As a member of the Eco-Schools organization and the Green Schools Alliance, ISKL Panthers do all that they can to appreciate our environment and Planet Earth. Throughout the entirety of Earth Week, ISKL’s Elementary, Middle, and High School students, faculty, and staff took part in many activities that promote the welfare of our planet and the actions we can take as global citizens to do our part for the Earth!
Our Elementary School (ES) students sought to make our ISKL campus more green by planting seeds throughout the week! Prep Reception and Prep Junior students planted edible seeds inside of recycled egg carton ‘pots’. We look forward to watching them grow! Students in Grade 2 to Grade 5 planted hanging plants along with their wing verandahs and the ES spine, adding both greenery and decor to ISKL. Grade 5 students also attended composting workshops via Zoom during Earth Week to learn about a way to take care of our planet.
Not to be missed out, the Middle School (MS) had a week packed with fun activities as well. Traci Massey, the MS Coordinator for Service and Sustainability, commented on the success of this year’s Earth Week. “This year, ISKL’s Middle School celebrated Earth Week and its global “Restore” theme,” she shared.
“Over sixty students planned fun and engaging learning activities for their Middle School peers. All events took place during the start of school, during Homegroup, during lunch, and at home in the evenings. Students learned about how to restore water, land, air, biodiversity, and connection through daily activities like games, movies, talks with faculty, cooking, planting, composting, and more! The week was set to culminate with a Middle School-wide escape room challenge created by the Student Council, and this final event will take place once students return to ISKL’s campus. It was a fantastic week of fun and learning about how to restore our Earth!”
Activities planned by the MS include showings of My Octopus Teacher and David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet, games at lunch like “Bio Pong” and “Trash Toss”, as well as community art installations that recycled furniture by adding a flare of artistry!
High School (HS) held workshops the entire week for their students to learn more about sustainable and eco-friendly ways to help our earth. These included learning how to make your own natural deodorant and lip/cuticle scrub in a workshop with HS Science Teacher Celia Cookson and an ‘Eco Swap Shop’ where you could recycle something old while getting something new!
Amy Popovich, ISKL’s HS Service & Sustainability Coordinator, shared that “Earth Week is an opportunity to remind ourselves that we should respect and care for our planet every day of the year. Even with all of the challenges we have faced with COVID-19 this year ISKL teachers, students and staff were able to ‘Take care of this place’ by planting, composting, and learning about nature. To Restore air quality, Restore water quality, Restore pristine beaches, Restore biodiversity we don’t need a handful of people doing it perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly. There is still so much work to do to meet our zero waste goals but luckily ISKL has a culture of always striving to be better.”
We are so proud of the strides our Panthers of all ages have taken in celebrating our planet and becoming eco-friendly global citizens. Congratulations to all for taking part in another successful Earth Week at ISKL! Here’s looking forward to next year’s Earth Week!
