The Rotary Youth Leadership Interact Group presented Flora Wood, a teacher at École Willow Point and part of a group of outdoor education teachers, a cheque for $3,000.
"We put three different grant applications together to raise a total of $12,000, and this $3,000 is part of that $12,000 full grant, which helps to put a watershed wagon in every school in the district," says Wood.
The wagons will be full of outdoor education equipment, such as sitting mats, tarps, and ropes, but also things to help with science-driven and sand enhancement projects for creeks and streams in Campbell River, Sayward, and the islands of Quadra and Cortes.
Wood says the wagons will help recognize the importance of salmon in the district, get kids engaged in outdoor education, and promote moving toward reconciliation.
"We are acknowledging all the stewardship work that Indigenous people have already played in this area of taking care of salmon and salmon habitat, and we hope to continue to work with them," says Wood. "Also to talk about climate change and how important it is for everyone to be involved in taking care of the environment and making sure that we're doing our best to help the planet move into the future with all increasing demands we have population-wise."
Some of the $12,000 is earmarked for a part-time outdoor education coordinator.
"We managed to raise this money through a collaboration with the Daybreak Rotary by putting on a paint night and different initiatives throughout the school with popcorn and cotton candy sales. I'm just happy we were able to fund a couple of projects around the community and give back to some of the younger people in the district," says Elizabeth Bettenson, president of Rotary Youth Leadership Group and a student at Timberline Secondary.
