTING
The school received an Evergreen Foundation grant in 1999 and started their program by installing planter boxes.
Plans for 2000-2001 included naturalizing more of the school grounds with native plants and adding a shade garden and butterfly garden. Grades 3 and 4 planted sunflowers in June 2000 and looked forward to harvesting the seeds in the fall.
Students helped plant trees at the Mosquito Creek Trail Entry in April 2000 and along the trail in June 2001.
ENVIRONMENT AWARENESS
Westview School has welcomed guest speakers from Grizz-Ed and Pole to Pole.
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