Grades 7 and 8 students from Robbins Hebrew Academy have been working on an environmental proposal that may win $50,000 to fund their project.
They submitted the Inter-School Collaboration for Conservation Quantification proposal, working together with students from the Leo Baeck Day School in Thornhill, to empower both students and teachers to understand the direct impact their actions will have to reduce energy consumption at school and at home. It was recently selected as one of the top 10 finalists in the ClimateSpark Social Venture Challenge competition, sponsored by such organizations as the Toronto Community Foundation, which will be awarding the $50,000 grant at the gala event on Feb. 7."It was a fabulous opportunity for the kids," said Claire Sumerlus, head of school at Robbins Hebrew Academy, estimating about 150 students were involved with the project. "And it was a unique experience."Their goal was to improve the carbon footprint of the school's two campuses including one at Bayview and Finch avenues, as well as at the home of each of the participating students.The first step was to collect quantitative data, which included everything from counting the number of lightbulbs in school to checking the gas bill. Then the schools planned to partner with existing groups such as the Learning for a Sustainable Future and the Kortright Centre of the Toronto Regional Conservation Authority to come up with ways to save energy that can be quantified.Sumerlus added that she hoped to build an environmental unit at school to further educate the students. "It will not only bring awareness among children about energy conservation, but will also expose them to many educational components such as use of social media, collaboration, goal setting, quantitative measurement and more," she said.ClimateSpark has other partners and private investors willing to contribute more than $500,000 in grants, loan funds and equity investments for viable proposals that are business-related ideas to address climate change. "There was a really wide variety of ideas put forward, which is great," said Brad Cundiff, ClimateSpark co-ordinator for the Toronto Atmospheric Fund, noting it's the second time they have held the competition. Each of the contestants would also receive feedback from environmental experts and business leaders to improve their respective proposals."Community engagement has been fantastic this time," Cundiff said.For more information about ClimateSpark, visit www.climatespark.ca