Vision

Our vision for our Our Canada Project at St. Emile is to begin building and enhance existing community gardens that beautify our neighbourhoods, while also directly addressing local food security. We plan to dedicate a significant portion of our harvest from these gardens to our St. Emile food bank, providing fresh, nutritious produce to community members in need. To ensure our efforts are environmentally responsible, we have implemented the use of a Terracycle “Zero Waste Box” for hard-to-recycle items generated from school waste and packaging, minimizing our landfill contribution. This project also builds community connection, promotes sustainable practices, and makes a tangible difference in alleviating hunger, embodying our commitment to building a stronger, more resilient Canada, one seed and one properly disposed item at a time.

Action

To bring our vision to life at St. Emile our action plan centres on direct student engagement and comprehensive education. Students will take the lead in planting, nurturing, and harvesting the community gardens, gaining hands-on horticultural experience. Alongside this practical work, we will implement educational sessions focused on the principles of nutrition, the science of horticulture, and sustainable gardening practices. Crucially, these sessions will emphasize the profound importance of civic responsibility and giving back, specifically highlighting how their efforts in the garden directly support our local parish food bank and contribute to the well-being of the broader surrounding community. This integrated approach ensures that students not only cultivate plants but also grow in their understanding of community impact and sustainable living.

Reflection & Celebration

Because our school’s garden at St. Emile is an ongoing project, we can’t reflect on its success yet, but we have high hopes for what we can accomplish. Thanks to everyone working together, we will grow fresh food and will give it to our local parish food bank. We will boxes with vegetables, which will help feed many families in our city. Our students will feel very proud and will learn a lot. They will see how planting tiny seeds and caring for the garden will make a real difference for their neighbours. This project will help give people good food, and it will also teach our students about why food is important, how to grow things well, and how good it will feel to help our Winnipeg community. Everyone involved will learn how important it is to keep giving back.