The recycling station at École secondaire Hanmer gives creative and clear instructions to students on where waste should go.
Collaboration is big at École secondaire Hanmer and École publique Foyer-Jeunesse in Sudbury: the two schools share a campus, the teachers interact and students even take field trips together.
So when Hanmer teacher Luce Lepage decided to participate in Ontario EcoSchools and she learned that her colleague Lynne Dubeau at Foyer-Jeunesse was interested too, the two schools came into the program as a pair.
After embarking on this new journey, the two schools became the first certified French EcoSchools in Greater Sudbury. And students from Foyer-Jeunesse continue in their environmental leadership as they graduate and enter Hanmer SS .
The Hanmer Team, called OUICare, is made up of around 80 students and is led by Luce Lepage and her colleagues Suzanne Leclair-Bédard, Jacynthe Kelly and André Gravelle. Next door at Foyer Jeunesse, the Mini OUICare team is made up of 12 students from Lynne Dubeau’s Grade 2 class.
“Our collaboration is superb! We encourage and motivate each other and it’s really a pleasure to work together and to encourage collaboration between the two schools.” ~ Luce LePage
The students work together on ongoing projects like the community garden. They collaborate on recycling and composting, and have been so successful at reducing waste that the city came and removed one of their large waste containers because it was no longer needed!
Students at Foyer-Jeunesse post reminders to ‘turn off the lights.’
Both schools save energy by participating in Earth Hour events, and through turning off lights and technology when not in use. The high school students have led by example, motivating pupils at Foyer-Jeunesse to join in their energy conservation efforts.
The schools also join forces on special events, including field trips to the local recycling centre and landfill to learn about where waste goes and how each time the students reduce or reuse they make a tangible difference.
Both schools report that students are taking their environmental awareness home and influencing their families to begin recycling and composting. Not only that, the OUICare name is getting talked about in the wider community.
In fact, Mini OUICare received recognition from the city for being the youngest group throughout the City of Greater Sudbury to initiate recycling and composting programs within their school. Foyer-Jeunesse’s EcoTeam lead teacher Lynne Dubeau says, “I am so proud of my students. They are only seven and eight years old and are already recognized as leaders in our school and our community.”
Dubeau’s colleague, secondary school teacher Luce Lepage, adds, “Our collaboration is superb! We encourage and motivate each other and it’s really a pleasure to work together and to encourage collaboration between the two schools.”
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