© Images Courtesy of Green Calgary
When you enroll your child in school, you hope their education leads to more than just good grades. You want them to learn how to participate in their community, build relationships, and understand how their choices affect the world around them. These experiences help young people grow into adults who feel capable of contributing to their communities in meaningful ways.
For many students with diverse learning needs, these opportunities are not always accessible.
A 2022 study by the Teachers’ College Board found that students with learning disabilities are more likely to be excluded from civic and community-building activities than their neurotypical peers (Bueso, 2022). In addition, with limited time, funding, and capacity, educators are often forced to focus on core academic requirements. Hands-on, experiential learning is often the first thing to fall away, especially because many of these opportunities are not designed with neurodiverse learners in mind.
Over time, Green Calgary began to notice this gap.
“We realized that educators who support neurodiverse learners weren’t accessing our programs,” said Lex van der Raadt, Executive Director of Green Calgary. “That meant a significant group of students were missing out, not because of a lack of interest, but because the programs weren’t built to support the way they learn.”
This means a significant number of youths are not receiving the development and learning benefits of environmental education. Learning about the environment is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the actual benefits of environmental programs. It builds confidence, critical thinking, leadership skills, and a sense of responsibility to others (NAAEE, n.d). These experiences help young people see themselves as participants in their communities, not observers on the sidelines.
Building Environmental Education That Works for Every Learner
This need became especially clear when Jolene, an educator at Cochrane High School’s Learning Support Centre, reached out to Green Calgary. She wanted environmental programming for her students, but like many educators working with neurodivergent learners, she had struggled to find external programs that truly met their needs.
With the generous support from TD Friends of the Environment, Green Calgary is responding.
This year, Green Calgary is adapting its popular Worms Love Leftovers program for neurodiverse learners and delivering 15 free programs to schools across the city that need this extra support. Developed in partnership with Cochrane High School’s Learning Support Centre, the adapted program brings live worm demonstrations into classrooms, using multi-sensory, interactive activities that support different learning styles.
During class, students explore waste reduction and vermicomposting through tactile, engaging, and accessible activities. By the end of the program, they can identify simple actions they can take at school and at home to keep their communities healthy.
“As environmental educators, we need to reach students who don’t always thrive in traditional classrooms,” said van der Raadt. “These students deserve the same opportunities to feel empowered, included, and prepared to shape the communities they’re a part of.”
Healthy and sustainable communities are possible when everyone can take part. Green Calgary’s environmental education programs focus on breaking barriers that keep our youth from leading and contributing to positive change.
You can support inclusive environmental education in Calgary by donating to Green Calgary at greencalgary.org
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Since 1978, Green Calgary has been a leading urban environmental charity supporting Calgarians in living a more sustainable life; helping them take effective environmental action in their homes, work places, schools, and communities. We’ve worked with tens of thousands of Calgarians in leading a greener lifestyle because we know that only by working together can we ensure a healthy city and ultimately a healthy planet.