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Education & Eastern Charlotte Waterways Education is a vital part of our mandate at Eastern Charlotte Waterways. We strive to educate the community on various levels. Teaching children and young adults is the most effective method we have found. By teaching the very young, we hope they will continue to grow into environmentally conscious adults. During the summer school break, we operated an Environmental Day Camp. This camp involved ages 7 - 12. We incorporated field trips, a riverboat ride, a beach sweep,, visits to the Interpretive Center at Greens Point, the Huntsman Marine Science Center, St. George Hydro, and several nature walks. The camp was a great success and enjoyed by both children and staff. In September ECW commenced another year with the St. George Elementary School and introduced the Sky Watchers Program to Grade 5. This program is a partnership with Environment Canada. ECW also teaches an environmental class in grades 3 & 4 in the Pennfield School. In 2000, we will begin a class at the St. George Elementary grades 3 & 4. These classes involve literature from our office, science activities, and guest speakers who talk on water quality, habitat, and related issues. Planned field trips to The South West Solid Waste Commission will be available for grade 7 students to learn about refuse and composting. We also host several evening meetings of the Brownies and Girl Guides. They enjoy the presentations and participate with many questions. They show a real interest. The Guides worked to achieve a badge with their visit and we are happy to assist. It is ECW's belief that teaching our youth to become conservation-minded individuals is a valuable tool. The long-term benefits of a more caring society are obvious.
Trash To Treasures Christmas Tree Christmas here at Eastern Charlotte Waterways is yet another opportunity for us to be involved with our community. Each year our office Christmas tree is donated by a local business. Acknowledgement of the donor is made on a notice posted in our front window and in the local newspaper. The decorations we use on our tree are created by local elementary classes. These classes are from St. George Elementary, Back Bay Elementary, and Pennfield Elementary. The children are asked to make the decorations from recycled materials. Many have been very innovative. Some children make a special effort by making an ornament at home with family members and bringing it in with an explanation of what the materials were recycled from. We truly appreciate the involvement of caring parents and teachers who assist and inspire the children. In September of 1999 we introduced to the St. George Elementary school the Sky Watchers Program. This program has been introduced to only a handful of schools in the NB Region and the St. George Elementary Grade 5 Class of Ms. Lori Craig has been chosen as one the schools to appear on the Global TV Channel to give the weather forecast. This is a very informative addition to the curriculum of any class. The students may participate either on-line or by phone. They receive a weather kit for the classroom. It contains a barometer, rain gauge, wind gauge, maximum/minimum thermometer, UV meters and log sheets for recording their observations. The students are instructed on how to use all the equipment. The students are also encouraged to take their readings at 2pm daily in order to compare their data with other schools involved. The Sky Watchers program covers many aspects of weather. The study of global winds, air pressure, local winds, air masses, fronts, temperature, clouds, precipitation, summer severe weather, winter severe weather, forecasting without computers, and forecasting with computers are all reviewed. We are pleased to be involved with this program and look forward to the expansion that will take place later this year. Five more schools will be added to ECW'S area including 3 island communities. Other ACAP sites including Clean Annapolis River Project -CARP, ACAP Saint John, ACAP Cape Breton, and BACAP will be participating in the program 2000. In 1997 ECW partnering with a sister site, ACAP St. John, commenced its annual Beach Sweep event. Each year hundreds of volunteers take time from a valuable weekend to remove garbage from beaches and cove areas in Southwestern New Brunswick. The refuse gathered is sorted and inventoried to be entered into an international database. This event would not be possible without the support of community, industry, business and various organizations in New Brunswick. |
