Students Create a Buzz about Bees

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

Mini Leadership Camp

Mini Leadership Camp

Quebec High School

Quebec High School teacher Fannie Cayouette-Marsh worked with her Secondary Cycle 2 students to develop a mini-leadership camp to promote positive relationships between teenagers and elementary school students.  The genuine need for this projectwas to encourage elementary school students to register in a Central Quebec School Board High School in secondary 1 and by doing so, stay connected to the English Community.

Ms. Cayouette-Marsh points out, "We are losing close to 50% of the students population in the transition from English elementary schools from those choosing to pursue their studies in the French or private sector." 

This reality encouraged the QHS leadership class to create a project that will build relationships to encourage enrollment in CQSB high schools. The QHS students also wanted to highlight the good things that the youth in the English community do and showcase the great young leaders in the English Community.

On January 15 and 16, 2013, the QHS leadership class took two grade 4 classes from Holland elementary school to the Camp Saisonnier for one day of Leadership activities. The QHS students shared their leadership expertise through different activities that promoted trust, teamwork, communication and leadership skills, and through their actions, encouraged the younger students to continue their education in the English through the Central Quebec School Board.

This activity highlights the ability of youth to be part of the solution in strengthening Quebec’s English school system.

To read more about the project, click here.

Grosse-Ile Entry Island CLC Leadership and Anti-Bullying

Grosse-Ile Entry Island CLC

Active Leadership Workshop 2013

Students from Grosse Ile CLC were taken to the woods of Grande-Entrée to participate in a workshop focused on leadership and team spirit building activities. Students took on leadership challenges such as: learning how to build fires, how to find their way out of the woods, how to work as a team,  and build empathy.

The overall aim of each workshop was to equip students with the tools needed to develop themselves into competent and capable young adults while understanding that we must work together to reach common goals as well as individual ones.

Another goal was to engage fathers and older men in mentorships with the students. In the end this aspect was not achieved.  However, reflecting on lessons learned we have several new ideas for better outreach and engagement for next year, including recruiting a few fathers to lead sessions and do outreach to the others.

Pink T-Shirt day -An Anti-Bullying event was another intergenerational activity developed in partnership with l’Accalmie, the CSSS and the 50+ club. During the event, students and members of the 50+ Club participated in a workshop that highlighted what is bullying as well as bullying prevention strategies.

This workshop aided the 50+ Club members by allowing them to understand the realities of today’s youth and what ways they can help as adults to bridge the generational gap between our youth and adults.

The students benefited by recognizing what bullying really is and learned key ways to prevent bullying in the community. The collaboration of the 50+Club also allowed bullying awareness to be spread in the community, further than the school.

These activities were developed in partnership: CAMI NPI, Grosse-Ile School Spiritual Animator, 50+ Club, an ex-scout/Grosse -Ile student,  l’Accalmie and CSSS.