Celebrating Earth Day with LCS 2021

On Thursday, our school connected, from around the world, to celebrate Earth Day. At Lakefield, we prioritize spending time in nature and getting outdoors every day and Earth Day was certainly no exception. One of our values as a school is environmental stewardship. We believe that through our unique campus and programs, our students are inspired to become leaders with a commitment to global environmental stewardship. This week, their leadership and passion for environmental sustainability was clear. 

As part of a Lakefield tradition, we started Earth Day with an optional remote sunrise yoga class led by Louise Prindiville-Porto ’22 and LCS alumna, Alice Prindiville-Porto ’18. Our on campus students also had the option of participating in a (chilly!) sunrise paddle on the lake. 

After a refreshing morning of reflecting and enjoying time outdoors, our community gathered for a virtual Earth Day-themed Chapel. The LEAF Club gave a presentation about the purpose and importance of celebrating Earth Day, reminding our community that the fragile state of the planet should be considered with every action we take. Maxwell Lu ’21 opened the program by delivering a land acknowledgement to pay respect to the land we learn on before the LEAF Club prompted the community to focus on three points throughout the day:

Our community was also treated to a virtual visit from guest speaker, Colin Harris. Colin is the Founder and Executive Director of ‘Take Me Outside’ and he joined us to share his passion for environmental consciousness. Inspired by Terry Fox’s ‘Marathon of Hope’, Colin decided to run across Canada (from Newfoundland to British Columbia) with the goal of visiting as many schools as possible to speak about climate change and the importance of spending time outdoors. Colin implored our students to build connections with nature because “the stronger relationships we have, the more we’ll care about issues like climate change and our planet.” He started our day off with an inspiring message to shift the narrative and focus on the potential we each hold to create a healthier planet, saying, “find a moment today to reflect on what it means to be a citizen of this planet and what it means to be responsible to this land we're living on.”

After a morning of remote learning, our students living on campus enjoyed a vegetarian lunch prepared by The Aramark staff. They cooked a delicious menu of dishes selected by the LEAF Club for its minimal carbon footprint. Students and staff noshed on vegetable dumplings, rice, crispy tofu, and Thai vegetables. The cooks made an effort to use locally sourced ingredients, such as locally grown produce and a salad dressing made with LCS Maple Syrup. Our remote students were encouraged to prepare a vegetarian meal as well, and enjoyed a home cooking session later in the day with Ms. Brown where they made a colourful plant-based meal.  

Earth Day festivities didn’t stop at lunch. The afternoon was packed with activities designed to get our students outdoors, enjoying time in the sunshine, and thinking about ways to maintain and sustain our environment. 

From remote activities such as gardening, sunrise yoga sessions, walking, dog walking, neighbourhood clean up, nature photography, dancing in nature, learning about sustainable fashion, and sustainability in the shipping industry, to on-campus activities such as sunrise paddles, birdhouse making, tree planting, nature art, campus clean up, and yoga, our students and staff found creative ways–near and far–to celebrate and acknowledge what it means to be a conscious citizen.

Thank you to the members of the LEAF Club who were so instrumental in organizing activities for the day and for hosting our Earth Day Chapel presentation. Special thanks to Caroline Chen ’21, Justin Fu ’24, Shirley Li ’21, Eman Murshed ’22, Abby Reeds ’23, Amy Shin ’23, Andria Wong ’22, Jana Rubel ’22, Louise Prindiville-Porto ’22, Shenda Fitton ’22, Charlie Crane ’23, and Maddie Brock ’23.