May 20th, 2021

Protecting natural ecosystems, addressing climate change and food insecurity are front of mind for students, our staff and community alike. In the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB), our schools are working hard to do their part to make a difference.

Each year, the Tim Walker Memorial Award for Environmental Stewardship is given to WRDSB schools in memory of the late Tim Walker, a secondary school teacher, and his contributions to education and environmental initiatives. We are proud to share the winners for this school year:

The 2020-21 Winners

  • Doon Public School
  • Queensmount Public School
  • Sandowne Public School
  • Stewart Avenue Public School

Congratulations to the staff and students from the schools and thank you for championing and leading these inspiring environmental initiatives in our community. Your efforts to keep your school green and environmentally friendly will have a lasting impact for years to come.

Project Summaries

Doon Public School: Rewilding the School Property

The school has a large, untended area that has become overgrown with European Buckthorn and a few other invasive plants. The classes will remove the Buckthorn, dispose properly of the trees and re-seed the area with indigenous plants. We want to reclaim land that has fallen into invasive plant growth. Rewilding helps food chains to return or re-establish, provides mechanisms for balancing the naturally occurring ecosystem populations and should increase natural diversity. Students will learn about the detrimental effects of invasive species and learn how to identify and help control the populations of invasives to help the natural ecosystem to re-establish the food webs. Plus, the area is used by the community to walk the trails and the increased diversity of flora and fauna will make a more pleasant walk.

Queensmount Public School: School Planters

The school currently has five large cement planters on our school site that could be used in a more functional and responsible way, as currently they get used as litter receptacles. The school will plant drought resistant plants in the five cement planters. Selecting the appropriate plants and planting them in rich soil in the planters, will allow them to be self-sustaining and regrow year after year.

Students will take part in researching, choosing and planting plants in the planters. Having students participate will create teachable moments in environmentalism, promote research skills, promote school pride and leadership skills. Students, staff, community members and bus patrons will enjoy the plants in the planters. Planters also demonstrate the care we take of our school property and show our pride in the school.

Sandowne Public School: School Composting Program

Sandowne is in the beginning stages of creating a school garden. We would like to start composting our organic waste to create a nutrient rich soil to use in our garden to feed the plants. The goal of this project is for students to see how the pieces of food that they don’t consume (such as apple cores, banana peels, egg shells, etc.) become a food source for the new foods that we are growing in our garden. We’re teaching them that everything has a purpose and that it’s not okay to just throw everything into the garbage.

With the addition of the composting systems, we can begin the conversation in the classroom and then the students will see the byproduct of their choices (to compost properly) when they plant their seeds in our own soil! When community members walk by, they will see all of the amazing efforts that our students are engaging in to live environmentally friendly lives.

Stewart Avenue Public School: School Food Garden

Our school is starting a community food garden. Our goal is to provide collaboration between school groups (two congregated learning classes as well as the general school population) and the community through environmental stewardship. The garden would be food-based, providing hands-on learning for all students at our K-8 school, as well as sustainable food for our Nutrition for Learning program and families in need.

We are hoping that the garden will build citizenship and foster relationships between our neighbouring families. Growing seedlings for the garden will apply to Science curriculums across many grades, as well as the inquiry-based learning of Kindergarten. The school has two congregated classes that would benefit greatly from a school garden as part of their curriculum through teaching environmental and civic responsibility.

There are many families in the school community that would benefit from the vegetables grown. Our school also has a Nutrition for Learning program that is used by many students on a daily basis and it would be great if we could coordinate with that program in the future.

About the Tim Walker Award for Environmental Stewardship

To honour the life of secondary school teacher, Tim Walker, and his contributions to education and environmental initiatives, an award was established in 2006 by the Board of Trustees to encourage the growth and sustainability of green initiatives in our schools. Every year, schools are invited to submit their applications to receive funding – up to $2,000 is available each year. The Adjudication Committee, comprised of Stephanie Walker (mother of the late Tim Walker), Trustee Meissner and Student Trustees John-Jandles and McDonald. They review applications from schools and take the following criteria into consideration:

  • Staff and student involvement (current and future) and environmental stewardship
  • Impact on student learning and foster learning and engaging students
  • Environmental benefits – shading, greening, waste reduction, recycling – organized action/school environmental club or committee

Schools that meet the criteria are then selected to receive the awards for that school year.