Vision

To foster a learning and leadership opportunity that leads a group of aware, informed student leaders to take action to change their own lifestyles and habits, and promote change among their community, to generate a greater movement towards sustainable living.

Action

The Eco Night was borne out of a need to share and display student led projects that focused on Sustainable Living. We had analyzed the Gr. 7 & 8 Geography Curriculum to look for specific expectations that referred to climate change and sustainability. From there, students chose an area of focus that they were most interested in, joined classmates who had a similar focus, and began generating questions and ideas on the topic. They created community surveys to gather data from our students and their families; they determined what issues were relevant to them, and what solutions made sense to address them.
In December we completed a school waste audit, and the evidence of food waste, cross contamination in our recycling and composting bins, and the sheer volume of waste produced by our school was shocking to the students. This helped drive their passion and their work even further.
Their work was incredibly detailed and focused, and it needed to be shared with our broader community. We began planning an evening where their families could come out and see what they’d learned. Then, we started to add community partners – one group reached out to Kelley Lightfoot, a local Tupperware Rep – to help find reusable solutions to things like ziploc bags, paper bags, single use plastic water bottles & utensils, and more. Tupperware Canada donated 40 reusable water bottles and two litterless lunch kits to our school, and helped with a fundraiser for even more reusable, family-friendly products.
We also reached out to the Learning for a Sustainable Future Grant committee, on the advice of Superintendent Flahat, and were granted $500 to use towards our environmental initiatives and our community event.
From there, the evening just snowballed into this awesome culmination of students, community groups, and local businesses who all have a passion for living a more sustainable lifestyle: Conservation Halton, Food for Life Burlington, Burlington Green, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, Soaps by Nature, Earth Lover’s Farm (a former AVPS student!), My Woodworking Garage (a retired HDSB teacher!), and Backed by Bees. Donations were made by Royal Botanical Gardens (over 100 native seed packets created and handed out); Value Village (coupons to encourage thrifting and sustainable fashion); HDSB Facilities (a delivery of mulch for Earth Day to care for our trees on the school property); Conservation Halton (a family day pass to any Conservation Halton Park).
We had over 400 people join us for the event. The students took the lead and shared what they had learned, engaged our guests with games, trivia, and prizes. Many staff from our school got on board and created upcycled art to display in the hallways. Our Gr. 8 Science team had students create informative, colourful infographics on a sustainability topic of their choosing; Mr. Anderson, a Gr. 6 teacher, challenged his class to design and build a solar and wind powered city model which was on display as part of the event. It was truly a whole-school experience – the people I work with are incredible educators.
The evening culminated with a congratulatory message from Mayor Marianne Meed Ward and a screening of the CBC documentary, “Curb Your Carbon”. The students were able to shine and share their learning, inspire people in their community to make a positive change for the environment, and offered simple, realistic solutions to live more sustainably. We had amazing, positive feedback from those in attendance, as well as the families of the students who presented. It was such a joy to see the students’ hard work being celebrated, acknowledged, and appreciated.

Reflection & Celebration

It has been incredible to witness the growth and leadership in this group of over 50 Gr. 7 & 8 students. They have taken their learning to the next level by creating an engaging, informative event for our community. They have been acknowledged and encouraged by their teachers, families, administration, Superintendent, and Mayor. There have been noticeable changes in our classroom – everything from less waste in our garbages, to reusable everything, to the conversations had with peers in the hallway about their lifestyle choices. They have been empowered to learn, speak, and act as leaders in the fight against climate change. My Gr. 8s will hopefully take this learning forward into highschool as they continue their learning journey. My Grade 7s are already planning their projects and initiatives for next year!

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