Awesome Action

In 2003, CPAWS launched the Action Challenge program, designed to inspire students just like you to take positive action to help the environment. We are so impressed with the results, we wanted to share them with you. We’re hoping that you’ll be inspired by these awesome actions and want to take the Action Challenge, too!
When you take action, contact our Education Team to let us know what you’ve done so we can profile your action, too.

Links

2007 Action Challenge Awards

2006/07 Elementary Action

2006/07 Secondary Action

Action Archives

Inspiring Case Studies

This year (2006/2007), more than ever before, we have experienced outstanding success with our CPAWS Community Environmental Action Challenge initiative. We once again saw approximately 60% of our classes engaging in some kind of environmental action project. In greater detail:

75% of elementary classes took action
30% of junior high classes took action
100% of elementary ECO-Partners took action
100% of junior high ECO-Partners took action

Not only are we pleased with the outstanding success of the ECO-Partners model, but also were we impressed by the quality of action projects. This year, we saw some very creative and innovative projects, ranging from organizing Earth Day Awareness events for the entire school, to auctioning artistically-painted recycling and compost bins at an endangered species puppet show!

In addition to celebrating these actions online, we also selected two outstanding schools for their exceptional action projects to receive our Awesome Action Awards. Winners received a beautifully-framed award-winning nature photograph for the school, a pizza party, and green CPAWS silicon wristbands for all students. New this year, we were also compelled to recognize one school with an Honourable Mention, who received the new CPAWS wristbands.

Here are the awesome actions of 2006-2007!

2006/07 Elementary Action (Grade 3-6)

