Kinnaird Elementary wins $25,000 in national contest
By Castlegar Source
Staples Canada yesterday awarded Castlegar’s own Kinnaird Elementary School $25,000 worth of new technology in a surprise school assembly yesterday morning. Kinnaird Elementary was selected for their outstanding sustainability efforts and environmental initiatives. In collaboration with Earth Day Canada, the nationwide contest was held between Jan. 5 and Jan. 31, and nearly 600 schools across the country entered by submitting what initiatives they are undertaking to save the planet. Ten schools across the country are being recognized, each receiving $25,000 worth of new technology from Staples Canada.
The contest is now in its fifth year and has previously awarded 40 environmentally-conscious schools the latest technology to empower students to learn and nurture their passion for the environment.
Six years ago, Kinnaird Elementary School’s school district cut down all of the mature trees on the grounds to build a Parent Parking Lot, leaving the grounds barren with only grass fields. A year later, Kinnaird established a “School Yard Greening Committee” with students, staff and parents banding together to establish a five-year plan to green the grounds. Via successive grant applications, Kinnaird Elementary has:
• Planted 40 mature trees on the grounds;
• Built five large shrub gardens;
• Built an enclosed vegetable garden with 10 large garden beds;
• Purchased indoor grow-lite stations;
• Acquired funds to support curriculum writing for the gardens and pond;
• Established a school-wide composting and recycling program;
• Acquired a statue through Columbia Basin Trust for their shrub garden.
The awarded $25,000 will go a long way in outfitting Kinnaird Elementary School’s outdated computer lab with 30 modern laptops to give the students better access to information and online lesson plans that support their eco-initiative projects.
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