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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, June 25, 2015 | 16 by Bob Mitchell Oakwood Public School is Halton's No. 1 eco-school An Oakville public school is Halton's No.1 ecoschool. For the fourth consecutive year, Oakwood Public School has earned gold in the annual Ontario EcoSchools provincial competition, but for the first time the Kerr Village-area elementary school has earned the maximum 100 points. It's one of only nine, out of a total of 2,000, schools in Ontario to do so and the only school in Halton, elementary or secondary, to ever achieve such a mark. On Monday (June 22), the school celebrated its achievement with an assembly where the 25 students, who formed this year's eco-team, were honoured for their accomplishments and received certificates. There are no garbage cans in any of the classrooms because students don't produce garbage. Everything is sorted into what can go into blue bins and green bins and any garbage that can't be taken home in their reusable food containers is placed in small plastic bags hanging from door handles. In achieving its mark, the school performed well in six different areas -- team leadership, energy conservation, waste minimization, grounds greening, environmental stewardship and curriculum. Sofia Helena Platt, 9, said she enjoyed being Oakville Beaver Staff Oakwood Public School has reached the peak 100 eco-points for their school thanks to the efforts of all students and particularly, the school's Eco-Team, whose members are pictured: from left, Kaia Nitz, Breanna Mills, Sophia Platt, Principal Malerie Borbath, Thomas Woods, Wubaidatu Awudu, and Caitlin Cao. | photo by Eric Riehl­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) part of the team and especially enjoyed planting flowers and plants as part of the school's greening initiative. "I like helping out so we can make it a better world," the Grade 4 student said. Thomas Alexander Woods, 10, liked being involved in the green bins project. "This is an important program because we're helping the world change," said Woods, also in Grade 4. "There is so much garbage in the world and we're trying to do our part to make less garbage." Principal Malerie Borbath told students at the assembly their school had been close on a number of occasions, earning an 87.25 mark the first year and 99.25 last year. But she was determined to reach 100 this year. "We care a lot about our planet," Borbath told the students. "A lot of people think little kids can't do anything that impacts the entire planet, but we know different." Five years ago, Oakwood didn't have any green bins and wasn't an eco-school, Borbath said. But a small eco-team was created, mostly during Earth Week, and students were encouraged to produce as little garbage as possible during that single week. The class that created the least garbage won a tiny gold garbage can. "It was a huge accomplishment at the time," Borbath said. Eco-schools not only have to come up with energy conservation and eco plans, but they also have to document everything and prove to provincial administrators they did what they said they would do in order to earn points. For gold status, schools need to earn 75 out of a possible 100 points and earn points in specific categories. Oakwood earned 87.25 points during its first year of participation, but didn't achieve points in all the necessary categories, so it was awarded silver status. "It would have been so great to go from nothing to gold that first year," Borbath said. see Elementary on p.28 In support of the many Veterans that granted us the opportunity to celebrate Canada Day Oakview Funeral Home will be placing a Canadian Flag on the graves of Veterans in Oakville. If you have a loved one you would like to see honoured in this way, please contact Oakview Funeral Home to arrange for a flag to be placed on the grave. Flags will also be available at Oakview to anyone wanting to place a flag on a Veteran's grave outside of Oakville. We've been training for this too. With the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am Games almost here, there's never been a better time to let Smart Commute help you or your business explore your options and support your travel planning. To find out more visit smartcommute.ca/gamesservice. See ontario.ca/games2015 to find out about temporary traffic changes. Please contact Steven Reynolds, Funeral Director for more information at: Oakview Funeral Home by Arbor Memorial 36 Lakeshore Rd. W., Oakville, ON · 905-842-2252 · oakviewfuneral.ca Arbor Memorial Inc. TORONTO 2015 Pan Am Games July 10 to 26 TORONTO 2015 Parapan Am Games August 7 to 15 HOST PROVINCE PROVINCE HÔTE Family Owned. Proudly Canadian. Pour des renseignements en français, veuillez visiter www.smartcommute.ca/fr/servicelieauxjeux