During the week of April 19, York House participated in a number of Earth Day activities across the Little School, Junior School, and Senior School.
The Green Club organized a clothing swap during the Thursday lunch hour. A video about fast-fashion was shown during TAG (Teacher Advisor Group) and students were also encouraged to come to school in their favourite thrifted outfit to help encourage more sustainable shopping.
On Friday (Earth Day), the Senior School was honoured to have Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Inuit activist, author, and politician, address the Senior School. Sheila has been recognized globally for her work on climate change including receiving the Order of Canada in 2005 and a nomination for the Nobel Prize in 2007. One of the first people to reframe climate change as a human rights issue, her 2015 book The Right to Be Cold: One Woman’s Story of Protecting Her Culture, the Arctic and the Whole Planet, addressed the effects of climate change on Inuit communities. While recounting the recent history of the Inuit peoples in the Arctic, she called on YHS students, as changemakers for the future, to reimagine a new way forward with intention. She also reminded them of the important role women play in driving heart-centred leadership.
The 2020 documentary, The Magnitude of all Things was also screened in the Senior Learning Commons during the Tuesday and Wednesday lunch hour.
Some of our Kindergarten students participated in an Earth Day art project and enjoyed time in the garden:
Grade 6 classes went on an “Earth Walk”:
