It’s no secret that teachers are the change-makers of tomorrow. Teachers inspire and motivate their students daily. With the right support, students have the opportunity to become stewards of environmental change! We wanted to highlight inspirational Canadian teachers fostering sustainability in their classrooms and leading their students to take environmental action. Read their stories below and learn how they became sustainability leaders. Maybe this will spark your own journey.
Meet Jyothy Mathur
Jyothy has been teaching for 25 years. Within that time, she has taught various subjects, including Math, Language, Science, and Social Studies for grades 1 to 6. Jyothy first became interested in sustainability when she realized many of the world's problems could be solved through sustainable living. She says, "As adults, we have strongly developed living practices that can be hard to change. As a teacher, I realize that to change the mindset of tomorrow's adults it is important to work with the children of today." This led her to become interested in exploring ways to bring the topic of sustainability into the classroom and having students think of real-world solutions for today's global issues.
“To me, sustainability is an umbrella term that covers and can provide solutions to many pressing issues that the world is facing today.” When discussing sustainability, Jyothy highlights the need to teach students daily about the importance of saving electricity, water, paper and other resources. She says, “In my opinion, teaching about sustainability is the perfect approach to help build the essential skills needed for our students to thrive in the future and respect all of the resources that the world has to offer.”
Her students have participated in GreenLearning’s Challenges for the last three years. Just this past school year, her students on the Earth Hours team competed in the Energy Revealed Challenge and won first place! The students planned and hosted a lights out event for their entire school and were able to monitor their school’s energy consumption. Her students successfully hosted the lights out event and taught their school the importance of conserving energy. Her Grade 4 class also competed in the Re-Energy Challenge and took home 3rd place! Her students had the opportunity to learn more about renewable energy and created a solar oven, solar car, electric vehicles (EVs) and a wind turbine. Jyothy's love for sustainability has left a lasting impact on her students, school and community!
Meet Kathy Boulton
Kathy has been teaching for 14 years, and within that time, she has taught high school food studies, English language arts, general sciences, and biology. She is the head of the science department at St Francis Xavier High School and currently teaches biology 20/30, science 10 and science 30. Kathy's interest in sustainability started when she was young, going on nature walks with her parents. She says, "Our discussions about the living organisms around us, and what they needed to grow, instilled the viewpoint that all living things are widely interconnected and interdependent." As she got older and discovered the impacts of pollution, climate change, and clear-cutting forests, she felt strongly about finding solutions for a sustainable future. Kathy says, "Once a tree-hugger, always a tree-hugger!"
Kathy thinks focusing on sustainability is looking at a future with hope. She feels hope is important when learning about global issues, especially in today's climate when students are bombarded with anxiety-inducing images on social media about wildlife, forest fires and other disasters. Kathy says how it's practical to focus on sustainability. "We can have richer conversations about economic, environmental, and societal costs and benefits, and students can think critically about these perspectives," says Kathy. By teaching her students about sustainability, she hopes they will feel capable of making a difference towards a sustainable future.
Kathy has enriched her students' learning by encouraging her students to take action and learn more about renewable energy! Her class has participated in the GreenLearning Re-Energy Challenge over the past few years. Just last year, her students won 1st for their 11 renewable energy models! She says, “It is inspiring to see students choose their project, get excited about it, dig in to work through challenges, express creativity, and be proud of their products when they share what they have learned.” Watch this video here to discover her students' wonderful work!
Meet Karen Montgomery
Karen has had a vast amount of experience teaching in the classroom! She has been teaching for 16 years and has taught in South Korea, Australia, Qatar, and Canada. Karen also has experience teaching students grades 3-7. Her interest in sustainability started from her love of travelling. She witnessed the sad results of mistreating the Earth during her journeys. She says, "I have always loved nature and want to instill a sense of responsibility and stewardship in the next generation."
She hopes to instill in her students to love nature and the want to protect it. In her classroom, the students often have debates on real-life matters, such as building a new school gym but to do so, cutting down their large playground trees. Karen says, "Students always have great ideas, and really show an understanding of the stakeholders in each situation. Year after year, students choose to keep our old gymnasium to save the tree, and it makes me so happy!"
Karen's students have been inspired to learn more about sustainability and have taken climate action in their school! In 2023, her school's Eco Club competed in the Eco 360 Challenge and won 2nd place! Her students created a mural by collecting 2,147 bottle caps for the school's greening space. This mural not only prevents plastic waste from ending up in the environment, but it also collects water to help local insects. In addition, her grade 6 students converted a stationary bike to create energy to turn on a light bulb. Their efforts did not go unnoticed, and they received 2nd place in GreenLearning's Re-Energy Challenge!
In 2024, some of her students formed the Flood Fighters Club to combat flooding on their school grounds. This team of students designed a plan to help reduce flooding. Their French drain design earned them 1st place in the Flood: ED Challenge and their design was implemented at their school!
How You Can Inspire Your Students!
All these teachers are exceptional at what they do and strive to create a more sustainable future for their students. We are thankful they took the time to share their incredible stories with us. If you want to help motivate your students to take part in climate action, join us this February to learn more about GreenLearning's climate action challenges! We will host two information sessions for elementary and secondary educators and students. Sign up for your class session below: