An innovative stewardship project at Salt Spring Elementary School has been recognized with a BC Green Games award.  An article in the Gulf Islands Driftwood newspaper provides the background:  “The multi-faceted project called Water Guardians of Ganges Creek involved in-depth learning about the creek, informing the community about it through interpretive creekside signs designed by students, creating a watershed model, celebrating Earth Day and making a presentation to local government. Art, writing, music, play, science and math were all wrapped around the creek learning.”  For the full Driftwood article click HERE.

For more information about the Water Guardians of Ganges Creek project, and to view a three minute video about the project, visit the BC Green Games website.

What can be done to combat Nature Deficit Disorder in children?  Read this article in the February 18th issue of the Gulf Islands Driftwood for some suggestions.

The Salt Spring Island Conservancy has announced that it will be receiving new funding support for its school programs from Ducks Unlimited, the Hamber Foundation, and the Salt Spring Island Foundation.

The Conservancy’s field based programs for school students will get underway again in March.

For details about the new funding support and opportunities to volunteer, download Salt Spring Island Conservancy – New Funders.

“This technologically obsessed environment for young people is a juggernaut rolling over an entire generation….We seem to be increasingly producing a species of young people that requires sizzle and instant gratification, which is quite literally the antithesis of nature.”  Robert Bateman interview in The Oxonian Review, January 31, 2011.

GICEL is pleased to announce the dates for the 2011 Summer Earth Education Programs (SEEP).  Further information about the 2011 programs will be available later in the spring.  For a description of the 2010 SEEP, please see the Programs page.

Summer Earth Education Programs 2011 Schedule

Time:  10 am to 4 pm daily

Children ages 6 to 12

Fees:  $175.00/week/child

For more details please contact the island coordinators below.  GICEL has limited funds for financial assistance.

Join our dynamic leaders and amazing youth mentors to explore the gifts of nature on the southern Gulf Islands.

Salt Spring Island  (Contact: Michelle Spencer – mspencer@sd64.bc.ca)

• July 11 – 15
• July 18 – 22
• July 25 – 29

Pender Island (Contact: Julie Johnston – jjohnston@sd64.bc.ca)

• July 11 – 15

Mayne Island (Contact: Jessica Willows – jwillows@sd64.bc.ca or Michael Dunn – mjechael.dunn@gmail.com)

• August 1 – 5
• August 8 – 12

Saturna Island (Contact: Jessica Willows – jwillows@sd64.bc.ca or Michael Dunn – mjechael.dunn@gmail.com)

• August 15 – 19

On February 18, 2011 GICEL will be present at the Tapestries 2011 conference in Victoria (tapestryconference.weebly.com).  This is a joint professional development session of the Greater Victoria, Sooke, and Gulf Islands teachers’ association.  Part of the program for this professional development day will be a presentation by GICEL board member Steve Dunsmuir on the Gulf Island School District’s ecological education program.

On the Road

GICEL has obtained the feature documentary “Play Again” which is an internationally acclaimed film on taking young “plugged in” teens on their first wilderness camping experience – no television, no cell coverage, no virtual reality.  It is a wonderfully inspiring, thought-provoking and education exploration to find the balance between the digital and the natural worlds.  The theme of this film is at the heart of what GICEL and its programs are striving to achieve and as such, Michael Dunn, Program Director, will be touring the southern Gulf Islands to showcase this film in these communities and to engage discussions on its implications to our young people.

The first showing of “Play Again” will be February 20, 2011 on Saturna Island.  GICEL will also feature the film at the District Parent Advisory Committee’s Parent Retreat on February 25, 2011 on Salt Spring Island (more information: contact dpac64@telus.net).  The theme this year is NATURE DEFICIT DISORDER: LINKING BEHAVIOUR, MENTAL HEALTH & PERSONALIZED LEARNING.  Board members Michael Dunn and Cate McEwen will be facilitating the discussion following this showing of the film.  In addition, GICEL has invited Bob Peart, co-founder of the Child and Nature Alliance as the Keynote Speaker for the retreat.  GICEL secretary and School District Superintendent Jeff Hopkins is also presenting on School District 64′s move toward a personalized learning model.

Plans are in the works to hold showings of “Play Again” on Galiano, Mayne, and Pender Islands, and again on Salt Spring Island.

The Galiano Conservancy Association, one of GICEL’s partner organizations, has launched an initiative to purchase land to create a “Restorative Learning Centre” on Galiano Island.  The Centre will provide multi-day outdoor education opportunities at a facility which models sustainability in all respects, and will protect over 290 acres of diverse ecosystems as well as connect existing protected areas.  To complete the land purchase the Conservancy must raise $2 million by mid-February of 2011, which will be matched by the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

Update (February 16th):  With the assistance of several of its members, the Galiano Conservancy Association has obtained an outright extension of the closing date to June 15, 2011.  There is also a mechanism for an extension beyond that if required.

For more information see the Conservancy’s website.

On October 22nd, GICEL presented a full day workshop titled “Eco-literacy 101: Taking the Fear out of Nature-based Learning” to a groupd of enthusiastic Gulf Islands teachers on Salt Spring Island.  To download a detailed overview of the day’s activities and a list of useful references, click GICEL Oct 22 Pro-D workshop.

To mark its 10th Anniversary, GICEL is offering workshops for teachers on Salt Spring Island on October 22nd. A 10th Anniversary celebration banquet will be scheduled for early in 2011 and details posted here.