April 20, 2010

KLO Middle School Wins an Environmental Award and a Grant

KELOWNA, BC: Efforts to increase the dwindling numbers of bluebirds in North America has earned students at KLO Middle School a BC Green Games award and $1,000 from Science World British Columbia.  Grade 7 students in Michelle Hamilton’s environmental education class constructed wooden birdhouses to provide bluebirds with additional nesting locations.  In the Central Okanagan, this species prefers ponderosa pine forests; however, much of their natural habitat has been lost to development.  Ornithologist Russell Cannings joined the class on their February field trip as they attached the boxes to trees along the new Bluebird Trail at UBCO.

Grade 9 student Kieran Lea filmed the field trip as well as students preparing the boxes; his video became the school’s entry in the BC Green Games contest. Along with the video, the class submitted their action plan: “The Bluebird Box project will not be concluding once the BC Green Games are over. We will be monitoring the bluebird boxes for years to come by counting the eggs, banding the chicks and sending the data to the North American Bluebird Society. We know that by working together, we can have a positive impact on other living species.”

View KLO’s video entry: http://2010.bcgreengames.ca/gallery/the-winners/klo-middle-school.html

This is the second year of the contest and the first win for KLO.  The prize money is intended to support or sustain programming in the spirit of the winning project.  For KLO, this will mean paying for occasional field trips to the trail to monitor the bluebirds and maintain the nesting boxes.

Principal Carol MacWilliams is also pleased to report that her school has received a $2,000 grant from Toyota that will fund environmental projects.  They have also just achieved “Emerald Status” through the SEEDS Foundation (www.seedsfoundation.ca).  Since 1990, students from across Canada in Kindergarten to Grade 9 have completed more than one million environmental projects.  KLO accomplished 500 “Green Deeds” for the SEEDS challenge in just three years.  Michelle Hamilton has been closely involved in helping her students complete these projects and earn the grants and award money to pursue more projects in the future. 

.Approved by the Superintendent on April 20, 2010

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For comments, please contact:

Michelle Hamilton, Teacher, KLO Middle School, (250) 762-2814

Carol MacWilliams, Principal, KLO Middle School, (250) 762-2814

Hugh Gloster, Superintendent of Schools, School Board Office, (250) 860-8888

For background information, please contact Lisa Harrison lharriso@sd23.bc.ca or 470-3284.