Bringing it back: curriculum covers range of environmental topics
By Contributor
A three-year contract for environmental education was awarded by the regional district to Wildsight for their Beyond Recycling program to support environmental education in local elementary schools.
Worth $20,000, the decision was a renewal of a program that had been considered “extremely successful” by RDCK staff and school district representatives.
Each year, the program delivers 20 weekly lessons to five schools in the RDCK. The list of participating schools is adjusted each year to ensure regional representation.
Beyond Recycling curriculum covers a wide range of environmental topics, including waste reduction, ecological footprints, energy generation and climate change.
“Educating children on these subjects is one of the most effective easy to spread awareness amongst other generations because students often enthusiastically share their school experiences with their parents,” read an RDCK staff report from Lauren Rethoret, RDCK environmental services coordinator.
Wildsight has been delivering environmental education across the Columbia Basin for over 10 years. Program material is developed in conjunction with RDCK staff, in order to ensure a balanced curriculum that remains consistent with RDCK’s policies and environmental objectives.
The program is supported by several other funding agencies, including Columbia Basin Trust and FortisBC. The RDCK’s contribution represents 30 per cent of the program budget.
The program will be renewed for the 2011-2012 school year, the RDCK board of directors decided in their meeting Nov. 24.
This is not a new program and therefore, no new taxation will occur as a result. Since the program is regional in scope the money is therefore not requisitioned from any specific area.
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