The community rooftop garden at Canadian International School (CIS) — born out of a class project by their very own students — recently received the prestigious National Parks Community in Bloom Award. This award recognises excellence in gardening across criteria of aesthetics, horti-cultural practice, community involvement, biodiversity, and sustainability efforts in Singapore’s education institutes and organisations.
Since its inception in 2022, CIS’ community garden has been an effective learning environment for students. From adding new visual features like hanging baskets and upcycled vertical plant palettes, to routine tasks like watering, weeding and harvesting plants, projects at the community garden are aimed at encouraging CIS students to be more involved in sustainability efforts.
Participation in this initiative has also helped students prepare for an ever-changing world. One grade 7 student, Horace S., who discovered his green thumb through his primary year-end exhibition on responsible waste management on Singapore’s landfill Pulau Semakau said; “Incorporating environmental facts and practical examples [learnt through gardening] into science lessons not only enhances my learning, but also fosters a deeper understanding of the subject matter.” Horace added that he gained invaluable skills such as collaboration, communication, and problem-solving.
Meanwhile, grade 11 student, Julienne B. highlighted the respect she has come to develop for nature, becoming more conscious of “the modern impact human acts have on our global footprint”. She also developed more responsibility and patience, skills she believes will help her in the future.
Sustainability is a familiar concept to CIS students. Earlier this year, four grade 11 students came in top 3 for social enterprise Green Nudge’s “Beyond the Green” challenge. They presented their proposal on reducing food waste to a judges’ panel that included Senior Minister of State for National Development, Mr. Tan Kiat How.
Visit CIS’ award-winning community rooftop garden at their upcoming Open House on 19 January and see how students thrive in its different learning environments.
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