Students lead campus cleanup

The pristine natural environment that exists at Nipissing is a defining feature of the campus, and a draw for many students.  It’s no surprise that students take pride in having a beautiful campus.  Students in a fourth-year English course are making a distinct contribution to campus aesthetics and pride by organizing a campus cleanup on Friday, November 3, and you can help.

The students are enrolled in Dr. Gyllian Phillips’ Into the Wild seminar. They are working to promote a clean environment for students, staff and residents of North Bay. The campus cleanup is part of the students’ Environmental Stewardship Project, a collaborative assignment in which the students identify a local environmental need and design a stewardship project to help meet that need.

“In the course, we read texts about people who go into the wilderness and discover something about themselves and their place in the world.  For the Environmental Stewardship Project, I wanted to offer the students an opportunity for experiential learning with a project that would give them a lot of autonomy while connecting to the course material,” said Dr. Phillips, associate professor of English studies.  “I am incredibly impressed with the work the students have done and they way they have really made this project their own.  It gives me renewed hope for the future and I am excited to read their reflections afterwards."

The 14 students in the class will have a station set up near the pond between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. on November 3.  They’ll be providing volunteers with garbage bags and gloves and directing them to different stations around the campus, residences, and trails for cleanup. They will also be providing snacks and hot chocolate. All volunteers who come out to support this cleanup will have their name entered in a draw to win a $25 gift card for a local business.

More information can be found about this event on the Facebook event page.