Waste-Free Wednesdays

The Green Team would like to encourage students to bring a waste-free lunch on the following dates:

February 24
March 31
April 28
May 26
June 23

Revised Green Team Duty Schedule

Here is the revised Green Team Duty roster.

Monday

Grade 7
Andrew
Aruuran

Grade 8
Stephanie
Sharon

Tuesday

Grade 7
Vigashavy
Divya
Sarranya

Grade 8
Stanley
Jerry

Wednesday

Grade 7
Winnie
Ivy
Daria

Grade 8
1. Iffat, Mabel
2. Keya, Haley, Gloria L.
3. Gloria Z., Saloni

Thursday

Grade 7
Phoebe
Tina
Jane

Grade 8
Theresa
Teresa

Friday

Grade 7
Wendy
Iris

Grade 8
David
Jeff

Please make sure that you show up for duty. This is a vital part of the Ecoschools certification which we will be applying for shortly.

Project Blue website

Our letter writing effort is now featured on the Project Blue website!
Check it out!

http://janegoodall.ca/project-blue/groups-action.html

Writing For Human Rights.

Here are some useful sites to help you with your letter writing.

Project Blue Facts:

www.janegoodall.ca/project-blue/get-informed.html

Useful links from theConcil of Canadians:

www.canadians.org/water/issues/right/right.html

www.canadians.org/water/policy/index.html

Sample letter from the Council of Canadians:

http://www.righttowater.ca/RTW

Canadian Newspaper directory:

www.google.com/Top/News/Newspapers/Regional/Canada

Water Can:

http://www.watercan.com/

Tips in writing the letter:

Objective: to direct the attention of key decision makers towards addressing importanat national and international water issues, for example, the recognition of water as a human right.

1) Research the issue and collect necessary facts.
2) Write Away!!

Note: when writing to politicians, it's great to start with a standard letter template for writers to follow, however, the more personalized the letter, the more attention it will receive.

Note: , for a guide line, keep in mind that 'Letters to the editor' is one of the most read sections in the newspaper.

3) Hand it in!! The due date is Tuesday December 8, 2009.


BTW: you are writing to Jim Prentice

Wastefree Wednesday

Don't forget that it's Wastefree Wednesday on November 18th at SAM. What does this mean? This means that you should bring a wastefree lunch to school. Bring your lunch in reuseable containers. The goal is to avoid throwing out any garbage at lunch. Please support the Green Team and SAM and help reduce your impact on the environment!

Planet Forward Fundraiser

The Green Team is encouraging all of the staff and students at SAM to participate in the Planet Forward fundraiser. By participating, not only are funds raised for the school (which goes back to special programming for students), the planet is helped as well.

Don't have a resuseable water bottle or reuseable bag? Now is the time to purchase them through Planet Forward!


So please support your school and the environment by encouraging your friends and family to purchase an environmentally friendly product.


Remember the top fundraising class for Grade 7 and for Grade 8 will receive a pizza party!

We Day 2009

Imagine, 16,00 leaders of the next generation, gathering nationally at one spot, ready for world change. Cheering, and screaming, as inspiring speakers speak, and amazing performers perform.On October 5, 2009, students and teachers all around Toronto gathered at the Air Canada Centre to hear many touching speeches about child labour and poverty in the third world countries. There were many inspirational speakers sharing there experiences with the world, all with one important message: One person can make a big difference in the world. Don't believe it? Well, look back 15 years ago. One boy saw an article in the newspaper, about a 12 year old slave, who was murdered in Africa for speaking up for his freedom. THE boy who read this devastating story decided that something must be done, so he took matter to his own hands. This boy, was Craig Keilburger. The next day, he spread the news and started a small group called Free The Children. This initiated a worldwide organization, helping children in the developing countries get a proper education, with clean water to drink.

This year, about 30 students from SAM were chosen to go and participate in We Day 2009. This meaningful conference was kicked off by the extraordinary, one and only, Craig and Marc Keilburger.They raised awareness of child labour and poverty with one saying, "WE are the generation"
This certainly brought everyone's attention forward. Other inspiring speakers such as Elie Wisel (author of Night, Holocaust survivor), Paul Martin (former prime minister), John Tory (conservative party), Mia Farrow (actress, humanitarian, leading Darfur activist) and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.(environmentalist, author). Many more amazing world changers followed. Many of them had heart changing stories. Sad stories of what they had gone through, and what we can do to stop it from happening, like child labourers. The world does need a few more things however, as Spencer West said, "I think the world needs a lot of laughter. There isn't enough." Occasionally, there were special performances. One of the crowd pleasers were Justin Bieber singing "One Time" and Hedley singing "Cha-Ching". There was a special guest performance by the Jonas Brothers. That certainly raised the level of enthusiasm.

After hearing these inspiring speeches, we felt that each of us are important and has the power to make a difference in the world. If all of us come together, imagine what the impact on the world would be, so it all starts at SAM. Think about the people living in the third-world countries, like Africa. They have to walk kilometers just to fill 2 buckets of fresh water, and look at us. We just turn on the tap and "voila" out comes water. We are lucky, yet most people do not realize that and do not appreciate our access to water, and we think that is unfair to the people living in poverty. So the next time you leave the tap on or take a long shower, think about them, and rethink about what you are doing.

-Phoebe and Tina