Tuesday, September 25, 2007: WWF-Canada and Canon Canada Ring in the School Year with a Gift to Elementary School Teachers
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Sept. 25, 2007) - Canon Canada and WWF-Canada are pleased to announce the national rollout of the Schools for a Living Planet program. The free online teaching resource, officially launched today at Toronto District School Board's Bedford Park Public School, is designed to help elementary school teachers enhance environmental education in the classroom, and can supplement subjects from science to language arts and social studies.
The program, which has been in its pilot phase since March 2007, has already attracted over 800 Canadian teachers, many of whom have already implemented the tools into their classrooms to positive response. Today's official launch will extend the resource to even more classrooms across English-speaking Canada with the goals of assisting educators in teaching students about conservation issues and empowering students with the knowledge they need to make a difference in our planet's future.
WWF-Canada, the global conservation organization, brings an indisputable credibility to the environmental content, and has worked closely with curriculum developers K12 Global Inc. to ensure the program's relevancy and suitability in Canadian classrooms.
"Never before have the eyes of the world been so closely trained on the plight of our planet, and we are pleased to offer quality educational content to teachers so they might address these issues with their students," said Mike Russill, President and CEO, WWF-Canada. "By reaching Canadians at the elementary school level with the environmental message, we are empowering and preparing these young citizens to become responsible stewards of the Earth."
This is particularly important as a recent survey, conducted by Ipsos-Reid on behalf of Canon Canada, revealed that Canadian youth are not as environmentally responsible as they could be. In fact, the survey revealed that 56 per cent of Canadian teens feel that while we should be mindful of the environment, being environmentally friendly seems like a lot of work.
Canon Canada, a long time supporter of WWF-Canada, has formed a unique partnership with the organization in the development of the Schools for a Living Planet program, donating $300,000 over the next three years for the development and expansion of the site. Known for its commitment to the environment as the top climate-friendly ranked consumer company worldwide by Climate Counts, and through its eco-friendly products, programs and policies, Canon Canada is honoured to be aligned with WWF-Canada in the launch of this online educational resource.
"At Canon Canada we are equally passionate about education and the environment, and we take great pride in announcing the launch of the Schools for a Living Planet program as it supports both areas," said Stan Skorayko, Vice President of Corporate Communications, General and Environmental Affairs at Canon Canada. "We are excited to introduce this program alongside our partner WWF-Canada to teachers nationwide and look forward to seeing it benefit the next generation of environmentally-minded Canadians."
To further engage students and teachers around environmental activities, WWF-Canada will announce a cross-country eco-challenge to mobilize Canadian classrooms to take action against climate change. Prizing for this competition will be provided by Canon Canada and WWF-Canada, and will include printers from Canon Canada's newly launched EcoSense line. For further details on the contest, please visit wwf.ca/schools in late October.
Access to the Schools for a Living Planet program can be found through the WWF-Canada homepage (wwf.ca), or at.wwf.ca/schools. Once registered, educators, parents, youth leaders and others can freely access all material on the site. The plans and activities are targeted to grades three through eight and have been designed to complement provincial and territorial curricula.
Source: MarketWire
