Inspiring Stories

We are excited to showcase these inspiring stories of environmental and energy education in action led by teachers or organizations that are engaging students in meaningful learning that creates the environmental stewards and energy leaders we need. We hope these inspire you to take the next step in your work. We'd love to include your work here - if you have a story to share, please contact Kathy Worobec - kathy[at]abcee.org

	2018 Energy Efficiency Champion Award	Ecole McTavish school in Fort McMurray received the 2018 award for their LEAP for Solar Greenhouse and Community Garden initiative.
	Aurora Charter School energy monitoring	Aurora Charter school installed real-time energy monitoring technology that allowed students to use online dashboards to explore how much energy electrical items use.
	Students Citizen Science project	Students at Robert Thirsk High School in Calgary led by teacher Warren Lake and the Arctic Institute of North America (AINA), transcribed whaling logs to build a climate record for the Baffin Bay region.
	The PEEL Project	The People for Energy and Environmental Literacy (PEEL) project started with two teachers and an industry expert who worked together to create a classroom project. They have taken this project to the next level and are providing training for other Alberta teachers and sharing the lesson plans.
	Alberta High Schools Students and Climate Change Education	In 2018, Alberta high school students interviewed other high schools students asking them questions about "what they think about climate change education?". They created a video sharing these interviews.
	Innovate	Edmonton Public Schools teachers, Aaron Dublenko and James Stuart, facilitate the Innovate Program for elementary and high school students. If there’s an example of taking the classroom out into the real world, Innovate has to be it.
	Green Commuting Challenge	Teacher Debbie Rheinstein led the Green Commuting Challenge at Captain Nichola Goddard School. The annual commuting challenge reduces the schools' carbon footprint and increases daily activity through active transportation.
	Mount Royal University student teachers engage in environmental education	On Nov. 8, 2018, Mount Royal University students in the Bachelor of Education program took part in a "Greening Your Curriculum" workshop lead by Gareth Thomson and Diana Kurila, who is also a fourth year student in the program and working with ACEE part-time. These eager and thoughtful teachers learned a variety of games to bring into their practicums and future classrooms, and took part in planning their own curriculum-aligned action projects to embark on with their future students.
	Grads from Robert Thirsk High School Launch Energy & Climate Learning Lab	On September 26, Diana Kurila and Murdoch McKinnon made a pitch at the 2018 Alberta Climate Summit as Youth Energy Changemakers. In front of hundreds of influential players in energy and climate, they asked for partnerships and support for their Green Energy and Climate Learning Lab project, which will be installed on the roof of their former high school and consist of solar panels, a weather station, and a wind turbine. Diana and Murdoch, now students at Mount Royal University (MRU), will be mentors for
	15 year old Greta Thunberg takes a stand for climate change at COP24	15 year old Greta Thunberg helped launch an initiative by school-aged children to boycott school in response to the climate crisis. She made headlines last month through her uncompromising - and uncomfortable! - presentation to the United Nations' COP24 Climate Change conference in Poland. For Greta, it's as simple as this: climate change is a threat to our survival, and the world is not doing enough about it. Each Friday since August 2018, Greta has missed school to go on strike outside of the Swedish Parliament Building.