Riverview teacher earns conservation honour

An École Riverview School teacher was recently honoured for her ongoing efforts to teach and practise conservation in the classroom.

Annette Danis was presented with the CPAWS (Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society) Manitoba’s Educator in Conservation Award on Nov. 8, during the organization’s annual general meeting at the West End Cultural Centre.

The organization seeks to preserve habitat for woodlands caribou, moose and other key parcels of the Canadian wilderness.

“CPAWs advocates for the protection of habitat, and they work very closely with Indigenous groups and government to secure land,” Ms. Danis said.

The Grade 3/4 teacher is a huge proponent of teaching Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in the classroom, including conservation issues and consumerism.

“We talk a lot about wants versus needs in the classroom,” Ms. Danis said.

“It’s hard for people who have had these habits for decades to change, but with children, it’s easier to motivate them to act once they understand that changes are needed.”

In her classroom, Ms. Danis’s students conduct vermicomposting—using worms to create nutrient rich composting products for gardens.

As well, Ms. Danis has an ongoing garbage challenge for her students. Instead of two standard garbage bins, the entire class tries to make do with one small plastic bucket to serve their needs.

“We try to never fill it up. By having that smaller sized container, students constantly think about recycling, reusing and creating less waste.”

Ms. Danis encourages her students to rethink consumption in all areas of their lives—and urges businesses and governments to do the same.

One small example is the curbing the use of plastic straws. People used to take straws with their beverages without a second thought, but now, considering the amount of straws that clog the ocean today, people are looking for alternatives.

“I have metal straws, and I’ve also noticed a fast food restaurant that has switched to paper straws,” Ms. Danis said. “So with enough pressure, these companies are responding, slowly but surely. They are making changes.”

Ms. Danis’s classroom has held two fundraising drives for CPAWs projects in the past two years, raising close to $900 last year alone. The drives were also accompanied by school-wide education campaigns.

“We did special announcements every morning for three weeks. We would have facts on the tundra, the lowlands of Hudson’s Bay, the boreal forest, the woodlands Caribou or other animals that reside in one of these areas,” Ms. Danis said. “The best way to help out is to both donate and educate.”

On a school-wide level, Ms. Danis serves as the head of Riverview’s ESD committee.
The committee undertakes a variety of whole-school initiatives, such as a composting program for fruits and vegetables from the lunch and snack programs. The school has also held special events in the past to encourage students to trade books and toys they don’t want at school.

The school often holds bake sales and other fundraisers that target different pillars of ESD.

When it comes to engaging students with ESD, Ms. Danis said it isn’t difficult to get them on board.

“If you are really passionate about these issues and you are being genuine, the students respond in kind and want to help. Children are generally very caring people.”