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600 students take part in Power of 1 Kids Fest

April 16, 2014   ·   0 Comments

By Tabitha Wells – Nearly 600 students from public schools around town had the opportunity to participate in the Power of 1 Kids Fest event hosted by Orangeville Hydro at Teen Ranch Wednesday and today. Despite the cold conditions, kids came in their winter apparel to have a fun day learning about energy and water conservation, minimizing footprints through the participation of fun activities.

Wednesday kicked off with an activity for the students in the meeting tent as well as a special message from both Grand Valley Mayor  John Oosterhof  and the Chairman of the Board for Orangeville Hydro, Adrian Maes, about the importance of conservation.

“I would like to welcome everybody here today, and I hope that you sincerely have a great time and learn a lot,” greeted Mayor Oosterhof, on behalf of the town’s partnership with the event. “Make sure that you practice your good behaviour of looking after the earth and the world that we live in.”

He concluded with a request to the students to remember to turn off lights when they leave a room and keep energy conservation fresh in their minds on a regular basis.

Mr. Maes encouraged the students to consider the impact of their footprint on the world and to think about what their legacy will be that they leave behind from their generation. With the focus on energy conservation, safety, water conservation, waste prevention and other topics related to environmental stewardship, there was much for the students to consider during the event and going forward.

“It is a privilege to stand before you because you are today, tomorrow and the future,” Mr. Maes said. “I hope you will go that extra mile in your group exercises because what you learn today and what you do today will affect tomorrow. I encourage you all to enjoy this event.”

His encouragement seemed to have an impact, as the kids enjoyed their first activity, and were singing, dancing and joking with one another as they worked away.

The Power of 1 Kids Fest was designed by Orangeville Hydro and its partners to help find a creative, fun and entertaining way to help kids understand the importance of environmental stewardship and all the aspects that surround it.

“The majority of these kids right now all study some form of conservation in the current curriculum for science,” said Jack Broderick, a Grade 5 teacher from Island Lake Public School. “This gives them a little bit more of a hands-on practical approach to it, which is really nice. They get to see that it’s not just something that they are involved with in the classroom, but that it is something that is involved in the community as well.”

The event will wrap up from 4 to 8 p.m. tonight (Thursday) at Teen Ranch on Highway 10, with a public component which will include a festival, family oriented activities that teach about conservation, horse rides and more.

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