Feedback From Our Schools - DoorNumberOne.org

“The experience you gain from CAAP will REGENERATE your passion to be a change maker , every single day” – Educator at Pilot CAAP School

Why Do Schools Join?

“Because when we would previously try to act on things about climate change we would never really follow through on them. We would do it for the first week or so but then we’d kind of slow down our process. So we’re trying to do this as it will motivate us to keep acting and use the inspiration from other schools and people. There’s also just a need to act on climate change.”
– Gr. 9 Student

“Our head of school has a priority to reduce our carbon footprint on our campus and she approached us about this project. The program to us presents the opportunity to commit to an all-encompassing plan and take tangible action and we’re excited to receive ideas from other schools and we hope this program will create a framework for decision making in the future.”
– Grade 12 student

“We joined CAAP because we are hoping it can help to accelerate our progress with regard to environmental sustainability … the support of this network of schools and also the accountability of being part of an organization like this will help us so we’re pretty excited and have a lot of work to do.”
– Head of School

“I genuinely believe that the requirement that administrators, facilities teams, teachers, and students be a part of the CAAP team is necessary for success. I’m also so grateful for the support in getting our own climate action plan developed. This has been an essential piece in our journey towards a climate positive future!”
– Nicola St George, Educator at Appleby College

“CAAP provided an anchor for the work; created some common vocabulary and understanding; raised the profile of environment work within the School”
– CAAP Educator

Students

“Great learning experience. Concrete actions and things we can do around the school. Understanding the management and process within the school – the people behind the scenes. Having that connection is great. Mixing faculty and students during this learning process has been great.” – CAAP Student

“I have gotten many ideas from the CAAP meetings, and as a school we have started initiatives based on problems recognized in these meetings.” – CAAP Student

Educators

“What makes this program so effective is its emphasis on collaboration and mentorship, creating space for both student and adult leaders to learn together and drive real change. I highly recommend it to schools looking to deepen their climate and sustainability work in a strategic, impactful way.” – Katherine Maloney, Sustainability Strategy Coordinator at Upper Canada College

“One on one mentoring has by far been the most useful. When I am stuck, she gets us going. When I am frustrated, she can relate. We have had many heart to hearts and she has been our rock and facilitator in this process.” – Julia Quinn, Educator at Ashbury College

Schools

Trinity College School, Port Hope, Ontario

“We are currently in Year 3 of this program at our school, and it has been genuinely transformative, allowing us to reignite a schoolwide commitment to sustainability through the development of a new whole-school goal, set of objectives, and action plan.” – Katherine Maloney, Sustainability Strategy Coordinator at Upper Canada College

“It seems the correct people are finally involved in the conversation. It is not just the students and the green team but the administration and facilities all working together which has seemed to create the momentum. We are continuing the conversation with each session we have. Having the professional resources available to us (workshop leaders) is also the push needed to overcome hurdles at some points.” – Pilot School

“Having a network of schools and like-minded individuals with a goal of addressing climate change in their schools. Holding ourselves accountable which has been great in our goal-setting.” – Pilot School

“For those looking to boost your sustainability and climate action, I recommend considering the climate action accelerator program now entering their sixth year. Appleby was in the pilot cohort, and we found it invaluable for getting started on our path towards sustainability and regeneration” – Nicola St George, Educator at Appleby College

Meet Jackson at Appleby College and Sadie at TFS – Canada’s International School – two of the amazing student leaders across our CAAP school network.
Then you’ll hear from Kathleen Dawson at Georgetown Day School in Washington, D.C., and Nicola St. George at Appleby College – both leading bold ambitious school-wide action at their schools.