North Peace Secondary School was one of 20 high schools from across Alberta and northeast B.C. who were selected to come to Inside Education’s 12th in-person Youth Environmental Leadership Summit.
The three-day summit took place in Canmore, Alberta where six students and two teachers from each of the 20 schools were given a unique opportunity to meet and engage with over 70 expert guests from academic institutions, industry, government, Alberta’s Indigenous community, and environmental groups.
"This [Summit] gave our students the opportunity to expand their knowledge of energy and water in Alberta," O'Chiese First Nation School teacher Karyn Booy said in a recent letter to Inside Education.
"I saw our students get out of their comfort zones, try new things, and be courageous. We highly valued our time here and would love to come again."
160 students and teachers participated in a series of hands-on energy and water-focused workshops, such as wind turbine model-building and DNA extractions from local water with University of Alberta professor Dr. Patrick Hanington, along with various off-site experiences, including guided tours of hydroelectric dams and snow sampling.
Upon completion of the Summit, each school is challenged to develop and implement an education and action project to engage their peers and their community about the energy, climate, and water topics they learned about throughout the Summit.
These projects will occur from Spring Break to the end of the school year and beyond.
Inside Education is Alberta’s largest environmental and natural resource education charity.
In addition to province-wide Youth Leadership Summits, the organization is committed to inspiring students and providing support for K-12 school teachers through various avenues, including in-class learning resources, interactive presentations, experiential field trips, securing grant money where needed, and more.
