The Booker School is excited to be joining the Green Schools Nova Scotia initiative, a free energy efficiency and environmental education program that supports schools around the province in their efforts towards sustainable action. The Green Schools Program consists of five themes: Energy, Living and Moving Green, Using Water Responsibly, Supporting Local, and Minimizing Waste. 261 schools around Nova Scotia are currently part of the Green Schools movement and we thrilled to be a part of this.
The Booker School is passionate about making its campus a greener one, and has been included in a number of sustainability-related provocations both inside and outside the classroom. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are deliberately interwoven within the curriculum, from Early Years up through to the Middle Years, and our community members are always looking for new ways to minimize our impact.
In October 2017, Grade 6-8 students hosted a Great Meals For A Change event. This was part of their Scientific and Technical Innovation unit, where they researched the ways in which the agricultural industry has developed technology to feed an ever-growing population. It was at this time that they also started the school’s Sustainability Fund, which will help to support future projects to reduce the school’s impact on the environment. In the same month, the students also explored the benefits of the 100-mile Diet, making personal pledges to eat local and encouraging other community members to do the same. They also organised a youth night for friends with the theme ‘Sustainable Halloween’.
The Booker School has joined a number of other local schools in supporting an organisation called ‘Fish Friends’, and will be raising hundreds brown speckled trout over the next few months to release into local brooks, with the aim of increasing population numbers. To address the issue of waste, Valley Waste Management will be visiting the school this spring to share some ways in which the community can reduce their plastic consumption.
Green Schools has a large collection of free sustainability-related resources designed for schools to use. They also carry out presentations for children of all ages, and offer advice for students and staff that are looking to organise an event or start an initiative within their school. We are looking forward to the collaborative efforts and actions to come from this relationship.
You can find out more about Green Schools Nova Scotia by clicking here.
Kings County Wildlife Association - Fish Friends Program now set up at The Booker School