Collaborative art inspired by The Earth Has Caught a Cold by Roxane Marie Galliez
This year, students at University Highlands Elementary inquired into how their actions influenced their local and global communities.In September, we examined our spaces and wondered how we might teach and re-imagine our waste and recycling systems. We became experts on recycling and composting in Burnaby, and explored the value of reducing our waste through litter-less lunches. We were able to connect with Simon Fraser University to design our program based on their Zero Waste Initiative.
After launching our own new Zero Waste systems at our December Celebration of Learning, students volunteer each lunch hour as Green Team Monitors to educate and help the members of our school so they can effectively use our new system, and understand the reasons why it is so important to care.
UHE’s New Zero Waste Recycling system
This past Earth Day, we launched our Litter-less Lunch Campaign, encouraging students and community members to re-think and re-examine our choices when purchasing food and bringing it for lunch. How can buying in bulk and using reusable containers help us to reduce our waste? How can reducing and eliminating our single-use items make an impact?
Every Thursday until the end of the year, we will be hosting a Litter-less Campaign to raise awareness and encourage our community members to notice their footprint and the consider ways they might be able to reduce it.
Please contact Kristina.Carley@burnabyschools.ca if you would like to learn more about their inquiry process, and to get powerpoint examples of introducing a new system and a litter-less lunch.
Getting outside is fun for Div. 4 and our buddy classes, here at Maywood Community! Once a month, Ms. Lanaway’s Gr. 6/7’s buddy up with two Gr. 1/2/3 classes and walk the 20 min to Central Park. We leave part way through lunch (after eating) and head along the Central Valley boulevard past the Metrotown and Patterson skytrains stations. Big buddies learn what it’s like to have the responsibility of a younger person in tow, making sure they stay close, hold hands and looking both ways when crossing the street, and minding bikers on the trail. It can be a big job for some of our big buddies!
kly, as groups chase each other through the woods, students make forts and fishing rods, while others choose to sit and draw in their nature journals. I find it so interesting to watch how the students play: who is not quite sure what to do, which ones are nervous, and who takes flight – surely in their element!
Canoeing at Deer Lake through the Burnaby Parks and Rec is an incredible opportunity for students. At Marlborough, several teachers trek over to the lake to participate in this program. There is an option for up to 4 lessons, building on each other in technique in canoeing, as well as knowledge of the surrounding area.