Vision

My grade 7 students have been learning about climate change and sustainability within the science and geography curriculum. They completed an inquiry project and learned about the importance of a food and pollinator garden to the environment and our school community.

Action

The Grade 7 class at St. Patrick Elementary has created a pollinator and produce garden on our school property This is the first phase of a larger garden project to grow food that can be used as part of our “breakfast program” and/or give to families in need in our own community. This will also help to cut emissions from transporting food to grocery stores and back to homes and/or our school. They believe growing food here can help their carbon footprint, as learned through our science and geography curriculum. They took a field trip to our local university where they learned about creating local food systems and toured a rooftop garden and outdoor gardens to see how to put their plan into action. They also learned how to properly harvest their food and store it for the cool winter months. They have also been learning about how to properly care for their bodies with fresh fruits and vegetables and how that contributes to their overall health and well-being. The students decided to create this project from their inquiry study. They have created age-appropriate presentations to lead the rest of the school to take more initiative in reducing their carbon footprint and lessening the impact of pollution and negative climate change. Their other goal was to teach the other students in our school what they have learned in hopes of inspiring them, as they have been inspired through their study. Their hope is that by growing our own gardens at home and inspiring others to create gardens in our own neighbourhoods, we will make an impact to shop locally and grow sustainable communities.

Reflection & Celebration

The knowledge and growth of my students have been incredible to watch. They went from knowing nothing about climate change to being inspired to come up with the idea of growing a garden at our school. Through various class trips and discussions, they wanted to inspire the school community to play a role and make a change. They were able to secure a $500 LSF funding grant to create one garden bed and then accessed outdoor education money from our school to create a second garden. I’m so proud of their efforts and leadership.