Students at Alton Village PS organized a recent Eco-Night event designed to show fellow students, staff and the broader community how to be environmental leaders in a world being impacted by climate change and sustainability issues.
As part of Eco-Night, Grade 7 and 8 students showcased various projects they created, such as addressing water issues, with the hope of informing attendees of the problems and potential solutions. Community partners joined the Eco-Night to highlight eco services in the community, with more than 400 people attending.
“The Eco-Night was born out of a need to share and display student-led projects that focused on sustainable living,” says teacher Alison Wojkowski. “Students chose an area of focus that they were most interested in, joined classmates who had a similar focus and began generating questions and ideas on the topic. They created community surveys to gather data from our students and their families, determined what issues were relevant to them and what solutions made sense to address them.”
Wojkowski says a key part of this Eco-Night was students taking the lead and sharing what they had learned. The event connects to the Environmental Leadership area of focus of the
HDSB’s Multi-Year Plan.
“Students engaged guests with games, trivia and prizes, as many staff from our school created upcycled art to display in the hallways,” she says. “Our Grade 8 Science team had students create informative, colourful infographics on a sustainability topic of their choosing, and Mr. Anderson, a Grade 6 teacher, challenged his class to design and build a solar and wind-powered city model. It was truly a whole-school experience.”
Students say organizing and leading the event was an experience they will never forget.
Nyle, in Grade 8, says this kind of event helped emphasize the importance of being an environmental leader.
“Earth has already warmed 1.36°C, and at 2°C, we hit a climate crisis. However, it’s not too late. It is the responsibility of my generation to help combat humanity’s past mistakes. Nobody can do everything, but, collectively, we can all play our part and make a difference.”
Says Zara, a student in Grade 7: “I think being an environmental leader means setting an example for others. As an eco leader, we should try to inspire others to take action as well as take action ourselves. For example, teenagers like me, are role models for little kids to ensure they do good things, helping the environment is just like that, even if just one person helped, eventually more and more people will come along, we just have to give them a push. If we can bring everyone together and inspire everyone to take action, we can make a change.”
"Students taking a lead on environmental awareness and sustainability understanding is essential for building a more sustainable and equitable future for all,” says Rachel Irwin, HDSB's Environmental Sustainability Manager. “Students have a powerful voice that can influence their peers, families and communities. By taking the lead on environmental issues, they can advocate for positive change both within their school and the greater community."
Overall, Eco-Night was a resounding success and showcased the talents of all students, Wojkowski says.
“The students were able to shine and share their learning, inspire people in their community to make a positive change for the environment, and offered simple, realistic solutions to live more sustainably.”
