Departure Bay Eco-School Our Catchment Area: Map Beaches: - Beach -Stephenson Pt. Beach -Piper’s Lagoon

Creek’s: -Departure Creek -Cottle Creek

Lakes/Ponds: -Cottle Lake -Jesper’s Way -Nottingham pond #1-3

Large protected parks/forest/features: - Linley Valley - District Lot #56 - Planta Park - Woodstream Park - Sugarloaf Mtn. - Arbutus Ridges - + many city green spaces

Frozen Cottle Lake View of our school from Sugarloaf Mtn. Woodstream Park & Departure Creek -right across the street from DBS Dolphins visiting Departure Bay What is behind the change? BCEd Plan

• Student Engagement • Student centred learning & personalized learning • Making a link between school and everyday lives • Create new learning environments to help students reach their full potential • New draft curriculum

What’s behind the change? Place-Based Learning

• Connect students more directly with the world outside of school by interacting in the community surrounding our facility. • Utilize our immediate resources to teach curriculum concepts and develop competencies What is behind the change? Research – Benefits of Environmental Education • Imagination and enthusiasm are heightened • Learning transcends the classroom – connections to the real world • Critical and creative thinking skills are enhanced – encourages st. research • Tolerance and understanding are supported – st. investigate various sides • Learning outcomes are met for multiple subjects • Nature deficit disorder decline – fosters sensitivity, appreciation and respect for the environment • Healthy lifestyles are encouraged • Communities are strengthened – community involvement • Responsible action is taken to better the environment • Students are empowered

3 Phases • Set-up (Spring 2014) • Pilot (Sept.- June 2015) • Academy School Status (Sept. 2015……) Phase I • Create school gardens • Educate students about sustainable actions and create a plan to become a sustainable School • Create an Eco-Club • Connect and create working partnerships with community groups and other groups with similar vision • Develop a plan (actions, projects, timelines, resources, assessment tools) for September implementation • Staff Training

Phase 1 Activities ……a few sample photos Gardening/Greening

Sustainability Plan

Vermi-composting Eco-Club Collaborating/Sharing with our high school Eco-Clubs. Electronic Recycling Partners – Regional Recycling and BC Product Care NALT Wildwoods & City of Earth Day Celebration Earth Day Celebration Choir Bike To School Week – Bike Rodeo Partners – City of Nanaimo, HUB Bikes, Nanaimo Cycling Coalition, Woodlands Eco-Club

Event Attendance 700+ Trash to Treasure

Gr. 6/7 project: Beach Clean-up, garbage research and display, artwork creation from garbage – all displayed at a local mall by Chris Bush - Nanaimo News Bulletin posted Apr 29, 2014 at 2:00 PM Lisa Frey, Departure Bay Elementary School principal, with students Hunter Olson and AJ Caron check out a beach bag woven from more than 300 plastic strips cut from 69 garbage bags. The bag, woven by Sophia Novak, was among art with a beach theme created from trash by the school’s students and put on display Wednesday to celebrate Earth Day April 22.

Waste Art Exhibit Model created to demonstrate our building’s heat loss – unmanned aerial vehicle and camera demo for our students. Community Partnerships & Contributors

Nanaimo and Area City of Nanaimo Regional District of Nanaimo Science Land Trust (NALT) Nanaimo (RDN) and Sustainability Society (NS3)

Hub Bikes Greater Nanaimo Departure Bay Regional Recycling Cycling Coalition Neighbourhood Alpine Recycling Canadian (GNCC) Assn. (DBNA) University Women’s Assn. Nanaimo Recycling Product Care BC Island Nanaimo Exchange (NRE) University (VIU) Ladysmith Schools Destination Foundation (NLSF) Conservation (DC Planet) Garden’s Alive Charles Thirkill DFO Long Lake Nursery

WildBC Nanaimo Museum Costal Resource High School Eco- Mapping (CRM) Clubs Staff Training • Salmon Teacher Coordinator – on staff • Charles Thirkill – half-day orientation of Woodstream Park • Tim Stokes (VIU) – Nanaimo Geoscape training – half-day • RDN watershed training – Gr. ¾ & 4/5 teacher • Davis Bay K-3 Nature School visit • Destination Conservation – release days (2 X ½) • Growing Knowledge Symposium – Royal Roads June 14 – • IC support (DJ Thompson)with inquiry unit planning and resources • July 14-18th – Shell and Canadian Geographic sponsored Energy Literacy • Institute (Administrator) Phase II – Pilot Year

