This past year students at Laurier Macdonald CLC (an IB School in Montreal) learned about the decline of the global bee population and became aware of how the disappearance of pollinating insects impacts our global food supply.
Prompted by this knowledge, Secondary IV leadership students developed a concrete response to support the local bee population - a perfect example of student participation in "real-world" community service activities.
LMAC partnered with Alvéole, an organization that helps people install and care for urban honeybee colonies. The students knew better than to install a beehive on a school roof without addressing concerns of students, families and local residents, so they developed a communication campaign.
The rental of the hives also came at a cost, so the LMAC governing board loaned money to the students that will over time be repaid through the sale of honey collected from the hives. Delicious!
How Did They Do It?
Secondary 4 Leadership students were divided into different "Public Relation" committees responsible for educating local stakeholders about the purpose behind the installation of the two honeybee hives through social media, posters, presentations to elementary students, and promotional films.
According to LMAC teacher, Michael Penning, this experience “helped students to develop skills in communication, leadership, and project management”.
The CLC approach is all about developing school-community partnerships. The CLC coordinator has been working closely with Alvéole to manage logistics and the students ensured the humans of LMAC knew about the bees and their role in the school.
You can find more information about LMAC Bees on twitter @lmacbees
