After beehives and greenhouses, École Lacombe Composite High School’s Ecovision club is back at it again with another project: a goat sanctuary, a project that they call ‘Roofs for Kids’.

Steven Schultz, a teacher at ELCHS, and teacher advisor for Ecovision explained the idea and origins behind the project.

“Roofs for Kids was a project born from one of my students who initial desire was to bring goats and put them on a roof similar to a store on Vancouver Island. So he had seen a picture of that and thought that it fit Ecovisions pillars which are enhance our education, collaborate with the community, and help the environment.”

To accompany the goats, the club intends to use sea cans that the goats can climb on, and that would house their beehive classrooms. However, the roof of the sea can is a project in itself as they intend it to have a ‘living roof,’ a roof that creates as much green space and as the building takes up. On the roof, students would be able to plant a variety of plants, fruits, and vegetables that the cafeteria could use for food. Additionally, they intend to put a micro-climate garden alongside the sea can.

It is certainly a big project, but Holden Farfard, a student at ELCHS, Ecovision member, and graduated beekeeping student is up for the challenge.

“Doing projects in Ecovision, especially this one, it sort of gives you this community that you can go to. You can make new friends that share the same interest of environmental care,” Farfard added, “It’s something you can come to later in life with your kids and you can say ‘Hey, I helped make that’.”

Schultz believes that the students of Ecovision are ready for the challenge saying, “It’s not easy, I ask these guys to do things that are tough, I demand their time, and I so appreciate it, but the benefits of it they will experience in their future…” Schultz added, “The standard way of doing cookie-cutter classrooms is just not going to fit the future.”

Farfard believes that the project will be beneficial to many students in a variety of ways.

“Students can go up there and de-stress, they could learn more about how to prepare for the future if we keep on running out of land like we are for growable space. It will also teach students how to take care of goats and animal husbandry.”

Overall, the opportunities for learning involving the project seem boundless, but it won’t be possible without the help of the community. Steven Schultz encourages anyone who is interested in helping to contact him at steven.schultz@wolfcreek.ab.ca or call ELCHS at (403) 782-6615. For more information on Ecovision click here.