Elementary Schools Shine in Make Richmond Sparkle Contest
12 January 2012
Ten Richmond elementary schools participated in the City of Richmond’s My School Sparkles contest held from October to November 2011. While all ten benefited from participating, two schools proved to be sparkling winners – McKinney Elementary and Cook Elementary.
The contest began with students watching a City sponsored live musical comedy show called Clean Up Your Act – Make Richmond Sparkle, performed by Dreamrider Theatre. The show teaches how littering, graffiti and vandalism adversely affects neighbourhoods.
Then data was collected about the condition of each of the participating school grounds by the school and the City of Richmond’s Environmental Programs department before watching the show, and again after watching the show. The objective was to see if any noticeable positive changes took place regarding litter and vandalism, with the ultimate goal to help Richmond meet its vision of being the most appealing and liveable city in Canada by installing a sense of community pride.
“We found that after the theatre performance, which was excellent, students were much more aware of littering,” said Cook Elementary School Principal, Deb Collins. “Several younger students made a point of showing me they were throwing garbage away in the garbage cans.”
McKinney Elementary won the School That Always Sparkles award for having the least amount of litter before and after the contest. Cook Elementary was awarded the School That is Sparkling award for showing the most improvement after watching the Clean Up Your Act – Make Richmond Sparkle performance.
For more information on how you can do your part, please visit www.richmond.ca/services/recycling/aboutrg/service.htm
