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Heart Lake S.S. staff and students go certified green
The Brampton Guardian
Friday July 4 2008
By Roger Belgrave, Staff Writer
Conscientious teachers received environmental awareness certificates from students. Pictured (front row) are students Samiya Jahan, Natasha Singh, Sumaiya Jahan and Trisha Gajraj. (Back row) Students Will Arniotis, teachers Andrea Luksts and Dave Finlay, student Matthew Vanden Heuval, teachers Ereney Shenouda and Shane Delaronde, student Brittany Warren, teacher Larry Link and student Ted Arniotis.
 
BRAMPTON - Heart Lake Secondary School has become a flagship for the public school board’s plans to reduce waste and energy consumption in its schools.
The Brampton high school has become the first Peel District School Board school to earn Ontario EcoSchools certification.
Ontario EcoSchools is an environmental education program for schools and school boards. The organization and program helps schools and boards incorporate environmental education in curriculum as well as provide resources to support implementation of more environmentally friendly operating practices.
EcoSchools and the board have formed a partnership to launch a pilot project aimed at getting more schools involved in the program and eventually achieving broader board-wide certification next year. The partnership includes funding and resources through the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and the Region of Peel.
The board is expected to receive $40,000 for an EcoSchools facilitator, along with up to $20,000 for program material supports, including transportation, release time and program development, according to board administrators. An EcoSchools Steering Committee has been formed to coordinate the initiative.
This past school year, the board also established a separate environmental policy committee to coordinate recycling and conservation practices at all schools.
The extent of recycling efforts within schools at the Peel board and Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board varies significantly from one location to the next. Combined, the two school boards have almost 240,000 students in 376 schools and more than 23,000 employees. Yet no universal recycling policies exist for the waste generated by the more than 250,000 people in schools and offices.
Under the EcoSchools program, individual Peel board schools will be encouraged and supported in developing and implementing strategies to reduce waste and conserve energy. Schools are supported through curriculum and extra-curricular activities based on energy conservation, waste reduction, school grounds greening and ecological education strategies.
With the assistance of EcoSchools, teachers and students at Heart Lake Secondary School conducted a waste audit at the school that revealed each person was producing about 26 pounds of waste per a school year. The audit also showed about 16 per cent of waste was being diverted from landfill and 45 per cent of the waste that ended up in garbage bins could have been recycled.
“We took that information and we shared it with our staff and our students at school,” explained Andrea Luksts, one of the teachers who led the environmental charge.
Students and staff formed an EcoTeam that coordinated a variety of efforts that included tree plantings, a Flick-Off campaign to reduce electricity usage, an education campaign for elementary school students in the neighbourhood and a student-run recycling and awareness program.
Recycling efforts have become so effective at the school it is presenting some space problems.
“We are now running out of space to put our recyclables at the end of the week,” Luksts noted.
The school is proud to be a flagship and model for the board’s waste and energy reduction initiatives.
“We’re just really proud to be the first EcoSchool in Peel,” said David Finlay, another teacher responsible for spearheading efforts. “We’re big on character education and this really ties into that.”
Principal Sue Turner believes student involvement empowers youth to make positive changes in their schools and community, while providing good character lessons on responsibility and accountability.
It provides a great framework for implementing environmental programming as part of a character development initiative, she said.
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