Students at Western Academy of Beijing (WAB) are driving our efforts to make our school and surrounding community more sustainable. From rewilding parts of Duck Lake to launching awareness campaigns to upcycling waste, students are leading the way.
A key part of our drive to being a more sustainable school is the whole school sustainability audit that was launched late last year and is being conducted by an organization called Metanoia in collaboration with WAB’s sustainability lead teachers and students. Following a visit in February that focused on food waste, Metanoia’s team returned to campus last week to collect data on general waste, indoor air quality, and biodiversity.
For students like Jeremy A. and Chris L., who are two of the student representatives on WAB’s sustainability steering committee and active members of various environmental clubs, the visit was an exciting opportunity to take over the WAB Podcast to ask Metanoia’s CEO and founder, Anthony Dixon, about the purpose of this latest visit, the origins of the organization, and what’s coming next.
Through the conversation, the two students also reflect on their own experiences tackling environmental issues over the years at WAB, and some of the future plans they have as student council leaders.
“In the High School student council, we continue to promote sustainability and student involvement in whole school decisions. We hope that students can get involved by creating designs for solar panels, not just in the High School, but all across WAB by doing surveys with students, by partnering with our food service provider and serving vegetarian meals once a week, for example, and just more simple, small actions that,” said Jeremy, who is in Grade 10.
The conversation also spotlights some of the ways sustainability is interwoven with the curriculum. As Grade 9 student Chris, explains:
“In Grade 9 science, we are learning about ecology and the importance of biodiversity by utilizing our on-campus resource, the Duck Lake. There are also many other parts of the curriculum including interdisciplinary units that provides opportunities for these open-ended, investigations.”
Make sure to tune in to this student-takeover edition of the WAB Podcast for the most insightful and comprehensive overview of student-led sustainability initiatives to date. Don’t miss it!
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Chris is a Grade 9 student and a member of the sustainability steering committee at WAB.
Jeremy is a Grade 10 student and a member of the sustainability steering committee at WAB.
