EMPOWERING YOUTH FOR CLIMATE ACTION 2022 AWARD WINNERS
The Empowering Youth for Climate Action Award is given annually to the top Action Projects posted on Our Canada Project to recognize outstanding student leadership and contributions to Canada’s sustainable future. This year, due to the high number of outstanding projects received, we have chosen two third place winners.
Thank you to Environment and Climate Change Canada for their generous support of LSF’s Youth Leadership Forums and Action Project Grants and specifically for making these awards possible!
Each of the winning schools will be given a certificate of achievement acknowledging their successful project in addition to a financial prize to be used for future Action Projects:
- First place: $3,000
- Second place: $2,000
- Third place: $1,000 each
- Runner-ups: $500 each
Check out the winning projects below!
To all of the students and teachers who participated, thank you for your wonderful projects! We are truly impressed by the level of creativity, the reach and the efforts behind your action projects this year!
FIRST PRIZE
Transport Actif – École Ste-Marie – Azilda, ON
For their action project, this group of 5th and 6th grade students decided to start both a club and an active transportation awareness campaign called “Roulons, Marchons, Lions!”. Through their campaign and club, they put out a call to action for all students and staff at the school, encouraging them to participate by walking to school or using other forms of active transportation, such as bikes, skateboards, rollerblades and scooters! This fantastic initiative was very successful, and the amount of students using active transportation to get to school grew considerably.
View their post here https://ourcanadaproject.ca/fr/place/roulons-marchons-lions/
SECOND PRIZE
Building Peer Support – Harbour View High School – Saint-John, NB
The student-led Climate Action Group at Harbour View has been very active since 2018. This year, the group had 67 active members who continued to lead by example at their school while implementing all kinds of different projects, including waste management programs, vegetable gardens, letter-writing campaigns, and more. Their project focuses on the idea that peer support and community action are essential to the survival of our planet. They hope to continue growing their system of support and action in the future, in order to remain true to their original vision: battling the feelings of helplessness that some students feel in the face of continuous global disasters, and educating students who do not understand the need for change.
View their post here https://ourcanadaproject.ca/place/climate-action-group-building-peer-support/
THIRD PRIZE
High Park Earth Show – High Park Alternative School – Toronto, ON
At High Park Alternative School, the grade 6 and 7 students decided to create a news-type show in order to educate their school community about climate issues, stories and solutions. With the help of members of the school community, they created the show from start to finish: brainstorming content, writing scripts, learning about television production, filming and editing their content, etc. All of the students took on different roles throughout the process, such as editors, filmers, actors, reporters, graphic designers and writers! In their show, they covered many different topics, including clean water, waste management, gender equality, responsible consumption and climate action! This project empowered students to have an informed voice and to spread awareness on topics that they are passionate about!
View their post here https://ourcanadaproject.ca/place/high-park-earth-show/
THIRD PRIZE
Bee Helpful – Holy Trinity Elementary – Torbay, NL
Tied for third place this year are the grade one students from Holy Trinity Elementary! The vision of this group of students was to find ways to support bees and other pollinators in their community. After spending time researching ways to help bees, the students created colourful bee-themed artwork, wrote their own informational books about bees, decorated hives, and planted a pollinator garden. Several new bee homes and hundreds of new plants and flowers will be spread across the community of Torbay. Students hope to transform their school grounds into a beautiful landscape of flowers that will provide a great habitat for bees and other pollinators!
View their post here https://ourcanadaproject.ca/place/bee-helpful/
The following are the four Our Canada Project 2022 runner-ups, listed in no particular order:
RUNNER-UP
Imagining My Sustainable Community – Taylor Creek Public School – Scarborough, ON
For their action project, the students at Taylor Creek Public School tasked themselves with visiting an empty plot of land in their community that is slated for development, and then envisioning what they felt was missing and what they would like to see more of in their community. Back in the classroom, students learned about elements of sustainable design, and looked at examples of sustainable projects locally, nationally, and internationally related to food security, alternative energies, water conservation and recycling, public art and design, waste management, and transportation. The students then constructed cardboard models that demonstrated their ideal sustainable community. This project allowed students to see their community in a more positive light and to see themselves as agents of change in their community!
View their post here https://ourcanadaproject.ca/place/imagining-my-sustainable-community/
RUNNER-UP
Garden Starter Kits – Bridgetown Regional Community School – Bridgetown, NS
After studying the causes and effects of climate change in their class, this group of students decided that encouraging more families to start their own gardens would not only mitigate the effects of climate change but would also encourage families to become more self-sufficient and promote food security in their community. Through partnerships with local farms, the students at Bridgetown Regional Community School packaged and sold close to 100 seed kits, resulting in over $1000 in donations for their school breakfast program. The students are already scheming ways to repeat this fantastic project again next year!