• Run as an Eco-school (theme, projects and measures - with new BC Curriculum) • Continue Phase I initiatives • Continue/refine Sustainability Plan • University Partnerships – teaching and research facility • Projects/Activities - participation with support of our local partners Phase II Focus Areas: • Curriculum: - Implement new curriculum - Support Inquiry based instruction - Develop a curriculum framework & measurement tool - Collect program resources - Develop Community resources (people & places) • Staff development – capacity building • Policies/procedures development – i.e. field trips • On site facilities – gardens, natural playground, rain barrels An Eco-School Graduate Will have a clear sense of their place in the environment. - Demonstrate knowledge & understanding, develop beliefs & take action in regards these ecological themes:

 Life on Earth depends on and is part of complex systems (interconnectedness)  Nature Appreciation: Experiences, knowledge, beliefs in and about nature that connects us to nature creating a psychological belief that we are one with the environment  Physical Assets: Assets created by humans and within humans that allow us to maximize the elements that promote our engagement and experience with nature and the improvement of nature.  Social/Cultural Capital: Our human interactions, history, identity, heritage, economy, technology, governance, systems of organization and use of physical environment that influence our way of living.  Human decisions and actions have environmental consequences  Responsible actions depend on our values and beliefs

School-Wide Inquiry Planning 2014-2015 – Project and Partnerships new & continued.. • VIU CAP project year 6 students -Eco-Club con’t • Lexicon of Sustainability -watershed and hatchery edu. • VIU Milner Gardens Project -CanGeo Floor Maps • Facilities plan - Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-up • Elementary Eco-Clubs -VIU Geology Master’s St. project • Risk Management plan - assessment tool • Bivalve study with NS3 - Snuneymeaux fisheries project • On-site blackberry removal -community leaf collection • Morrell Sanctuary -Classroom Energy Diet Challenge • Habitat Restoration - Park Ambassadors • Steam to Sea - Jr. Steam Keepers • WildBC - NS3 in school • District Gr. 4 Seashore Unit

2014-15 Pictures Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-Up October 3rd

Bivalve Study at Departure Bay with NS3 & VIU students October 2014 How much garbage does one class produce in a week? Waste investigation Sept. 2014 Nanaimo River Fish Hatchery Oct. 29th Take Me Outside Day - Oct. 29th Grade 7’s run into VIU students testing Departure Creek’s water quality at Woodstream Park We Day – The start of a We Act Project Our Tree of Heaven Field Trip Sept. 2014 By: Rachel C.

In Nanaimo we have a real eco problem. At a DBS student’s house there is a common but an invasive tree called the Tree of Heaven. The Tree of Heaven was originally from China, but it has been brought to North America in 1784. The tree creates a chemical that prevents other plants from growing. Our eco problem is that the student’s family doesn’t know what to do about the tree, either to cut it down, trim the branches or leave it as is. Mrs. Creighton’s class went on a walking field trip to a walking trail park called Woodstream Park. Once they got to the student’s house the class noticed right away that the Tree of Heaven was big! The class learned that the public does not like the Tree of Heaven, and many say to cut all of them down. Later in the day the class was split into nine groups of three and was given a collaborative project about the Tree of Heaven. Their job was to decide as a group either to cut the tree, trims the branches or leave it alone. When they were done, each group shared their opinion to the class. In total, six groups wanted the Tree of Heaven to be cut down and three of them wanted the tree’s branches trimmed. We don’t know what is going to happen to the Tree of Heaven but for now the student’s family is going to decide for now and leaving it as is.

Snuneymuxw First Nation Longhouse Visit Nov. 10 WildBC Professional Development Workshops: Project Wild & Project Wet Restoration Project – blackberry removal - before Restoration Project – blackberry removal - after

Community Leaf Raking Project Daphne removal with the City of Nanaimo in Wardropper Park John Dunn’s Arctic Expedition Lecture Wildlife Adoption and Project K/1 class Milner Garden’s Forest and Garden Program • Multi-Visit School Program: Our five-visit year long program is an exciting hands-on opportunity for your class to discover natural processes, experience seasonal changes, and build personal connections to nature as they explore and investigate our inspirational forest and garden throughout the school year. We will get to know our local Douglas-fir ecosystem and the flora and fauna within it, learn about plant needs and growth, watch how the garden changes throughout the year, and have fun developing gardening skills and teamwork in the Children’s Food Garden. Each visit includes time for the class to work together on a chosen project, which is completed and celebrated during the final visit.

VIU Learning Centres Phase III

• Apply to school board to be designated as an academy school for Sept. 2015 (Eco-focus) in accordance with School District 68 policy “Programs of Choice” 3870

Information Find out what is happening at the school:

- Follow us on twitter @depbayecoschool - Sign up for our email list for reports on progress - -School Website - http://schoolsweb.sd68.bc.ca/depbay