GCVI celebrates latest environmental upgrades to its outdoor classroom
May 28, 2018
GUELPH, Ontario – Staff and students at Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute are celebrating the latest additions to the school’s outdoor classroom.
On Monday, GCVI held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate upgrades to the multi-phase outdoor project, which has evolved over the last few years. Woven throughout the project are a number of environmental initiatives, such as solar panels on the classroom roof that power motion sensor LED lights and a charging station.
On Monday, staff, students and guests gathered to check out the recent additions to the outdoor learning space.
New this year are raised garden beds equipped with an irrigation system that is solar-powered and self-watering. The innovative system was built by the school’s Green Industries students. A rain barrel at one corner of the pavilion collects rainwater and solar panels on the roof power the pumps, getting water to the plants in the raised beds. School staff anticipate that the garden will be self-sustaining over the summer months.
Inside the Green Industries classroom is a flood table and hydroponics system where students grow plants in the colder months and then transplant them outdoors in the spring. Food grown in the classroom and now outdoors gets used in the school, for example in the Hospitality department.
This project was aided with the support of Landscape Ontario, Paul Brydges (program mentor and local landscape architect), the City of Guelph planning office, the University of Guelph and Youth Fusion.
Following Monday’s ribbon cutting ceremony, there was time for a few quick laps in the school’s Electric Vehicle, which was built by Manufacturing Technology students and entered into competitions throughout the school year.
To read more about the work done by GCVI’s Green Industries classes, visit the board website.
You can read more about GCVI’s electric vehicle here.
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