THUNDER BAY — Students at Pope John Paul II School have made treasure out of trash, while helping the environment around them too.
Grade 7 students at the Franklin Street school have spent the past eight months designing a pollinator garden, building benches out of recycled pallets, choosing bee-friendly plants and taking throwaway material and repurposing it as art.
It’s all in the name of science, said teacher Sylvia Dziurda, who encouraged the class to build the Trash to Treasure in conjunction with Youth Fusion as a way to spark their imaginations.
“This idea is one that really gives students freedom and choice,” she said. “We definitely had the heading of environmental project, and from there I asked the students what they wanted to do, what can we do to make our school a better place?
“They all really wanted the building part, so we started thinking about what we could build at our school, how we could make it a better place for everybody.”
From there, the idea continued to grow.
“Benches were what we wanted to build, and then we wanted to build a garden, and then we talked about who would need the garden. From there we really did a lot of work on the importance of species and a diverse ecosystem.”
Students kept adding ideas as the project evolved, including birdhouses hanging on trees lining the Pope John Paul II property.
Sofie Franklin, one of the students taking part in the project, said it felt great to celebrate the completion of their Trash to Treasure effort.
“Everything we tried to use are recyclable,” the teenager said.
“It’s really important for our flowers to grow and fresh air and for us too.”
Sofie said she liked the hands-on work the best.
“Probably the painting and the benches. It was really hands on and we got to help out and build a lot of things,” she said, adding it’s great to leave a legacy for future generations.
“It’s pretty interesting and cool to have a nice spot here. For new people to come, it’s like ‘Oh, in past years they’ve done this and I’d like to do it too,” she said.
Sazia Barogawala, a project coordinator at Youth Fusion, said students worked hard to get the pollinator garden to this stage.
“We are making this community and school a better place to live and, as well, attracting a few pollinators as well. The students did really well, the teachers were really cooperative and we worked really, really hard.”
