Be an Early Bird: submit your school’s application by April 23rd! Ontario EcoSchools is looking forward to receiving your school’s Certification Application this spring! We encourage you to submit as early as possible. By meeting the Early Bird Deadline (April 23rd), you will automatically be entered into a draw for up to $1000 for an outdoor experiential field trip of your EcoTeam’s choice.
The final deadline for applications is April 30th at midnight. Be sure to submit your completed application by this time to receive an assessment. Please see page 22 of the Certification Guide 2012-13 for more details on submitting your application.
Site Visit Information: Assessors will be visiting schools this May to celebrate their eco-accomplishments and to see how the EcoSchools program has helped enrich student learning and improve environmental practices.
How does your school promote teaching outside? Discuss with other EcoSchools in the online community at community.ontarioecoschools.org
Teacher Resource: Outdoor Classroom Backpack Kits The EcoAmbassadors, the EcoTeam at Thorah Central PS in Durham District School Board, came up with an exciting idea to get more students outside on a regular basis! The EcoAmbassadors created a backpack kit for teachers so that it would be easy for them to take their classes outside.
The school community put a lot of effort into creating an outdoor classroom on their school grounds and once it was in place, the EcoAmbassadors asked themselves, how could they encourage more teachers and students to use it on a regular basis? The answer was to make outdoor learning easy to do!
The EcoAmbassadors initially got the idea from the board-wide Durham Eco-Summit held last year. The students decided what would go into the backpack and designed a campaign to promote their use.
Two kits were created, one for each outdoor learning space at Thorah Central PS. The kits included post-its, note pads made from GOOS paper, sharpened pencils, pens, pencil crayons, outdoor game ideas and equipment for Capture the Flag as well as other outdoor game ideas.
The EcoAmbassadors launched their outdoor classroom backpack kits in an assembly, at a staff meeting and made frequent reminders on the announcements. The kits are available in the staff room for all to use.
The students on Thorah's EcoAmbassadors team were inspired by the outdoor backpack campaign’s success and used its momentum to host a whole school Earth Day Summit!
Has your school organized a clothing swap? Discuss with other EcoSchools in the online community at community.ontarioecoschools.org
Green Clothing Swap and Fashion Show The EcoSquad at Louise Arbour SS, in Peel District School Board organized a clothing swap and eco-fashion show as a paired event designed to promote waste minimization and showcase creative re-purposing of unwanted materials. These new events generated a lot interest among staff and students.
Staff and students were invited to donate unwanted clothes, shoes and textiles to be shared at The Green Swap. The swap was open to the entire school and was very popular. The EcoSquad received several hundred pounds of donated items.
The EcoSquad and fashion classes used the left-over clothes from the swap and other recyclable or waste materials (e.g. plastic bags, foil candy wrappers) to create new fashions which were presented at the Eco Fashion Show.
Fashion classes, dance classes and the senior stage band participated in the fashion show. They had a great turn out with fifteen classes from grades 9-12 attending the show.
Students learned that unwanted clothing items can have a new life in someone else's closet thereby reducing waste going to landfills.
Communication strategies for the events included: powerpoint advertisements displayed on the school's video wall, printed posters distributed throughout the school and a staff meeting presentation. A display highlighting both events was also placed in the EcoSquad display case.
Staff and students were excited by the creative and exciting fashions designed for the show. Both events emphasized how reusing materials can be fun and engaging.
Toute la communauté scolaire d’Arc-en-ciel a participé au grand ménage de la cour d’école pour lancer son programme de la semaine de la Terre.
Que faites-vous pour célébrer la Terre en avril ? Partagez vos idées et réflexions dans la cybercommunauté ÉcoÉcole, maintenant disponible avec une interface française!
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Les campagnes comme celle-ci, qui incluent la participation de toute l’école et qui intègrent un apprentissage avec une action environnementale peuvent être soumises aux fins de la certification ÉcoÉcoles à la partie VI, « L’intendance environnementale ». Pour plus de détails, vérifiez les critères de la demande de certification.
Célébrons le Mois de la Terre ! Le mois d’avril nous apporte le printemps et un sentiment de renouvellement dans l’environnement. Le soleil sort plus souvent, les plantes commencent à pousser et le monde extérieur redécouvre sa verdure. Pour célébrer ce temps de l’année, vous retrouverez plusieurs évènements sur l’éco-calendrier, notamment le Jour de la Terre, le 22 avril.
L’année dernière, l’école élémentaire catholique Arc-en-ciel, du Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est, est allée au-delà du Jour de la Terre pour célébrer la Semaine de la Terre en programmant une semaine complète d’activités environnementales pour les élèves, y compris un grand ménage de la cour d’école, un dîner sans déchets et une campagne de tamisage des lumières pour économiser l’énergie.
Tout au long de la semaine, les classes ont visionné des films au sujet de l’environnement, un programme qui a culminé par le visionnement de la comédie Petite vengeance poilue dans le gymnase par toute l’école. De plus, à la fin de la semaine et en reconnaissance de leurs réussites lors de l’année scolaire, l’école a souligné les efforts des élèves les plus écologiques en leur donnant des bouteilles d’eau réutilisables ornées du logo de l’école.
Ce type d’évènement peut engendrer un effet rassembleur auprès de la communauté scolaire en encourageant la participation de toute l’école. En utilisant des activités comme celles d’Arc-en-ciel pour éduquer les participants aux enjeux environnementaux les plus courants, la semaine peut devenir une occasion de sensibilisation très puissante.
C’est aussi une très bonne occasion de valoriser tous les efforts déployés par l’ÉcoÉquipe au cours de l’année scolaire et de célébrer les réussites. N’oubliez pas que si vous soumettez votre demande avant le 23 avril, vous courez la chance de gagner jusqu’à 1 000 $ pour organiser une sortie éducative en plein air !
