Bear Creek honoured for environmental leadership, three years running

NEWS RELEASE
BEAR CREEK SECONDARY SCHOOL
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Last Friday, the Green Team got great news. Bear Creek received the Gold Level Ecoschools designation for 2018-2019. This adds to last year’s gold and the previous year’s silver.

Through the Ecoschools program, “from individual behaviours to collective impact, all members of 100’s of Ontario school communities are empowered with the knowledge, skills, perspectives, and desire to act as environmentally responsible citizens.”

For a third year, Bear Creek has been recognized for its outstanding environmental leadership and actions from Waste Minimization to Energy Conservation to Environmental Curriculum as well as Stewardship Initiatives. This included major communications efforts to the new provincial government to stimulate the needed greater climate change actions.

The team also provided financial support to Mr. Lancaster’s Environmental Science classes’ food forest project on the southeast side of the school where some of the Green Team are shown presenting the principal, Mr. Mike Abram with the Ecoschools plaque.

Bear Creek’s solar project is having its latest pay it forward moment. The water bottle filling stations, paid for previously by the solar panels are perfect for filling the watering cans for the food forest started this spring.

The art classes are starting to hang out in the area and put their artwork up in this newly planted area of food plants (strawberries, blueberries, etc.) and shade trees. Good news environmental stories are being displayed in the food forest. Students are really starting to enjoy the space with its picnic tables and Muskoka lawn chairs built by wood shop students. It will be even better in the fall when all the plants are growing fully.

Students and staff have been encouraged in recent Green Team school announcements to “make it a green summer, Kodiaks!”

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