Claire Bertoli has been organizing an Earth Day event at Cataline Elementary for four years, helping students connect and care for the Earth.
Bertoli has children attending the school, and is the parent advisory council (PAC) vice chair. She said she is super passionate about the school-wide event, helping the young people get excited about caring for the planet.
"Just the tiniest bit of encouragement gets them so into getting out here and doing what they can," she said as she staffed the trash cleanup and garden weeding booth, which she said was the least exciting booth of the bunch, though planting seeds to grow plants which will go in the school garden was a highlight.
There were seven stations for classes to rotate through, with PAC members helping at each one to guide the students through games, activities and questions and prizes at the end.
The Invasive Species Council of B.C. was also at a station, leading a game and teaching students about invasive species in the area, cards with seeds embedded in the paper were ready to be decorated by students to then be taken home and planted to grow some wildflowers, a forest walk and art station, a chalk mural wall station, and more.
"I love spending time outside, I love spending time outside with my kids," said Bertoli. "We need to teach the young people in our lives that the Earth is our home and we need to treat it well."
