Grade 1 Students Inspire Mayor to Sign Pledge
Throughout the past school year, CDS’ Junior School Outdoor Education Coordinator Steph Collins showed her Grade 1 students how their small acts of kindness toward the environment could help influence others and boost the Monarch butterfly population.
By planting milkweed seeds around their school’s King campus, they created a natural shelter for the Monarchs to lay their eggs, as well as food for them to eat. Her students, who love butterflies, quickly grasped the concept that by providing a safe place on their school’s campus they could play a small role in helping to curb the threat of extinction. They were eager to help in any way they could.
On Outdoor Ed days last fall, the Grade 1s helped their teacher gather milkweed seeds around the campus, and in the spring, they planted them in the hopes they would grow into seedlings to be returned to the School’s back acreage. They also shared seeds with the Mayor of the Township of King, Steve Pellegrini, and challenged him through a letter campaign to take the Monarch Pledge and help make the community of King a safe haven for Monarchs. They also brought seeds home to plant in their gardens as well.Last month, Ms. Collins received exciting news from Mayor Pellegrini’s office. Inspired by the letters and seeds he received from our students, and desiring that King Township be a leader in environmental conservation, the Mayor had not only taken the Monarch Pledge last spring, but had brought the Mayors’ Monarch Pledge Resolution to September’s Council meeting where it was approved by Council and signed.
Ms. Collins’ students, who are now in Grade 2, were ecstatic to hear this news and now know firsthand how influential their small acts of environmental kindness can become.
Ms. Collins’ students, who are now in Grade 2, were ecstatic to hear this news and now know firsthand how influential their small acts of environmental kindness can become.
Land Acknowledgment
The Country Day School wishes to recognize and acknowledge the land on which the school operates. Our nearest Indigenous Nations are now the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and the Chippewas of Georgina Island. The Dish with One Spoon Wampum covenant is often cited as an example of the shared responsibility for caring for these lands among the Huron-Wendat, Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples who would call these their traditional territories. CDS respects the relationship with these lands and recognizes that our connection to this land can be strengthened by our continued relationship with all First Nations, by acknowledging our shared responsibility to respect and care for the land and waters for future generations.
School Information
13415 Dufferin Street King, Ontario L7B 1K5
(905) 833-1220
communications@cds.on.ca
admissions@cds.on.ca
Founded in 1972, The Country Day School is a co-educational private school offering programs in JK-12 and located on 100 acres north of Toronto in King.
(905) 833-1220
communications@cds.on.ca
admissions@cds.on.ca
Founded in 1972, The Country Day School is a co-educational private school offering programs in JK-12 and located on 100 acres north of Toronto in King.
