The Ross Road Environment Club is a student-driven program with guidance from the Principal and several Parents. The vision is to create a culture of sustainability in order to raise a new generation that makes sustainable choices.  The students develop a sense of responsibility for the environment and through hands-on outdoor education they will be inspired to be future leaders in terms of stewardship of the earth.

The next time you’re in the schoolyard, please take a moment to admire our newly completed mural on the west-facing wall of the covered play area near the edible garden and the primary swings. The mural is the work of talented artist and Ross Road parent Shula Klinger at the initiative of the student-led parent-supported Environment Club for kids in grades 3-7. Shula volunteered her time on the project, with materials paid for by  proceeds from a TD Friends of the Environment grant. Shula is pictured here with students of Mme. Danae Mckay, the club’s teacher sponsor along with Mme. Anne Zayonc. The artwork depicts our school’s nature-based learning and play areas including the Woodland Walk, Butterfly Garden, Composting Station and Edible Garden.The blank space at the mural’s centre will be used by the Environment Club to post and share news of upcoming events and ongoing projects such as what’s growing in our edible garden and when we’re holding the next community cleanup of Spooky Island.

The Enviro Club is for kids in grades 3-7 with an interest in the environment. The kids (numbering about 30-40, mostly in grades 4-5) meet at lunchtime once or twice a month, in the library or outdoors to learn about and participate in fun activities to do with composting, edible gardening, recycling, water conservation. The club relies on grants for funding as well as $500/yr in PAC funds. These grants have funded the edible garden and fence, an outdoor spigot, seeds and seedlings, garden tools, storage lock boxes, a weather station, recycled craft materials, a school-wide bee presentation. A highlight last year was a field trip to the Well Fed meal kitchen, where the Enviro kids cooked a delicious pasta dish with spinach they grew in the garden. The club is an important incubator of ideas that have started as club activities and spread schoolwide —  like composting and edible gardening. The weather station is now being used by grade 4 teachers as part of classroom curriculum and the edible garden is now being used by classrooms from K to 7, with support from the club (funding for seed purchases). The club needs more parent volunteers: specifically, those who can take a leadership role in: regular garden cleanups (spooky island and/or edible garden), grant-writing, art (mosaic/mural creation), lunchtime workshop assistance. Parents of primaries are especially needed to ensure the club’s future.

Contact the Environment Club

If you would like to get involved with garden clean-ups or any other projects, please use this form to get in touch with Environment Club parent helpers: