A teacher at Errol Village Public School in Wyoming has been named Energy Educator of the Year for her ongoing commitment to environmental education.
Alison Feniak was instrumental in developing litterless lunches, power down days and hours, upcycling materials into art and practical items, and fundraising to raise money to help plant a school garden and trees.
She says her Grade 4 and Grade 5 students helped spread the message throughout the school, completing 25 interactive challenges.
"One of the big things about the energy diet challenge was to educate others, so we've done morning announcements, we've done posters, we've gone class-to-class talking about recycling properly," says Feniak. "The school also did an e-waste elimination, where on Earth Day, we collected e-waste from the community."
Feniak says the award comes with a plaque and monetary prize, which she says will go toward building an outdoor classroom at the school.
The award is given out annually as part of the Classroom Energy Diet Challenge, an award-winning educational program created by Canadian Geographic Education and funded by Shell Canada, to improve energy literacy among Canadian Students.