40 schools win $500 each to connect classrooms to nature, thanks to WWF-Canada

WWF

Toronto (February 1, 2016) — Grade 8 students from Ethel Gardiner Public School in Georgetown, Ont., will build bat houses to hang during nature walks. Grade 5 students from l’école primaire de l’Assomption à Fabre, in Fabre, Que., will plant 200 shrubs to help stabilize the habitat around a nearby river. And students from Dewdney Elementary School in rural Dewdney, B.C., will study wind activity at a local outdoor weather station, visit the BC Hydro Power Station and construct turbine models to explore alternative energy sources for their school.
 
These are among the 40 student projects made possible by WWF-Canada’s Go Wild School Grants, a program that gave $500 each to schools across the country for projects that will help protect, restore, monitor or celebrate nature during the 2016 school year.
 
The grants are part of a pilot program to encourage students to take action for nature. WWF’s Go Wild School Grants program asked teachers and students nationwide from kindergarten to Grade 8 to share ideas to connect their school communities to nature.
 
“When we launched Go Wild School Grants, our goal was to increase students’ understanding of environmental issues and inspire environmental leadership and action within their school community,” said David Miller, president and CEO of WWF-Canada. “We received more than 100 ideas from across the country, from every province and territory. This shows that future generations want to be stewards of the environment and we are happy to help them bring their projects to life. Congratulations to all the grant recipients.”
 
Some of the WWF Go Wild School Grants ideas chosen this year include:

  • Grade 6, 7 and 8 Devon Middle School students will be celebrating water conservation with First Nation Elders with a Water Walking event in Fredericton, N.B.
  • Creation of explorer kits that teach ways to see wildlife without harming the animals or Yellowknife environment in the Northwest Territories. These kits will be available to all elementary students at École St Joseph’s.
  • Grade 2 students from the Kincardine Township Tiverton Public School are caring for and observing Chinook salmon eggs before releasing hatchlings to the Penetangore River, which empties into Lake Huron near Kincardine, Ontario.
  • Downtown Toronto students from Charles G. Fraser Junior Public School will create and present their own models of sustainable urban spaces after examining environmental issues such as habitat loss and endangered species and learning about green architecture. Each of the grade 3 and 4 students will present their models of a green Toronto to the chief city planner.

 
For a complete list of WWF Go Wild School Grants 2015-2016 recipients please visit: http://www.wwf.ca/takeaction/gowildschools
 
About WWF
WWF creates solutions to the most serious conservation challenges facing our planet to help people and nature thrive. www.wwf.ca
 
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For further information:
 
Rowena Calpito, Communications Specialist, WWF-Canada, 416-489-4567 exy 7267, [email protected]