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Local high school leads the way in Environmental Action

Local high school leads the way in Environmental Action

Cambridge/North Dumfries - Staff and students from Southwood Secondary School recently visited the rare Charitable Research Reserve, presenting a $2600 donation which the students raised themselves, to the board of directors of the local environmental organization.

Southwood’s Environmental Magnet Program and new Specialist High Skills Major Program work to educate students on environmental management and positive action, both within the community and beyond. The rare Charitable Research Reserve preserves over 900 acres of environmentally significant land within Waterloo Region and works with the students of Southwood, as well as a wide range of schools in the region, to provide opportunities for hands on interaction with the natural world and engaging education programs on a variety of environmental topics, including the local food movement, conservation of energy and biodiversity of systems.

After accepting the donation cheque on behalf of the Board, Chair Keith Ainsworth commended the students for their community-mindedness and gave credit to the educators for helping to instil important leadership qualities in their students. “I’ve watched with great intrigue as both the Magnet Program at Southwood and the Every Child Outdoors environmental education program have developed,” Mr. Ainsworth said. “Today, we’re educating young people but the impact of that will be long-term, and far-reaching.”

With Earth Day occurring in April, the students picked that month and organized a variety of environmentally-minded events, with all proceeds going to rare. Events began with the Tim Walker Memorial Staff/Student Hockey Game, organized in memory of a former Southwood geography teacher. This initial event was followed up by a “Coffee House” featuring musical performances by staff and students, food and drink sales, raffles and a silent auction.

Not only was rare at the event to answer any questions from the community, their very own Manager of Education Matthew Lawson took a turn on stage, contributing his own musical performance. Students finished off the month with a community E-waste collection to ensure proper electronic disposal. Donations for rare were collected.

“Having the opportunity to organize these events, and contribute to rare as a whole has been such a great experience”, says Mallory Vanier, a student at Southwood Secondary School. “I know that rare has been invaluable to the environmental learning of students at Southwood, and it was incredible to see everyone so excited to give back.”

Through these events, Southwood was able to raise over $2600 for rare will be used to help purchase equipment to assist with environmental education programs for all schools within the region. Jason Bracey, Head of Geography at Southwood stated that “the impact of experiences at rare goes far beyond the classroom; rare provides excellent opportunities – the kind that are necessary to become impassioned environmental citizens.”

http://www.exchangemagazine.com/morningpost/2011/week25/Tuesday/062109.htm