Vision

After some staffing changes at River Oaks, our EcoClub didn’t have a supervisor. While many staff are passionate about sustainability, it was Ms. Wingfield’s attendance at the HDSB Climate Action Youth Forum in partnership with Learning for a Sustainable Future on April 2nd, 2025 that reignited a passion for gardening, sustainability, and ecological consciousness at River Oaks. In partnership with 10 eager students who attended the Youth Forum, we decided that despite the tight timeline, we would be able to put our $200 EcoAction project grant to good use. We came up with 2 ideas and assigned action items to maximize our time and focus on our interests and skills. Once we had a plan in place, we invited other students to join our EcoClub, and got to work on our EcoAction Project.

Our vision was to revamp the small outdoor space already available on our school property so that students could discover gardening, growing food, and composting in a hands-on and enjoyable environment.

Action

Action #1: Cleaning Up Existing Garden
a) Clean up our existing garden with fresh soil & compost.
b) Move existing composter to more accessible location.
c) Plant a variety of vegetables in existing above-ground garden beds.

Action #2: Build Vertical Garden to Maximize Space
a) Using our $200 LSF Grant, design & build a vertical garden to grow many herbs and small plants in a small area.
b) 4×4 feet size is accessible to ALL students from K-8.
c) We will incorporate recycled materials in our design (i.e. water bottles).

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