In Spring 2025, École George Elliot Secondary (GESS) received a $200,000 BC Parks Learning By Nature grant. Central Okanagan Public Schools was one of only six school districts in British Columbia to receive funding and was the only high school in the province selected to create a Nature Park. Beginning in October 2025, a dedicated group of students worked alongside members of the Okanagan Indian Band, community volunteers, district employees, and other partners to design and refine the Nature Park. During the final two weeks of the school year, these students, together with classes from across GESS, planted more than 2,664 native plants, shrubs, and trees throughout the site.
The Nature Park was created to increase biodiversity on school grounds through the exclusive use of native species while providing a rich outdoor learning environment. The space will support curriculum-based learning, promote student well-being, and create opportunities for land-based learning with local Syilx Elders and Knowledge Keepers. Students will have the opportunity to learn the names, significance, and traditional uses of native plants while developing a deeper connection to the land.
This whole process has been an incredible learning experience for the students at GESS., "This has grown me as a person," said Frankie Berback-Rosengreen, a Grade 11 student. "[Before doing this] I didn’t know how adults did what they did. It was invisible to me. Being a part of this has made it visible to me. It’s exciting to see my ideas turn into real physical things that people said yes to.”
The project also aims to strengthen community connections by creating a welcoming outdoor learning space for people across Lake Country. Students in Marnie Birkeland's AP Passion to Action class have also been working hard with Bella Vita daycare, which is next door to the classroom, to raise money for a dome-shaped greenhouse to be installed beside the Nature Park. This will allow students at the school to learn how to grow their own food, teas, medicines, and plants to create dyes, inks, and natural make-up products. Two students, Carter and Emma Mochinksi, are also creating a circular composting system at GESS to reduce waste at school, then use the soil that is generated to improve the garden and greenhouse spaces. Next year, École Okanagan Mission Secondary, École KLO Middle, Black Mountain Elementary, and Shannon Lake Elementary will also create Nature Parks through new $100,000 BC Parks grants.