Apr. 21, 2019
Belvedere Parkway School has achieved the accolade as the ‘First Bee City School in Alberta!’ They have just received their official recognition from the director of Bee City Canada, Shelly Candel. Students were thrilled with the opportunity to share their hard work, knowledge and enthusiasm with trustee Trina Hurdman and Shelly when she recently flew in from Toronto to present the Bee City Canada School certification.
Pollinators are one of the most fundamental blocks of our eco-system and solitary bees, such as Mason bees, are 85% - 95% more effective than honey bees in pollinating flowers and plants. Their role is crucial and significantly overlooked.
Students and their teachers Mrs. Gillon and Mrs. Mang hope to attract these bees to settle beside the Belvedere Parkway Learning Gardens where students plant, nurture and share a variety of vegetables and plants every year as part of their school program enrichment. Parents and School Council are an important part of the support for this work and are also excited about the addition of solitary bees to our learning landscape.
Grade 3, 4 and 5 students’ Eco Leader Project ‘If we build it, will they come?’ spear headed the work around building homes for solitary bees and other pollinators and planting local and indigenous flowers and plants to attract them to the Belvedere Parkway Learning Gardens. That project will be shared at the Mayor’s Expo in June.