View their post here https://ourcanadaproject.ca/place/garden-starter-kits/
RUNNER-UP
Forêt Nourricière – École Secondaire Catholique Champlain – Chelmsford, ON
After learning about the topics of regenerative agriculture and self-sustaining ecosystems, the students in the Environment Club decided to combat the effects of climate change by planting a food forest on their school grounds! The students worked in close partnership with members of the local organization Sudbury Shared Harvest. This organization will continue to provide support for the maintenance of the food forest and will offer workshops to the students to teach them how to maintain their food forest as well. Over the course of the project, they planted a wide variety of different edible trees and plants, including apple trees, haskaps, strawberries, raspberries, and pollinator-friendly plants, that they hope to share with their school community one day!
View their post here https://ourcanadaproject.ca/fr/place/foret-nourriciere-a-champlain/
RUNNER-UP
Too Good To Waste – Dalhousie Regional High School – Dalhousie, NB
For their action project, the students at Dalhousie Regional High School became vermicomposting and hydroponics pros. Learning these skills allowed them to conduct a mini test, where they compared the growth rates of plants through hydroponics versus regular seed starting kits that they set up near a well-lit windowsill. They plan on supplying the food grown during their project to the school’s culinary class to prepare meals or healthy snacks for the student body, as well as to the local food bank! This project educated the students about the importance and the benefits of growing food at home, as well as the significance and the urgency of lowering their carbon footprint!
View their post here https://ourcanadaproject.ca/place/too-good-to-waste/
The following are the four Our Canada Project 2022 honourable mentions, listed in no particular order:
HONOURABLE MENTION
Greenhouse Gang – Seaway District High School – Iroquois, ON
At Seaway District, the students’ goal was to transform their school greenhouse into a useful space that would allow students to learn about sustainable practices in food production. In order to achieve their vision, the students at Seaway District grew vegetable plants inside their greenhouse. By the end of the school year, the students had harvested and donated over 4lbs of food to the Community Food Share and also donated 50 tomato plants and 10 pepper plants to a local community group. The students at Seaway District hope to continue to plan with this community group throughout the next year to help them get ready, by growing the seedlings in their greenhouse!
View their post here https://ourcanadaproject.ca/place/greenhouse-gang/
HONOURABLE MENTION
Grelinette – Cité des Jeunes A. M. Sormany – Edmundston, NB
At l’École la Cité des Jeunes A. M. Sormany, the students’ project was to create “broadforks”, a gardening tool used to prepare the soil before planting seeds and seedlings. The students saw an environmentally friendly way to replace traditional gardening tools such as the tiller with a tool that does not consume gasoline, thus helping to reduce greenhouse gases. Students in the Woodworking class were able to integrate themselves into the project by making wooden handles for the broadforks. At the end of their project, the broadforks were donated to two local community gardens!
View their post here https://ourcanadaproject.ca/fr/place/grelinette/
HONOURABLE MENTION
Bee Careful! Save the Bees – Métis Beach School – Métis-sur-Mer, QC
At Métis Beach School, the students wanted to be proactive in protecting bees and their habitats. To do this, they learned about the importance of bees and dandelions and found ways to spread awareness on this topic and their campaign, No Mow May, to their school and greater community. Some of the actions these students undertook include dropping information leaflets in post boxes, publishing an article in the local newspaper, sharing a video capsule they created on social media, writing a campaign song, making bee houses and watering stations. The group also planted a pollinator garden and wrote to the local town council asking them to consider leaving lawns, grass and wildflowers on the side of the roads to grow. These students have big plans to continue their campaign in the future and to encourage other towns and villages to follow their example!
View their post here https://ourcanadaproject.ca/place/bee-careful-save-the-bees/
HONOURABLE MENTION
Building a Pollinator Garden – Pacific Way Elementary – Kamloops, BC
After learning about the importance of pollinators, the students at Pacific Way decided that they wanted to plant an 80 square foot pollinator garden in the large park close to their school. This group enlisted the help of the City of Kamloops’ Head Gardener for feedback as they were researching and selecting plants that would not only thrive in their region, but also support local pollinators the best. In order to raise extra funds for their garden project, the student created stickers to sell. When it was time to plant their garden, they organized a field trip to several nurseries to pick out their plants. Working together, they managed to remove 80 square feet of grass in only 3 hours using shovels and then plant their garden, which they hope will grow to attract lots of pollinators. They also created signs that they will install at the garden to educate passersby about pollinators and their important role!
View their post here https://ourcanadaproject.ca/place/building-a-pollinator-garden/
For more information please contact:
Sam Gawron
samantha@lsf-lst.ca
1 877 250 8202