Class wins climate change showdown

COMMUNITY — The kids in a class at St. Ann’s Academy will have something to celebrate when they have a pizza party later this month — they’re the winners of the Kamloops Chapter of the B.C. Sustainable Energy Association’s (BCSEA) Climate Change Showdown.

The Jennifer Sjokvist/ Rose Grace Grade 4 class won the top class score in the program.

The students learned about climate change in class and then worked on contest actions with their families over a four-week period. They reduced greenhouse gas emissions through eating local foods, turning down the thermostat, taking shorter showers and turning off the lights.

At this week’s City council meeting, five of the students read comments about what they and their classmates had learned.

“A lot of parents loved it because they think it’s very good for us to be thinking about other people and learning to take care of the earth.”

“My friend taught her three-year old sister how to turn lights and TVs off when leaving the room and she could do it!”

“We can all tell everybody we know so that they can save energy too.”

“We liked doing the growing and buying of local foods. My friend and her mom even started a garden!”

Cheryl Kabloona, chair of the BCSEA Kamloops Chapter, said, “It’s a real treat to celebrate with the young people who’ve done such good work in this program. For many of them, it’s the first time they’ve heard about climate change.

“They’re excited about doing things in a more energy-conscious way and recruiting their families to help. They inspire me to keep working at it too.”

City of Kamloops environmental educator Jaimi Garbutt taught the workshops. The program is offered to Grades 4 through 7 students throughout B.C. In Kamloops, the program is done in partnership with the City of Kamloops. For information about the program, see http://www.bcsea.org/ccs.