Earl Beatty’s Scientific Experiment!

What are those orange fences for? And how long will they be there? The answer lies in the hard-packed soil of Earl Beatty's slowly disappearing playing field. Despite proper installation, the small field at the back of the school couldn't take last winter's lack of snow cover and the frequent pounding of many happy feet. What to do - and should it be a replacement of the same?

The answer is, maybe not. So the test plots were born in the early morning of June 4th, 2010. The plots include different types of grass seed/sod with a protective layer underneath. The entire field is being watered in the evenings each day. The fence will help the plots get established, and will remain for four months.

Then, let the games begin! Let us see which area stands up the best to the heavy use our little field can give. We need every one’s help in recording and observing accurate results – fences need to stay until the end of September…and everyone can assist with observations throughout the Fall and then in the Spring of 2011 until June.

Thank you for your participation in this…I’m certain we all look forward to key results and answers to our disappearing field.

Ms. L. Ordubegian, Ms. Boudreau, Ms. Wallace, Ms. Laporte and Mr. Travers

The test area, June 4th, 2010.

The first test plot.

All three test plots.

Have you seen it? The Anti-Idling Banner is complete

The Junior EcoTeam (JET) has been working on completing the Anti-Idling Banner that was first started last year. They are pleased to announce that it is complete and hanging on the south wall of Earl Beatty. Thank you, drivers of Earl Beatty community, for supporting our lungs at work and our green initiative by not idling your car!

EcoTrivia at Earl Beatty

In April, Ms. Dafoe and her students wrote and ran an EcoTrivia contest that had the whole school playing! The students in Room 4 announced a new question each morning and by the end of it all, Ms. McKelvey's class was the big winner. They earned ice cream and an extra DPA session with Ms. Dafoe. Congratulations to the winners! Shout out to Room 4 for coming up with the trivia questions and running this fun event.

Earth Day Tree Dedication

Many thanks to the students on the Intermediate EcoTeam for writing a gracious and thoughtful dedication for the tree planting that took place at Earl Beatty on Earth Day this year.

Commemoration Eco-Schools Tree Planting Speech
April 22, 2010 at 10 a.m.

On behalf of the staff, students and the parents of Earl Beatty, we would like to thank the City of Toronto for generously donating these beautiful Tulip trees to our school.

We also want to recognize and thank our school parent, Liza, for organizing the tree planting ceremony on Earth Day. We appreciate the time you took out of your day to select the trees. It is very important that our schools, communities and our city continue to replant the dying trees for the future generations. They clean our air and give us oxygen. They provide us with shade and we even appreciate it from inside the school. In the fall, they will give us something wonderful to look at instead of concrete, they’ll give us a variety of warm colours to enjoy, and they’ll also provide animals with shelter.

Once again, we humbly thank our City of Toronto and our parent Liza for these beautiful trees.