April is Earth Month! Here’s how to claim it in Certification

We know you’ve been working hard on Energy Conservation and Waste Minimization; Earth Month is a good chance to focus on School Ground and Environmental Stewardship. It’s time to get your EcoTeam working together on transformative change that will set the stage for continuing your good work into the next school year!

3 creative Earth Month campaigns from 2015-16

  • École élémentaire publique Le Trillium in CEPEO created a whole eco-village in their library for Earth Hour. This is a smart idea to learn about green building and energy sources in your community!
  • Students at Brooklin Village Public School in DDSB put together an Earth Hour Scavenger Hunt. This activity combined lights-off with learning about Earth Hour-related topics from different perspectives.
  • St Joseph Catholic Elementary School in Grimsby (DSBN) took on an Earth Month Challenge. Teachers set up a whiteboard outside of the library; every day a teacher wrote an environmental problem on the board and students had the chance to work together to come up with the answer. This campaign is a good example of linking curriculum areas (environmental education and math) while connecting learning to action.

Get recognized

From World Water Day to Earth Week to School Ground Clean-ups, you can claim campaigns in questions 6.1-6.4 if the whole school is invited to participate. If you’re planning a campaign that will happen after the April 28th deadline, don’t worry – you can still claim it! Fill out the online templates now and add the portfolio requirements later. Possible portfolio requirements are:

  • Copy of an announcement/newsletter/poster regarding the whole school’s participation in Earth Hour that includes a learning component about energy conservation (measuring energy use, benefits of conservation, etc.)
  • Picture of World Water Day assembly educating the whole school about water issues and order form for purchasing reusable water bottles or water bottle refill station
  • Evidence of planning for a May/June campaign, e.g. ravine clean-up or Stream of Dreams event to steward a local waterway

Share your photos and videos!

We love seeing what campaigns schools are planning to connect learning to action. As always, please share what you’re doing with us on Twitter, Facebook, or e-mail