Attention all public school students: wanna win a schoolyard makeover that will turn your playground into an eco-friendly haven in which to hang out with your friends?
The Kingston Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology at Queen's University is hosting a contest for area elementary schools to encourage students to spruce up their schoolyards to make them more "green."
The grand prize is a schoolyard makeover worth $2,000.
The new program, called "School Yard Makeover: Eco Edition," is designed to naturalize Kingston-area schools and to raise awareness about local conservation issues.
It will also provide students with a meaningful learning experience while providing them with a more environmentally friendly place to play.
To qualify, each participating school will submit a portfolio that can include drawings, poems, pictures, stories and movies created by the students that illustrate their views of an ecologically friendly schoolyard.
The winning school will get a paid-for naturalization project, which will be a collaborative effort between the school and the society.
Together with the students, representatives from both the school and the society will decide on what's planted.
When the project is complete, the school will hold an unveiling ceremony to showcase the improved schoolyard and the benefits of gardening with native plants to parents and the community.
All participating schools will receive consolation prizes so they can also promote biodiversity and gardening at their schools.
To enter the contest, schools have to submit an e-mail of interest to scb@ biology.queensu.ca by Feb. 15. Portfolios are due by March 31.