Ellerslie Campus Edmonton, Alberta Grade 1	The grade 1's at Ellerslie Campus in Edmonton have put their learning into action. As part of the grade 1 Social Studies curriculum, they learned about becoming responsible citizens by taking care of the environment. Their studies included learning about the Alberta Grizzly Bear and how its habitat has become threatened. As a result of their studies, the students decided to write a class letter addressing their concerns to their local MLA. Click here to see part of the letter (Acrobat [PDF] file, ~140K). They also created some Grizzly Bear sheets and made a class book in which the children wrote two facts about bears. Click here to see a bear fact sheet (Acrobat [PDF] file, ~85K). Great work Ellerslie students! Thank you for sharing your action with us.
Brentwood Elementary Calgary, Alberta All Grade 4s	The students at Brentwood are really getting informed and helping the environment. The four grade four classes researched endangered animals on the Internet and made a list of things they could do to help. This master list became a poster that they hung in the classrooms. The students are also researching the burrowing owl for language arts and are going to sponsor two burrowing owls at the Calgary Zoo. Way to go Brentwood!
Spitzee School High River, Alberta Grade 3s	Mrs. Schafer’s class at Spitzee School is also doing their part to learn more about endangered species. The students completed some terrific science reports on endangered species. We think it’s great to find out more and teach others about what is happening on our earth. Great work you guys!
Abbeydale Elementary School Calgary, Alberta Grade 3/4	Abbeydale grade 3/4 students are finding out how big their feet are. They are learning about ecological footprinting and calculating their impact on the earth. They have also decided to teach others by creating footprinting messages (on recycled paper) around the school to encourage students to take action to help the environment. Now that’s a step in the right direction!
St. Alphonsus School Calgary, Alberta Grade 3/4	Grade 3 and 4 students at St. Alphonsus really care about nature and are showing us through their artwork. The students chose to do a poster campaign in the school showcasing endangered species around the world. See some of their wonderful creations below. Awesome job!
Calgary Christian School Calgary, Alberta Grade 3/4	Calgary Christian students have taken some awesome action! Mrs. VandenBorn’s grade 4 class has written letters to the Mayor asking him to green up our city. They asked for more buses and trains and for better recycling services. The grade 4 classes also look after the paper recycling for the school, compost, care for a school garden, recycle juice boxes that help support 2 World Vision children, and made recycled projects from garbage. Click here to read some of the letters (Acrobat [PDF] file, ~45K) the students sent to Mayor Bronconnier. Mrs. Olson’s grade 4s completed a letter writing assignment, writing a letter to some national parks offices, thanking the wardens for the excellent job they are doing. They also watched the Eastern Slopes Grizzly Project video and had a discussion on some of the occupations that are necessary in protecting wildlife. Here is an example of what they wrote: To the Wardens of Banff National Park, We are grade four students at Calgary Christian School in Calgary, Alberta. We want to thank you for helping our wildlife. Do you like your job helping the wildlife? Why or why not? We learned that a mother bear needs an area of 3x the size of Calgary. We learned that burrowing owls are endangered. We also learned that the swift fox was extirpated from Alberta. Thanks for what you do. Grade 3B has also shown that they “Care for Creation.” They made the following list to show the actions they are taking to care for nature: We compost fruit and veggie scraps. We turn off the tap when not in use. We use cloth towels to dry our hands instead of paper towels to save trees. We reuse paper and plastic bags. We turn the lights off when we leave the classroom to save energy. We don’t litter; we clean litter up. We recycle juice boxes with our whole school and sponsor two World Vision children with the money. We recycle milk containers on pizza day. We use both sides of paper then recycle it. We recycle tin fruit cups. We want to try having one garbage-free lunch day a month. We will be collecting good used shoes, clothes and stuffed toys, to send to children in Ukrainian orphanages, with the help of Hart Ministries. Thanks for caring!
Ecole Joe Clark High River, Alberta Grade 2/3/4	Mrs. Hunter’s class has written stories about endangered species in French that they will combine into a book for the library. Also, SHREC (Students Help Rescue the Earth Club) made S.O.S. (Saving our Species) posters and collected $107 to donate to CPAWS.. We love the idea of a book that future generations will be able to read and learn from! Terrific idea, Grade 2/3s! The students in Mrs. Kosowan’s class are also doing some awesome action to clean up the earth. They have been working on reducing the amount of garbage they pack in their lunches. They are also working towards having a completely garbage-free lunch day. We hope that their idea inspires others to reduce what they put in the trash! Finally, another class published a newsletter to educate and inform about CPAWS and endangered species. Click here to read the newsletter (Acrobat [PDF] file, ~295K). Then, two classes worked together to answer questions related to the stories. We thought this was a great was way to learn, teach, and inspire others about environmental issues. One of Mrs. Hunter's students was so inspired by CPAWS that she made a donation to CPAWS as her end of the year gift in her teacher's name. Thanks so much Ecole Joe Clark!
Valleyview Elementary School Calgary, Alberta Grade 3/4	The grade 3/4s at Valleyview School are really getting into learning about endangered species. We want to congratulate the students there for making a movie on endangered species to teach others. They also created a Web site all about species at risk so that visitors to their school Web page can also learn about the importance of conserving endangered species. We think those actions are fantastic! Stay tuned … we hope to link to their Web sites and movies soon!
Ecole Percy Pegler Okotoks, Alberta Grade 3/4	The grade 3/4 students at Percy Pegler School in Okotoks had some awesome ideas for taking action. They created a list of things they could do to help the earth. We hope that you were able to complete the list. Take a look at the list and see if there is anything you can do!
Turner Valley School Turner Valley, Alberta Grade 5	The grade 5s at Turner Valley school are taking some awesome action as a result of their CPAWS visit. The students are making posters to encourage parents not to idle their cars outside the school and want to begin a Waste Free Wednesday campaign for the school. The air will be cleaner and the earth greener out by Turner Valley thanks to these dedicated students!
Chief Justice Milvain Elementary School Calgary, Alberta Grade 6	The grade 6 students at Chief Justice Milvain school took action by writing to the government about grizzly bears. They not only learned about how the democratic process works, but got involved! Thank you guys!
Marion Carson Elementary School Calgary, Alberta	We want to congratulate the students at Marion Carson for helping to green up their school and protect burrowing owls. The students had a bake sale and donated the proceeds to a school yard naturalization project. They also sold used toys and books and donated the money to support the conservation of burrowing owls. Great ideas!
Ralph McCall School Airdrie, Alberta	The students at Ralph McCall School are promising to help Alberta's environment and endangered species. Mrs. Enderton's class created an Alberta pledge map where each student made a promise to help mother earth. We think this was a great idea and hope that the students are following through with their pledges!
Rosemont Elementary School Calgary, Alberta	The students at Rosemont really care for endangered species and were inspired by their CPAWS Saving our Species program. Ms. McFadyen's and Ms. Batallas's classes created some beautiful paintings of some of the endangered species of Alberta and decorated their classrooms. They were also planning for a celebration of learning based on their endangered species research. They produced cards and magnets from their art to sell and donate their proceeds. Way to go Rosemont!

