County students benefit from environmental partnership

November 26, 2024

Local students are gaining an appreciation for water and where it comes from, thanks to a partnership between the Municipality of Inverness County and the Atlantic Coastal Action Program (ACAP) Cape Breton.

ACAP Cape Breton visited five schools in October, including Inverness Education Centre/Academy, Cape Breton Highlands Education Centre/Academy in Terre Noire, Pleasant Bay School, Dalbrae Academy in Mabou and We’koma’q Mikmaw School.

Monica Ragan, ACAP Cape Breton’s Program Manager for Western Cape Breton, says the municipality is providing support and input into activities. Presentations were done by Monica and her colleague Meaghan Tobin, the organization’s education lead.

“We have programming based on age,” explains Monica, who is originally from Whycocomagh but now lives in Port Hood. “For the younger ones, grade primary to two, we do a lot of reading and do some movement activities. It’s really designed to get the younger ones hearing words related to water and the water cycle, through movement and storytelling.”

She says older students in grades three to five learn about watersheds and source water, where their drinking water comes from and why it’s important to protect source water.

For students in grades six to eight, the focus is on wetlands and water quality.

“This is a specific lesson about wetlands, why they’re an important habitat for both living and non-living beings, but also how they help with water quality,” she adds.

With high school students, the presentations look mainly at climate change and citizen science, which is the role public volunteers can play in collecting and classifying scientific data. “Since this is a key time for students to be thinking about their careers, we talk about what traditional and non-traditional green careers look like,” Monica notes.

“It’s been very positive,” she says of the students’ response to the presentations. “They’re really engaged and interested.”

“Each presentation has a hands-on component,” Monica adds. “They’re really excited to get into groups and to do their teamwork and kind of problem-solve whatever situation we might ask them to tackle.”

She points to the ‘no-drainer’ activity they did with the younger students at Pleasant Bay School as an example of making science fun. She says three students are given mason jars, each holding a different item in water – toilet paper, paper towel and a so-called flushable wipe.

“Students have 15 to 30 seconds to shake it as hard as they can, like their toilet, and then we open up the jars to see what dissolved,” she explains. “We get everyone involved in cheering them on, and we get to see that the toilet paper dissolved but that the paper towel and flushable wipe are still intact, so it’s cool to see the students’ reaction, and then you get conversation about what they flush down their toilet.

“It’s kind of an eye-opener for them. This is a small demonstration, but it definitely makes an impact.”

ACAP Cape Breton is an environmental non-profit organization that offers the knowledge that Cape Bretoners need to make greener choices, and works directly on practical solutions that help protect and restore the natural environment. Established in 1992 to assist with tar pond remediation in the Sydney area, the organization has evolved into
a dynamic group that integrates environmental, social, and economic factors into projects focusing on action, education, and ecosystem planning.

For the first three decades of its existence, the group focused its efforts within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. The partnership with the Municipality of Inverness County doesn’t just include school visits, but also a series of watershed walks to educate people and share ideas about the importance of protecting watershed areas. The first walk was held last fall in the Margaree/Lake Ainslie watershed area, with a second along the Chéticamp river in January.

Monica says ACAP Cape Breton also held an event at L’Arche in Orangedale, with a presentation on micro-plastics.

“We talked about micro-plastics, what they are, how they form, how they end up in the environment, and then we lead a litter cleanup along the Orangedale Road with those in attendance,” she recalls “Unfortunately, there was quite a lot of litter to pick up! But it was a good thing to do.”

Monica says it’s exciting to have the opportunity to share her knowledge and love of the environment with people in her home county, and to learn from them at the same time.

“It’s really exciting to engage with all the residents, to share what I’ve learned and hear their concerns,” she notes. “You can learn so much. Even if people don’t have a background in environmental sciences, they have the intimate knowledge of what they’ve seen over time, and that’s just as valuable.”

“And having a career here in Inverness County is wonderful. I get to come home and be with my family and friends. It’s really great.”

Educated at Whycocomagh Education Centre and Dalbrae Academy in Mabou, Monica did her undergraduate work at StFX University.

“I went originally for Celtic Studies and during the process I realized how much I love the environment and water and things like that,” she explains. “I learned about the Aquatic Resources Program, so I did a fifth year, and I was able to graduate with an honours in anthropology and aquatic resources. From there I went to Dalhousie to do my master’s in environmental studies before graduating in the fall of 2021.”

Monica started with ACAP Cape Breton in January 2022 as an intern. When her internship ended, she was brought on full-time.

She says when they were booking the school visits last September, there was so much interest they were unable to get to every school, but she says the group plans to resume its school visits in the spring.

“We’re hoping to get back out in probably April and May,” she says. “We’re hoping to get back to those schools who didn’t get the chance to hear the presentation.”

Clockwise from top, left: Meaghan Tobin, left, education team lead with ACAP, was joined by Mairi Musgrave, the group’s program coordinator. Inverness Academy students (L-R) Chloe Cormier, Mason Poirier, Caleb MacQuarrie and Sybil Forance build a filter. The grade five class at the Inverness school, along with Tobin, take part in the filter experiment which shows the importance of trees, plants and other vegetation and how they filter water. Students were encouraged to create their own water habitat. Tobin cheers on Pleasant Bay students (L-R) Autumn Tufford, Carter Pattingale and Bennett Bishop as they take part in the “no drainer” activity. Photos: contributed