Planting Trees for Battle River

2011 Ponoka, Alberta, Canada

These smiling faces are those of Courtney and Rhyliegh from St. Augustine School in Ponoka. After doing research on the Battle River Watershed, they realized a very important factor in the water quality of their town and watershed was erosion. Their proposal was to plant trees along the Battle River to prevent shoreline erosion.

After winning 1st place in the Final Competition, they decided to turn their proposal into reality and implement a tree planting at a local park near their school in Ponoka.

With the support of the Ponoka Home Hardware and Trees Canada the girls received 30 trees of various sizes. The town of Ponoka also supported the girls by having staff and equipment on hand to dig holes and water the planted trees. Fellow students from St. Augustine took the afternoon to come help plant.

Courtney and Rhyleigh were very happy to help their town and watershed have better quality water, animal habitat and air quality. They look forward to visiting that park for many years in the future

St. James Global Leadership Peace Garden

2011 Calgary, Alberta Canada

As part of the Grade Nine Global Leadership Program at St. James School, Veronica Skebo and Charlotte Hardwicke-Brown participated in Caring for our Watersheds. Their idea was to expand their school Peace Garden to incorporate a rain garden.

It took more than just two students to fulfill this project. There were twenty-four students and staff working together. The final project measured around 110 metres squared. The team choose native trees and shrubs such as, White Spruce, Pincherry, and Aspen trees, Common Juniper, Red Twig Dogwood, Yellow Twig and Dwarf Birch shrubs.

Veronica said, “The different types of native plants give a more environment friendly feel and give diversity to the entire garden.”

With the help from Nutrien, North Glenmore Park Community Association, St. James Parent Council and the Education Society, the team raised $5,600.

Veronica went on to add, “The purpose of the garden
was to create and promote awareness and education
on the effect of watersheds and how we can help protect them. We also created the garden to preserve our watersheds through the use of a rain garden concept. We took a lot of time to learn about this concept and make it into a real life plan. Now that I see the amount of rain we gather, I know the concept works well. We believe that the concepts we have put into making this garden work will help protect the watersheds and all of the organisms that live off of the watersheds. The peace garden was originally created so that students can learn outside about our ecosystems and environment and now with the expansion, the peace garden will be used much more with the different concepts that were incorporated.”

Students from Vanscoy School Work Together to Implement Projects!

2010 Vanscoy, Saskatchewan, Canada
Vanscoy2
Vanscoy School had 7 out of the top ten finishes in the grade 7-9 category of the Caring for our Watersheds competition. The finalist teams from Vanscoy School have decided to work together to implement as many of the projects as possible. Their project ideas include new taps for the school, green space development around their school, education and awareness activities and composting.

“This project has shown me that the students are aware of the environment around them and are willing and able to be champions for change. We, as adults, just have to listen to them.” said Ms. Amanda Schafhauser, a grade 7 and 8 teacher at the Vanscoy School.

The Eco Garden project was developed by Grade 8 student Brooke Van Damme, who said “My project was called the Eco Garden. I wanted to implement my idea because it would be a good way to save water and stop water pollution while making Vanscoy School a more attractive place to be. I hope it will help Vanscoy be more aware of our watershed and the effects we have on it.” The students are leaving a lasting legacy for their school for generations to come. June 22, 2010 the students from Ms. Schafhauser’s grade 7 and 8 classes prepared and planted their green space garden. The planted trees will work as a shelter belt, sheltering the roadway and parking lot from the build up of snow while the gathered snow will melt into the ground. In the fall, the students will work the area again to prepare it for the coming winter.

Three out of the 7 projects presented by the teams from Vanscoy included new taps for their school to help minimize their wastage of water. As a result of their research, the students decided to go with an automatic sensor taps. 14 taps were purchased and installed in all of the school washrooms during the summer break.

The total budget for the student’s project is over $18,000, more than $8,000 of which is being donated by the students as their time, the school division’s efforts, and Lakeshore Tree Farms. The rest of the funds are provided by the Nutrien Caring for our Watersheds Project.

Green is Great

2010 Milk River, Alberta, Canada

Sierra Harty, from Erle River High School, won first place at the 2010 Caring for Watershed (CFW)Grade 7-9 Division.
Sierra Harty noticed the deterioration of the riverbanks leading to the water at popular canoe entry sites along the Milk River. After consulting with the County, she determined that a path made up of crushed gravel and highlighted by signs would direct the flow of recreationists to stay on the path.

The path highlighted by signs directed the flow of traffic in and out of the river at two high traffic spots: Poverty Rock and Coffin Bridge. By keeping the recreationists stay on the path, it helps minimize the deterioration of the river banks, which leads to the popular canoe entry sites along the Milk River.

She created three trail signs, and worked with the County of Warner and MRWCC to develop key messages on the trail signs. Sierra also worked on the trail sign site logistics for relevant placements on the path.

Cottonwood Tree Wrapping

2010 Milk River, Alberta, Canada
tree-wrap
Jalen Hulit from Erle River High was in the finals for the Grade 7 -9 Division of the 2010 Caring for our Watershed (CFW).
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Battle River Photography Contest

2008 Strome, Alberta, Canada

Strome Junior High School students Brandon Miller and Briana Dewitz believed people would see the watershed differently when captured through the lens of a camera. Their winning Caring for our Watershed proposal idea was for a photography contest, with the winning photos being used in a calendar they would produce. The pictures were to be entered into and judged on 4 specific categories; watershed wildlife, people in nature, capture the river and the damage.
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