2006/07 Secondary Action (Grade 7-12)

Turner Valley School Turner Valley, Alberta Grade 7	The grade 7 students at Turner Valley School have also shown that they care about the environment. They run the pop/juice box recycling program at the school and they will also be painting the town with fish, when they participate in the Trout Unlimited Yellow Fish Road program to clean up their waterways in the spring.
Ian Bazalgette School Calgary, Alberta Into the Wild classes	Ian Bazalgette students have used their creative talents to teach about nature at their school. The students in Ms. Kuznik’s classes have created a poster campaign about different endangered species to increase the environmental awareness of fellow students. Nice work!
Bishop Pinkham Junior High School Calgary, Alberta Grade 7s	The seven junior high classes at Bishop Pinkham are tackling inquiry projects about environmental issues. As part of their curriculum, they have to take on an issue that addresses how humans and other living things coexist together in the 21st century. They can choose topics from a wide list ranging from global warming to water consumption, to use of pesticides/DDT, to hunting. Working in groups of 3 or 4, students research the issue on the Internet and contact a group or organization involved. They interview an expert and analyze the data. After collecting their information, the students will present their topic to the rest of the class. A grade 7 showcase will be set up for students to display their findings for the rest of the school. Students present ways that issues could be resolved. What an excellent way to learn more about environmental issues and teach others about them!
Calgary Academy Calgary, Alberta Grade 7s	The grade 7 students at Calgary Academy have successfully shown that they can raise money to help Mother Nature. To date, they have organized two events – a bottle/can recycling drive and a bake sale (emphasizing decreased packaging and homemade foods). They have raised an amazing $1,200 which they are donating towards grizzly bear conservation and education in Alberta. WOW! These students have truly taken some Awesome Action!
Dr. Gordon Higgins School Calgary, Alberta Grade 8s	For their action project this year, the grade 8 students at Dr. Gordon Higgins School learned about water and water conservation. In Calgary especially, learning about and taking action with respect to water conservation is a great thing to do – kudos to you!
Highwood High School High River, Alberta Mr. Glover’s Grade 9s	Four students at Highwood High School had a COOL idea. Over two lunch hours, they had an ice cream sundae sale at their school. They did this as part of their Biodiversity unit project and as a result, raised money, which they donated to CPAWS. Thank you for helping us save the environment and endangered species like the grizzly bear!
Bear Guardians	CPAWS has teamed up with Parks Canada to promote bear awareness and the Bear Guardian Program in the Parks. Parks Canada provided us with Bear Guardian buttons and stickers, along with a bear aware pledge. After teaching classes about how to safely travel, camp and explore bear country, elementary students take the bear pledge and receive a button. At the secondary level, we provide students with the opportunity to take a sticker, understanding that if they do so, they are committing to be bear aware, and promising to travel and camp safely in bear country, and tell others, too. Over 1000 elementary students in the Calgary area became Bear Guardians, along with the nearly 2,000 secondary students who learned about bear ecology and conservation.
Check out more stories from our Awesome Action archives!

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