Parks Canada’s Environmental Stewardship Program: Celebrating five years of a travelling road show!

by Pat d unn

Every fall, Parks Canada staff hit the road to visit Western Arctic communities. Since 2003, Parks Canada staff have travelled each winter to each of nine communities in the Western Arctic. They visit all of the grade 4 classes in every school to deliver the Environmental Stewardship Certificate Program. This 4 to 5 hour program takes a team of two staff to deliver, and takes place during up to 5 classroom visits. Students learn about their own local ecosystem, about how the parts of that ecosystem are related, and learn to take action to protect their own ecosystem and neighbourhood.

The program gets students out of their desks and working together in order to learn. They take on the roles of plants and animals to build a “web of Life” and do artwork on what they like about their own homes.

They take part in a scavenger hunt where they look outdoors for animal shelters or for evidence of camouflage, or for food chains. They learn about the water cycle. They debate dilemmas: those tricky situations we all find ourselves in where it is hard to make a decision on what is the right thing to do. Finally, students commit to an individual, personal action to help the ecosystem.

At the end of the program the class builds an action tree with all of the student commitments written on the tree’s leaves. Each student gets a certificate of graduation from the Environmental Stewardship program.

The program was developed by Parks Canada ecologists. It is intended to help students learn that everything is interrelated; that living things including people all depend on each other for survival; and that people have a role to play in taking care of the environment and living things. Education and outreach are important activities for Parks Canada. The Environmental Stewardship Certificate Program is Parks Canada’s main school program in the Western Arctic.

The program has had a side benefit for Parks Canada staff too! It gives them the chance to spend time in the different communities each winter, meeting people and learning about community life.

Nearly every grade 4 student in our region has a certificate from the Environmental Stewardship program now! That’s a lot of personal commitments to help the environment –something Western Arctic students can all be proud of.

Students at Angik School learnt people are made up of 70% water!

With thanks to all the grade 4s and their teachers for welcoming Parks Canada staff to their communities! Thanks to:

Sir Alexander Mackenzie School, Inuvik

Mangilaluk School, Tuktoyaktuk

Moose Kerr School, Aklavik

Angik School, Paulatuk

Inualthuyak School, Sachs Harbour

Chief Julius School, Fort McPherson

Chief Paul Niditchie School, Tsiigehtchic

Helen Kalvak School, Ulukhaktok

Grandfather Ayha school School, Deline

“It’sa very exciting time for us,” said Louie Nigiyok, chairperson of the u lukhaktok a rtists a ssociation ( uaa).

The association was formed to accomplish a daunting task: to make the arts in u lukhaktok viable again. This february, The n orthwest Territories Business Development and Investment Corporation (BDIC) announced the establishment of a new subsidiary in partnership with the uaa . This subsidiary will allow the u lukhaktok crafts centre to become operational again. It is estimated that two full-time and sixty part-time positions will be created in Ulukhaktok - a significant increase in employment for a community of approximately four hundred people.