Submitted by Janine Allen, Teacher, CBSS
Climate Action Ripple Effect (CARE) Projects are born from the ideals of the Fresh Outlook Foundation, who support students in taking climate action. They have worked with teachers and students from School District 22 on projects that support the City of Vernon’s Climate Action Plan and United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
Leading up to the summit, students spent time over the past 3 months coming up with ideas, being connected with mentors, and with their help creating various climate action projects of their choosing.
Here in Lumby, grade 8 students at Charles Bloom Secondary participated in the program this year and had great successes. 42 Bloom students divided into 15 different groups and presented their projects at the CARE Summit on Tuesday, May 28, which took place at the Vernon Curling Club. There were over 120 projects from across the School District there, students ranging from grades 7 to 12.
There were six categories that the projects fell into, including Nature and Biodiversity, Waste Reduction, Human Health and Culture, Agriculture and Food, Energy and Buildings, and Eco-Friendly Transportation. Charles Bloom students Landon Gray, David Janek, Atley Lishman, and Will Scowen took home the 2nd place prize in the Energy and Buildings category for their rainwater catchment system. This is especially impressive, considering they were competing against students from all grades in their category.
There were also awards based on overall merit in grade categories (grades 7-9 and grades 10-12). CBSS students took home both 2nd and 3rd prizes in the grade 7-9 overall category. 2nd place went to Brielle Baird, Jillian Bevan, Zoe Milliken, and Brooklynn Schibli for their presentation “From Food Waste to Healthy Food for Schools”. 3rd place went to Isabelle Pelentsov and Sierra Sidwell for their “Rubber Boot Gardens”. Both groups worked with students at J.W. Inglis Elementary as part of their projects, teaching them about various aspects of waste reduction, planting and growing foods and plants that are healthy for pollinators.
We are extremely proud of our winners and all of our students who participated and made their own “ripple effects”!
