and school board trustees. They got the at- tention of the adults! Their Friday School Strike was support-
ed by the principal and attended by our lo- cal trustee. The ward councillor came to the school to meet the group and asked for their help in bringing a ban on plastic straws to the City of Brantford. The Future Environmental Action group was officially born. One Friday of every month they planned an action for our school including a presentation at an as- sembly by climate speaker Derek Forgie and a community clean-up. All the while, this group of Grade 8s also researched and prepared to present to city council. And waiting in the wings, inspired by the actions of their peers, a group of Grade 7 students began their own actions to fight for the environment. The day of the council vote came, and our
students joined a group of secondary stu- dents in speaking in favour of this ban. They presented a slideshow about their actions at the school and explained why this ban was so important to them. They spoke of a climate changing so rapidly that they were losing the opportunity to know many of the animals that currently inhabit the planet and of the big mess their generation is being left to clean up. Council voted unanimously in favour of the ban. In a few short months, we received letters from councils around the province taking their own actions inspired by the City of Brantford. The students had made a differ- ence and they knew it. As the founding members of The Future
prepared to graduate, following in behind them was the next generation. Letters to juice box companies and a plan to petition McDonalds to discontinue the production of plastic toys in their Happy Meals was hatched by the new group of students. One of their letters went to a wrong address. The letter was addressed to a company that shares a name with a juice box company; however, this company is in a different industry alto- gether. They responded to the student letter with a donation to plant trees in our local community. And, before Christmas of 2019, The Future,
found themselves presenting
to city council once again, this time urging the city to declare a climate emergency and direct funds towards reducing the carbon footprint of the city in all areas. Once again, the youth of our city were using their voices to speak up for the future they wanted, for a planet that was clean and sustainable. Making learning authentic, making our
learning go out the door of the classroom, has always been a goal of mine. Whether we
14 ETFO VOICE | SPRING 2021
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