Awesome Action

CPAWS Education: Awarding Awesome Action

Classes from all around Calgary continue to engage in some amazing stewardship projects! We were so inspired by these projects that we are carrying on the Action Challenge Awards instituted in 2006.

We chose one elementary school to receive the CPAWS Action Challenge Award and one to receive an honourable mention, and one secondary school to receive the Gareth Thomson Action Award, named for the founder of CPAWS’ education program. (To find out what Gareth is up to these days, visit www.abcee.org).

Elementary: Awesome Action Award
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha School

Students in Robert Pierce's grade 6 science classes are environmental heroes! For environment week, these creative kids organized a 4R's Fair for the ENTIRE school. With costumes, educational booths and fun games, these 55 students taught other classes about the importance of environmental conservation. As well, these students performed a school energy audit and encouraged litter-free lunches by making announcements over the intercom. And their action didn't stop there! They raised over $200 with a used goods “garage sale”, which they donated to a conservation group of their choice.

Elementary: Honourable Mention
University Elementary School

When students at University Elementary School learned about different endangered species, they were compelled to take some action. The students wrote and starred in a shadow-puppet play about endangered species, which they presented to their parents. Along with the puppet show, these creative students artistically decorated and auctioned off composting and recycling bins, raising over $1000, which they are donating to a local charity. Recognizing that the Alberta grizzly bear population is very low, they chose to write letters to their local MLA and government ministers to protect grizzlies. Click here to read some letters (Acrobat [PDF] file, ~360K). This created a buzz among politicians and the media. Click here to read the news article that appeared in a local paper (Acrobat [PDF] file, ~70K).

Secondary: Gareth Thomson Action Award
Calgary Academy

There is no doubt that the grade seven students at Calgary Academy take their school's motto to REACH (Respect, Enthusiasm, Altruism, Commitment, Honesty) for the best to heart. These students took CPAWS' Action Challenge seriously and planned and accomplished an outstanding environmental action project. After learning about grizzly bears and Calgary's eco-footprint, these students wanted to do their part to help the earth. They organized a major bottle drive and a bake sale to raise funds in support of conservation. Their efforts paid off, with a total of $1800 raised, not to mention the awareness of the entire school that became involved in supporting the event. These students are clearly committed to conservation!

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