Green School Grants - Northwest Territories

North of the Arctic Circle, on the east bank of the Northwest Territories' Peel River, is Fort McPherson, a community of the Gwich'in First Nation. It's a place that Shanna Hagens, who teaches there, describes as intimate, bound by isolated geography, rich history, common language and what she calls a deeply rooted way of life. "Today's generation of Gwich'in youth are fortunate to grow up in a land that is still very much untouched by human development," says Hagens.

However, Hagens is quick to add that there are threats to this traditional way of life. "Impending development projects such as the MacKenzie Valley gas project, as well as uranium mining, increase the vulnerability of the land, language, and culture," she says. "Awareness of these projects rarely reaches the school and community level, yet youth and their families are directly affected."

To address that, the community's Chief Julius School, where Hagens teaches, is launching the MacKenzie Delta Youth Ecological Awareness Project. The grant money will buy camcorders and editing software, and the students will research and develop a series of five short documentaries on projects affecting their local ecology. "Youth will learn more about local caribou and fish in the Peel River watershed and initiatives to protect them from development," says Hagens.

The grant will also fund some travel. "To promote experiential and embodied understandings of the land around them, students will travel to specific areas with local Elders and learn from the land and animals directly," says Hagens. "The goal is to create awareness of both local and larger ecological issues in a way that not only youth, but everyone in the community, can have a voice in and share collectively."

"Each morning here at Mangilaluk School, every student in every class is given a snack and juice box provided by the breakfast program that runs throughout the school year," says Marilyn Cockney, who is a staffer at this K-12 school in Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories. The snag in the breakfast program, according to Cockney, is that the juice boxes aren't being recycled - nor are any other containers coming into the school. "We see a lot of garbage on school property."

But the problem doesn't end there. "Mangilaluk School is right next to a pond, and there are animals such as squirrels, beavers, muskrats, as well as all sorts of birds, that use the pond. Our garbage is sometimes seen in there," says Cockney. The school's staff and students have wanted to address this problem but haven't had the funds. Now, with help from the grant, they'll be able to buy recycling bins for every classroom and outdoor garbage bins.

Cockney has done the math and is confident the project will have a major impact. "Approximately 200 students x 200 juice boxes a day x 195 school days - we would be recycling no less than 39,000 juice boxes and who knows how many other recyclable containers!" After they're collected at the school, the recyclables will go to the local youth centre, which will be hosting a community recycling depot. "We'll be showing children and youth how to recycle, so they'll take the idea home," says Cockney, "and we'll be helping the animals who use the pond by reducing the amount of garbage that can be blown into it from our school property."

"In the north, growing anything is a challenge due to the short number of frost-free days," says Gillian Dawe-Taylor. She's the principal of École St. Joseph School in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, just 500 kilometres from the Arctic Circle. "To produce edible plants, it's critical that growth begin inside."

The elementary school already has an indoor green space with plants that thrive in low light. "It's been a long-term goal to be able to establish a greenhouse," says Dawe-Taylor. "A greenhouse will enable our students to start plants indoors and transfer them outside in June when it's frost-free."

The grant will fund the purchase of building materials and grow lights. The school's community partners Pin Taylor Architects and Arctic Farmers will help teach the students how to design the structure, and how to grow plants in it. "The students will learn the process of building a greenhouse to suit our northern environment," says Dawe-Taylor, "and about what plants, especially edible ones, grow best in our climate."

One of the most important gifts of the greenhouse, Dawe-Taylor believes, will be enough time for the students to connect with the earth and understand the importance of caring for it. "The goal is to use the greenhouse to extend the growing season into the school year," she says, "allowing us more hands-on time. This will enable the students to carry the ideas back into their homes, multiplying the potential benefits of numbers of Yellowknife families starting to grow gardens."

"Norman Wells is very isolated," says Sheila Duclos of the place where she teaches. "It's located just south of the Arctic Circle, along the MacKenzie River." MacKenzie Mountain School, where Duclos is one of 15 staff, has just 130 students, ranging from kindergarteners to Grade 12s.

"Our community is called a 'fly-in' community," explains Duclos, "as there is only access to ice roads in the winter." The school has no environmental program and past attempts at recycling have failed, says Duclos. However, Norman Wells has recently started a program to recycle drink containers, and the school plans to help it succeed.

The grant will cover the purchase and shipping (no small expense, given the community's isolation) of recycling containers for the school. Recycling materials will be stored in them before going to the depot. "Our community does not offer recycling pick-up," says Duclos, "so it's very necessary to have a functioning system in place."

In addition to collecting recyclables, the system will also be raising awareness. "Students in this community have not been properly educated about recycling," Duclos says, "as there are limited resources in the North and recycling is not a routine practice in most homes."

By making "Go Green" a school-wide goal for this school year, Mackenzie Mountain is hoping that its recycling program, the True North Strong and Green, will soon describe not just the school but the community too.

The City of Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories, operates a program to recycle paper, according to Helen Hoeve, an educational assistant at Yellowknife's N.J. McPherson School. However, Hoeve says, the program is voluntary  there are no penalties for putting paper in the regular garbage.

"Since there are no restrictions on what goes into the regular garbage in Yellowknife," Hoeve explains, "recycling is a personal choice." Hoeve is one of three staff members on the school's Recycling Club, which aims to promote that personal choice.

"Recycling requires effort, time, space and organization," says Hoeve. "We will set an example that will influence our students by demonstrating that recycling is doable and easy once the habit is formed."

The school already has a program to recycle paper, but it's limited to a few locations  the computer room and photocopy areas and just a couple of types of paper. "Most of the paper from classrooms and the office goes directly into the garbage, ending up in the city landfill," says Hoeve. The grant will buy blue boxes for every classroom and central collection bins to hold cardboard as well as paper.

"We hope that students take their experience and knowledge home," says Hoeve, "so that more Yellowknife households recycle on a regular basis."