Osborne South BIZ Mayor’s Award recipients this year are:

Jeunes Écocivistes - (Young Environmental Citizens) at Collège Churchill, 510 Hay St.

Derek Sims started this group in 1993 and they have been going strong since. Mr. Sims teaches Biology, Physics and Science at Collège Churchill in the South Osborne area, as well as running the wilderness program at the school. The group consists of environmentally conscientious students ranging from grades 7 to 12. This year’s co-presidents, Maclean Boyd, Grade 11 and Riley McMurray, Grade 12, have been active members of the group since Grade 7. They partake in and organize various activities and outings to further educate and involve the members. As Riley was unable to attend the ceremony, past-president Mikol Markiw attended as is pictured with the group.

They try to live by the group’s motto “if everyone does a little, together we can do a lot”

Young Environmental Citizens, or Jeunes Ecocivistes, is responsible for setting up Collège Churchill’s recycling program and to date they have recycled 29 240 kg of paper. During their annual riverbank clean up their school has been able to remove approximately 20 pickup trucks of waste. Every year they hold the Bake-An-Acre bake sale, with all proceeds going towards Nature Conservancy of Canada. They have raised $2 625 and helped preserve 105 acres of endangered land, focusing their attention on the Tall Grass Prairie ecosystem here in Manitoba.

They also hold team building events throughout the year, including, visits to Birds Hill park, potluck dinners and excursions to the Tall Grass Prairie preserve. These accomplishments prove that when given the opportunity, students will gladly participate in activities to make their community greener.