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Across the Boards – ET Fall 2016

Hastings and Prince Edward DSB Student Wins National Award

In June, Taylor McGinnis was awarded the silver medal at the Skills Canada National Competition in Moncton, New Brunswick. The grade 12 student at Centennial Secondary School in Belleville placed second in the Auto Service Technology category, after winning gold in the same category in the Ontario competition in May. He is the first student from the Hastings and Prince Edward DSB to compete at the national level in this competition.

For more information, contact Kerry Donnell, communications, Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board, (613) 966-1170 or 1 (800) 267-4350, ext. 2354, kdonnell@hpedsb.on.ca.

Grand Erie DSB Co-Hosts Environmental Conference

Last April, more than 100 Specialist High Skills Major teachers from the Grand Erie and the Wellington Catholic DSBs met in Brantford for a two-day conference on environmental stewardship of the Great Lakes. The keynote speaker, Ontario Lieutenant-Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell, and former minister of education Liz Sandals discussed raising the profile of stewardship among students by including environmental concepts more widely in the curriculum beyond the dedicated environmental high skills majors. The Great Lakes contain about one-fifth of the world’s fresh water and are under threat from a variety of causes.

For more information, see “Ontario Lieutenant Governor Meets with Teachers to Discuss Great Lakes Education,” at http://watercanada.net/, posted April 19, 2016, andAdding Depth to Great Lakes Education,” by Brian Shypula, at www.brantnews.com/brantfordbrant, posted April 20, 2016.

Hamilton-Wentworth DSB Students Create Urban Farm

Last spring, students from Hamilton schools participated in a community volunteer project creating urban gardens in unused lots across the city. Students from Hillcrest Elementary and Winston Churchill Secondary Schools dug and planted gardens and built kiosks for the McQuesten Urban Farm in the city’s east end. This urban farm is just one of 14 sites created as part of the Victory Garden project launched in Hamilton in 2011. Victory Gardens were common during the First and Second World Wars in Britain, France, Germany, Canada and the U.S.; people would grow fruits and vegetables in empty city lots and back gardens to supplement food supplies during the conflicts. Produce from the modern Victory Gardens is donated to community food banks and meal programs. The McQuesten farm site will also showcase student artwork.

For more information, visit www.hwdsb.on.ca  and click on More News; visit www.hamiltonvictorygardens.org; or watch the video at youtu.be/lMjypnU6CPo.