by Sylene Argent
In celebration of Earth Day, and as a way to help students mature into environmental stewards, Colchester North Public School hosted an array of fun activities on Friday afternoon, to educate youth on how they can better the planet.
As the older students in the school have had more opportunity to learn about how they can better the planet and have had more time to work on their leadership skills, the grade eight students manned the eight stations set up throughout the school for the educational fun day. The senior students at the school were happy to teach the younger students about each of the activities designed for the day and explained how the students could incorporate the important environmental message of each station into their every day lives.
The rest of the school’s students were divided into groups, led by grade seven students. The groups experienced each of the Earth Day stations. Stations set up around the school included a recycle relay, a planting photo booth, buddy reading in the library, a walk around the school’s pond to take note of natural habitat, and a scavenger hunt.
Each of the stations focused on the environment, Colchester North Public School principal Mrs. Petta said.
Kindergarten/graded 1 teacher Janice Dilaudo recently read a book with her students that listed the top ten things students can do to be eco-friendly leading up to Earth Day. The book suggested the tip of forwarding gently-used items to charities for others to use.
After reading the book, one of the students, Alexis Vanvrouwerff, asked if her class could collect items and give them to those in need.
“So, we did. We collected 861 items,” Dilaudo said. The kindergarten/grade 1 students brought in clothing, household items, toys, books, kitchenware, etc. The items will be forwarded to the Essex Area Food Bank and will be distributed to those in need through that organization.
Mrs. Fox, a teacher at Colchester North Public School, hopes the local elementary school will receive an eco-platinum status through Ontario EcoSchools. Colchester North has obtained the gold level for the past three years.
Part of reaching that platinum status is to do more work within the community. In the works to achieve that, the school has planned to send a group to support the Town of Essex’s Community Clean Up on Saturday, May 5, that takes place between 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Residents can join clean ups starting from the McGregor Community Centre, the Essex Centre Train Station, the Harrow & Colchester South Community Centre, or the Colchester Harbour Park. More information about the clean up can be found at essex.ca.
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