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Climate champs

Committing ‘Acts of Green’ nets Lord Tweedsmuir's environmental leadership students cash and kudos.
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Olympian Nathan Vadeboncoeur

Through hard work and determination, environmental leadership students at Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary have won a $1,000 award in the National High School Climate Challenge.

The students took top prize for taking an active role in keeping their school – and community – green.

The prize was awarded late last month at a year-end wrap-up party for Environment Club members at George Greenaway Park, among trees students planted three years ago for Surrey Parks’ Releaf program.

On hand for the presentation was Olympic athlete Nathan Vadeboncoeur, who advocates for

action on the environment as a Clean Air Champion with the High School Climate Challenge program.

“It’s great to see these students taking what they have learned about climate change and making some real, tangible changes as a result,” Vandeboncoeur said.

The annual challenge requires the completion of as many 140 “Acts of Green” as possible over the course of the school year.

Lord Tweedsmuir’s students have eagerly risen to the challenge for three years, building up projects in energy conservation, launching transport campaigns, a water project, park and tree initiatives.

This past school year, they also completed projects for BC Hydro, TransLink and Pulse Energy.

They’re hoping to create a new community garden, with some of the funds. The remainder will pay for ongoing supplies and related costs.

“We will put this money to good use in our community,” says Grade 10 student Puneet Sidhu.

The challenge has acted as an excellent catalyst for growth in the school’s environmental activities, says Susan Hunter-Jivung, a physics teacher and Environment Team leader at Lord Tweedsmuir.

This year, the school launched the Surrey Schools Environmental Leadership Team, holding a mini-conference, a green science fair, and other activities.

The High School Climate Challenge is run by the non-profit society Clean Air Champions, with funds from the City of Surrey and the Honda Foundation.

The students also received a $1,250 school bursary from the City of Surrey’s Lend-a-Hand program, in exchange for cleaning garbage from George Greenaway Park each week.