Earth Day kids go Beyond Recycling
But—will Beyond Recycling go beyond this year?
Good news and bad news for Beyond Recycling. First, the good news: this basin-wide educational program will be featured around the region on Earth Day, as hundreds of students unveil projects and take part in community celebrations.
Now the bad news: without more financial support, the Grade 4, 5 and 6 students of future years could be denied the chance to take Beyond Recycling.
“Kids are getting ready for Earth Day on April 22,” said Monica Nissen, Wildsight’s Education in the Wild program manager. “Art contests, videos, event ambassadors—these are just some of the ways they’ll show off what they learned during the Beyond Recycling program.”
Classes in 10 communities—Kimberley, Cranbrook, Fernie, the Elk Valley, Kaslo, Creston, Nelson, Winlaw, Castlegar and Trail—took part in Beyond Recycling this year, for no cost to the schools. But next year, it could be a different story.
“Wildsight secured the funding to run these programs for free,” Nissen said. “But next year, we’ll need help from school districts, businesses and other donors because some of our sources cannot give repeated funding to the same program.”
Beyond Recycling is a year-long, in-class curriculum authored by Wildsight’s Dawn Deydey and Megan Walsh. The women developed a 122-page training manual complete with lesson plans. They made sure it would engage students with slide shows, skits, games, costumes and projects. “This program has proven to be an outstanding way for students in Grades 4 to 6 to learn about waste reduction, energy use and environmental awareness,” Nissen said. “And having Earth Day as a date for kids to work toward has generated a lot of excitement—it’s encouraged students to take part in what goes on in their homes, schools and communities in a whole new way.”
For example, Beyond Recycling students at Rosemont School in Nelson will host their own Earth Day Convention. “They’re inviting students from another school, parents and the public to partake in presentations and games that show how to shrink their ecological footprint,” Nissen said. Beyond Recycling students at McKim in Kimberley are helping with kids activities at Wildsight’s Community Earth Day Celebration. The activities will be set up during the marketplace and also during their school lunch hour.
In Winlaw, students will take part in a community ‘Trash Art’ contest and make a video about being a recycling superhero. In Creston, students will build electric toy cars out of recycled materials, create adapted fairy tales promoting the ‘3Rs’ and participate in the Home and Garden show, educating community members about how to reduce energy and waste. “Kaslo students are building raised beds and planting salad greens to be harvested before the end of school, Fernie students will take part in the popular ‘Trashy but Flashy’ fashion show, and a whole bunch of other events,” Nissen said.
“In Trail, Glenmerry students are running a community clean-up for the whole school and then an Amazing Earth Day Race activity for all of the Grade 7 students,” says Ami Haworth, Beyond Recycling facilitator in School District 20. “And Twin Rivers students in Castlegar are doing a variety of gardening activities.
Monica Nissen, while pleased with all the activity around the region, is cautious about the future of the program. “We are very excited to work with the students to develop interesting and innovative ways to show off what they have learned during the program.”
She added, “We’d like to thank the Federal Government’s EcoAction program, the Regional District of Central Kootenay, Terasen Gas, Fortis BC, BC Hydro, and Columbia Basin Trust—their support got us through this great year. And the support from teachers, administrators and parents has been stellar. Let’s hope it can all happen again in coming years.”
Those who want to donate to help classes in their region take Beyond Recycling next year can contact Wildsight at 250.427.9325 or e-mail Office@Wildsight.ca.
Online Donations to the Wildsight's Education Fund can be made by clicking here.
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Contact: Monica Nissen, Education in the Wild program manager, 250.352.6346 • Monica@Wildsight.ca
