Student groups at Trinity College School joined forces this year to host initiatives on Thursday, April 20th and Friday, April 21st in the lead-up to Earth Day.
Marie-Anne Urrutia, one of the leaders of Trinity Environmental Action Club (TEAC), noted in an email to her peers, “Earth Day has been celebrated globally for over 50 years and raises awareness for the need to protect the Earth and all of its resources for future generations. This year, the theme is 'invest in our planet' where the goal is to build a sustainable future.”
TEAC hosted a non-uniform day in the Senior School on Thursday, with students able to wear clean casuals in the colours of our planet: blue and green. Throughout Thursday and Friday, a Sustainability Showcase in Cirne Commons allowed students and staff to learn ways to do “more good” (MOGO) for the environment, as well as taking part in some fun activities. One of these was hosted by the SEEDS group, an Activity for Life service learning offering at the School. SEEDS members helped students to plant a sunflower seed that they could then take home or to their dorm room to care for. As well, TEAC posted QR codes around Cirne Commons that allowed students and staff to sign online petitions in support of various sustainability efforts.
Friday saw the annual “Endangered Species Recycled Sculpture” contest during morning break in Cirne Commons. Students vied for Green Cup points for their house by creating creatures from items that would be considered trash (e.g. egg cartons, cans, plastic). Also that day, the Junior School participated in its annual Earth Day clean-up, this year led by a group of Grade 8 students as part of their Hearts & Minds project linked with Ocean Wise. The entire Junior School headed down to the Ganaraska River and other areas to clean up the watershed, ultimately collecting over 400 pounds of trash.
Over the course of the two days, as well as the weekend, students and staff had the chance to win prizes, as well as house Green Cup points, in the "What's More MOGO?" contest. Through this fun online quiz, participants were challenged to guess which purchases were MOGO in 10 scenarios. Of the 123 participants, the 29 people who scored a perfect result were entered in the prize draws. The winners of gift certificates to Port Hope’s Olympus Burger and Happenstance Bakery are: Nalajoss E. and Tushar S. (boarders); Hannah B. and Sophia M. (day students); and Ms. Jennifer Ower and Mr. Joel Wesley (staff). All participants were entered in the draw for the Yeti mug, and the winner was Mr. Tom Langford.
Thank you to all of the students, and staff leaders, who helped to organize these events in honour of Earth Day and who continue to ask us all to do “more good” for our planet!
