Bayside Middle School selected for
Canada 150th Anniversary grant!
Our school has been awarded $15,300 for an
outdoor classroom and peace & friendship garden
We are very excited to announce that Bayside Middle School has been awarded $15,300 from TD Friends of the Environment Foundation under its Common Ground Project in celebration of Canada’s 150th Anniversary. We were one of only two schools chosen to receive this special funding in British Columbia (https://fef.td.com/connecting-canadians-to-nature-and-public-green-spaces-call-for-applications/). We are grateful to Bayside’s Parent Advisory Council (PAC) for submitting the successful application on behalf of our school.
Our project is entitled NEPENEḴÁUTW̱ Outdoor Classroom and Saanich Moons Peace Garden: Land-based Learning for Environmental Stewardship and Intercultural Friendship. NEPENEḴÁUTW̱ means “Place of Teaching” in SENĆOŦEN and it is the name that we have selected for this new space, which will promote the values of our school and provide culturally relevant learning opportunities to all the students at Bayside. In addition, this project is an important way for Bayside to enhance indigenous education, such as the Saanich Moons curriculum, and implement the recommendations of the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (http://nctr.ca/assets/reports/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf).
Over the next two months, we will build an outdoor classroom, create a learning garden with native plants and fruit trees, and install a peace pole. On the cedar pole, the text “May Peace Prevail on Earth” will be inscribed in twelve different languages representing the most common languages of our school including English, French and SENĆOŦEN. Art inspired by the Saanich Moons curriculum will be created by our students and incorporated into the garden.
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Bayside will have its first outdoor classroom space! The structure will be surrounded on three sides by gardens that students will help create. We will install a peace pole and will put student-created art in the gardens. This new space on the grounds in the back of the school will promote a love for learning, our land and each other. NEPENEḴÁUTW̱ |
We are grateful to the PAC for providing additional financial support for this project and the many community partners have offered in-kind donations.
We are still in need of building materials, expertise and human power to truly make this project the best it can be! If you are able to support us in terms of donations or discounts of any sort for items like cement, lumber, garden material, plants, and fruit trees or your time and expertise, please contact us immediately at <b>baysidepac@gmail.com</b>. As you can appreciate, we have secured some funds but, to really make this project shine, we need further community support. Together we can create an important and unique outdoor learning environment for the students at Bayside!
We would like to acknowledge the following individuals, organizations and companies that are supporting this project and providing generous in-kind donations:
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Can you also contribute to our project? If so, we would love to hear from you!
By the end of April, the outdoor classroom will be built. In May, the garden will be created. We will host work parties to build the garden and we hope you will help! Details of the work parties will be announced in early May. At the end of May, we will host a public celebration of the outdoor classroom and garden and everyone in our school community will be invited!
If you have any questions or can help with our project, please do not hesitate to contact me at: 250-652-1135 or by email: wmacdonald@sd63.bc.ca.
Sincerely,
Wendy MacDonald
Principal
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We are grateful to TD FEF for its support of our project! https://fef.td.com/ |