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Algonquin College See Earth Program |
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Algonquin College See Earth Program |
From Mount Everest to Africa to Rainforests in Costa Rica, Algonquin College continues to provide a unique learning experience.
All these positive learning experiences continue to enrich the lives of many students.
At Algonquin College, there are no boundaries to learning!
In 2005, Algonquin College started the See Earth initiative along with some Ontario school boards, which sent teachers to Costa Rica’s rain forests to learn about ecology, biodiversity and sustainable agricultural practices. The college trained these teachers and developed interactive learning activities as part of the See Earth Costa Rica Project. Since 2005, the college has been leading the Sombra Café Coffee Project - brand of coffee derived through the sustainable agriculture practice of cultivating shade grown coffee beneath the natural forest canopy.
Click on the links below to view some of the media.
| 2008 Curriculum Videos | 2009 Curriculum Videos | ||
| 2008 Student Gallery | 2009 Student Gallery | ||
| 2008 Teacher Gallery | 2009 Teacher Gallery | ||
| 2009 Recycled Times |
In 2006, the college traveled from Cairo to Cape Town visiting nine African countries. Expedition Africa was a reality learning project designed to actively engage Canadian students, their teachers and families and the Canadian public about the continent of Africa - its opportunities, its challenges, its peoples and its stories.
In 2009 Algonquin College continued the SWBP Expedition Africa (2006) in Tanzania as a way of extending Algonquin College’s commitment to the communities of Northern Tanzania to improve the local children’s lives through education. Algonquin College provided student raised fundraising dollars to kickoff the new initiative to build a girl’s dormitory at Awet Secondary School in the village of Kimbia Ya Simba (Camp of Lions Village), Mbulu Mbulu division, Karatu district, Arusha region.
In 2004, Canadian Ben Webster's team of internationally recognized mountaineers summited Mount Everest. The story of their climb was captured in an 8 hour Discovery Channel documentary that aired that Fall called "Everest: Ultimate Survival". Algonquin College's "Everest: A Higher Learning Experience" web site enabled followers of the expedition to track the team's progress on a daily basis through journal entries and pictures.
Ben Webster and fellow Canadian Shaunna Burke returned to Everest in 2005. People around the world, including students from Ottawa area schools, followed the 2005 expedition with great interest.
Ottawa teachers had developed curriculum for a variety of subject areas that tied in directly with the Everest expedition. The NewRO (now the A-Channel) provided audio feeds from Everest. Ben and Shaunna also teleconferenced with students at various points as part of Everest-related curriculum activities. Upon Shaunna's return that spring, she wowed hundreds of Ottawa students at their schools with an inspirational presentation her Everest story.
Follow the story of Ben and Shaunna's climbs in 2004 and 2005 by visiting the expedition websites:
Everest Expedition 2005: http://www.algonquincollege.com/everest/
Everest Expedition 2004: http://www.algonquincollege.com/everest2004/
In 2005, Algonquin College, in partnership with the Ottawa Carleton District School Board, the Ottawa Carleton Catholic District Board, Elmwood Academy, EARTH University and Rios Tropicales, offered teachers an opportunity to visit Costa Rica and experience its rain forests. By visiting EARTH University, which is situated deep within the rain forest, teachers learned about ecology, biodiversity and sustainable agricultural practices in the tropics first hand. Upon their return, Algonquin College trained these teachers to develop interactive elearning activities, using the pictures and information that were gathered on their trip, for use in their schools.
See pictures of the teachers in Costa Rica and find out more about their unique professional development opportunity:
http://www.algonquincollege.com/rainforest
Sombra Cafe is a student marketing project at Algonquin College that became operational in 2005. The college is proud to distribute Sombra Cafe: a brand of coffee derived through the sustainable agriculture practice of cultivating shade grown coffee beneath the natural forest canopy. This method, while more expensive than traditional farming practices, allows the rich biodiversity of the rain forest areas to co-exist with agricultural development. This type of direct trade partnership ensures the farmers of Santa Maria de Dota are fairly compensated for their product and will help to promote continued development of sustainable agriculture in Costa Rica.
Find out more about Sombra Cafe and Santa Maria de Dota, Costa Rica http://www.sombracafe.com