Markham Students Take Environmental Action for Earth Month
Unionville—April 26, 2018
Over 80 students from Milliken Mills High School (MMHS) became environmental champions today, acting as citizen scientists and stewards for Bruce Creek and Toogood Pond in the historic village of Unionville for Earth Month.
As a result of their efforts, a stretch of Bruce Creek were monitored for water quality and five bags of litter were collected on-site and properly disposed of in Unionville. This environmental action is part of MMHS’s “Take It Outside for Earth Day” event where over 1,110 students were mobilized over eight sites across York Region to learn about, monitor and stewards the local environment.
This environmental action in Unionville was made possible through a collaboration between General Motors of Canada, EcoSpark and Milliken Mills High School. GREEN teaches young people about their local watersheds and engages them in civic projects to improve its health.
“Today we had the honour of training the next generation of environmental leaders by providing experiential education and concrete actions to improve our local environment,” says Joyce Chau, Executive Director of EcoSpark. “Milliken Mill’s annual Earth Day event is the perfect opportunity to connect kids to nature in a meaningful ways including citizen science and stewardship.”
“General Motors is thrilled to be a part all aspects of Take It Outside for Earth Day from our morning workshop featuring the electric Chevy Volt to this afternoon’s stream monitoring and park clean-up in Unionville,” said Simon Guan, Senior Environment Officer at GM Canada. “We’re proud to engage over 20 GM employees in today’s event, demonstrating our commitment to youth-oriented action in sustainability through our GREEN program.”
As a platinum-certified Ontario EcoSchool (the highest possible certification), Milliken Mills High School annually engaged the school and community in environmental action around Earth Day.
“The earth needs our help now more than ever,” said Christopher Williams, Head of Personalized Alternative Education and the school’s Green Inc. Club. “Young people need to know how to help the environment locally and this day is a collaborative effort to model care for the natural world while giving young people an opportunity to take real action.”
For more information:
Joyce Chau, EcoSpark: (647) 258-3280 x 2005, joyce@ecospark.ca
Simon Guan, General Motors: (298) 685-2221, simon.guan@gm.com
Christopher Williams, Milliken Mills H.S.: (437) 350-1285, christopher.williams@yrdsb.ca
About EcoSpark
EcoSpark is an environmental charity whose mission is to empower communities to take an active role in protecting and sustaining their local environment. We do this by giving people the tools for education, monitoring and influencing positive change. To date, we have directly worked with over 57,000 people from across Southern Ontario in over 20 watersheds. www.ecospark.ca.
About General Motors of Canada
General Motors of Canada is committed to STEM education, environmental stewardship, and sustainability in our communities. GM’s GREEN, in partnership with Earth Force who supports the program delivery across North America along with local partners, engages 12,000 young people and hundreds of community members each year across Canada and the U.S. www.gm.ca/gm/english/corporate/about/environment/community
Milliken Mills High School
Milliken Mills High School is a platinum-certified Ontario EcoSchool in Unionville. Their strong environmental program is anchored in a vibrant Green Inc. Club, a Specialist High Skills Major Program in the Environment and T.E.A.M. (Teaching Esteem and Academics at Milliken) – an award-winning alternative education program. www.yrdsb.ca/schools/millikenmills.hs
