Students at Laura Secord Elementary School celebrated Earth day 2006 with a two days of energized eco-activities. The feature event was Peddle-Play, students peddling three bicycles to create enough energy to power a sound system that would then play several songs that the students had chosen as having environmental themes. Tunes like “The Bicycle Song” by Queen or Joni Mitchell’s ”Big Yellow Taxi” were top picks. B.C. Sustainable Energy Association had a ”Cycle to Light a Bulb” display. Peddling a bicycle the rider gets to experience the amount of energy required to light a conventional light bulb and then an energy efficient florescent bulb. The first makes your thighs ache. The second is a breeze. I’ll be buying florescent bulbs for my home from now on.
The whole school was filled with heart warming and ecologically poignant artworks and displays done by students of various ages over the past month.
Most prominent was a beautiful paper mache collage relief of the earth titled ”Love our Earth”. Pinned all around it were small hand coloured earths with thoughtful and inspiring messages written by students to the world. These are the kind of notes all world leaders should read.
Also outstanding was an installation titled “Sunrise” portraying people living closely integrated with the environment. Homes carefully built in large trees, surrounded by green forest, animals, flowers, a large pond with turtles and fish, and a bright sun spinning and rising from behind the mountain backdrop.
These displays simultaneously brought big smiles and tears to the viewer’s eyes. Small eco-fairies were dashing about the school ground granting good wishes for the world. Students of all ages were doing chalk drawings of eco-inspired designs and messages on the playground pavement.
We all got to look at a sample slice of the trunk of a 1,158 years old Douglas fir tree that had been cut down by Intefor in the Elaho Valley in 1997. A young student looked sadly up at me while drifting her small hand over the very impressive expanse of the tree rings and asked, “Why would they do that?”
On a computer monitor a live webcast of an eagle tendering its nest on Hornby Island reminded me that human technology is truly taking us places we could only dream of going to before.
School principal Kerri Wallin said that the Earth Day event had galvanized more students and parents than any other event. Showing that more than ever people care are very concerned about global healing and environmental issues.
Lori-ann Latremoulle - Eco-Artist
