West Kelowna Grade 2 Students Land Another Grant Worth $8,000

There’s more great news for a Grade 2 class from Shannon Lake Elementary School as a small idea has garnered big dollars.

Students at the West Kelowna elementary school were previously awarded $1,000 from BC Hydro through its annual Community Champions contests. Students, along with their teacher Sharon Foster, came up with an idea to help with environmental sustainability.

“Our project was to raise kokanee salmon to be released into Mission Creek,” explains Foster. “But as we were learning about the fish we learned that there is so much water waste going on in our own community. So we want to purchase energy saving taps for the older part of the school and save water.”

With the money received from the contest students planned to install motion taps to help cut down on wasted water at the school. Now the students have been awarded an $8,000 grant from the Okanagan Water Basin Board to help move that project and others ahead.

“We are hoping to work on the interpretive trail, including the front bank area, the butterfly/pollinator garden, the box gardens, and the permaculture garden design area by the playground,” said Foster.

The school yard currently does not has trees or flowers (Photo Credit: Google Maps)

The entire elementary school will come together for Earth Day activities on April 22^nd to work on the projects. The school currently does not have any flowers or trees to attracts bees and butterflies, nor provide shade for the students. Foster hopes to create an outdoor classroom space for the children while teaching them about math, science, health, and respect for the outdoors.

The students have already learned the importance of building a sense of community and the importance of water conservation through the project. Now they hope to see their hard work come to life and see their school become a more environmentally friendly space for both humans and wildlife.