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Green thumbs, green minds, green spirit! Across the York Catholic District School Board, students are committing and dedicating themselves to doing their part to protect our planet.
Many teachers and students have taken action and, with the help of the board’s Environmental Services Department, worked hard to become certified EcoSchools.
During last year, a total of 39 York Catholic schools received EcoSchools certification, up from 32 the previous year. Out of these schools, 14 achieved gold status, 18 achieved silver and seven achieved bronze. Twenty-six of last year’s thirty-two EcoSchools recertified.
On November 8, all 39 schools were presented with their EcoSchools plaque at the Accommodation Committee Meeting.
Ontario EcoSchools is an environmental education program for Grades 1-12 that helps students develop ecological literacy while engaging in practices to become environmentally responsible citizens. Developed and managed by school boards, Ontario EcoSchools also helps improve school building operations to reduce environmental impacts. At York Catholic, every new school that is built has environmentally friendly features, for example, toilets that flush using rain water.
The EcoSchools Program has come a long way from its early beginnings. It has grown from 13 certified schools from a single school board in 2003-2004 to 1,518 certified “Ontario EcoSchools” at 44 school boards for the 2010-2011 school year.
The EcoSchools program consists of four components: ecological literacy, waste minimization, energy conservation, and school ground greening. Schools can strive to be conscious in each of these four distinct areas through their efforts and school initiatives.
The EcoSchools program provides many benefits to each school community. These benefits include promoting ecological literacy for all students, providing leadership opportunities for students by establishing an EcoTeam, and creating an opportunity for the whole school community to work together to develop environmentally responsible practices.
Looking ahead, a total of 54 schools participated in the EcoSchools workshop for the 2011-2012 certification, which took place on October 21, 2011 at the Catholic Education Centre. Through dedication and leadership by the Environmental Services Department, York Catholic looks forward to certifying even more schools as official EcoSchools!