At St. Edmund's elementary, one of our central values is stewardship of our natural surroundings.
We try to develop environmentally conscious habits, as well as build a base of scientific knowledge that allows students to judge such issues with a critical eye.
Likely the largest school event that fulfils both objectives is the week that our grades 6 and 7 students spend in Squamish. The week is dedicated to various activities, such as biological studies, nature hikes, and outdoor survival skills. It is a highlight of our students' experience at St. Edmund's elementary, and relationships are noticeably strengthened from the week together.
Recently, our Grade 7 teacher started a school garden, which his students maintain. The Grade 1 students join in the fun by planting bean plants in a section of the garden cleared for them. We also have a school recycling program run by the older grades. The Grade 7s collect juice boxes, wash them out, and move them to storage every lunch hour. Our Grade 6s collect all the paper recycling each Wednesday, and move it outside for pick-up. We are currently planning to have our older grades present to the younger ones about environmentally responsible practices. Our grades 4 and 5 classes have a speaker from WildEd visit annually. The day consists of a presentation in the morning, and a local outing in the afternoon.
The students are brought to Mosquito Creek Park and get a chance to study a local ecosystem. Our Grade 5s have also entered a City of North Vancouver energy conservation contest in the past (winning in 2009-10 and 2010-11).
Those are the highlights of what we do to build a connection with the outdoors, and an awareness of environmental issues. Although our school has a Catholic focus, I'm sure people of all denominations would agree that those values should be universal.
This piece was originally published in the North Shore News print edition as part of a special Private Schools advertising feature. The content was written and submitted by North Shore private schools.
