White Rock Elementary students making waves with ocean fundraiser

A group of students at White Rock Elementary is making their first foray into conservation and entrepreneurship with a ‘magnifi-shrimp’ fundraiser aimed at helping out the oceans and marine life.

Called Making Waves, the fundraising campaign is made up of Grade 2 and Grade 4 fine arts students who have created plankton and marine life-themed goods, such as ‘PlankTote’ bags’, ‘Plank-You’ cards and ‘Planktonic’ art prints to sell. All funds raised will go towards conservation organizations Ocean Wise and BC Whales.

“The idea started with our Grade 2 fine arts students who were very involved and interested in our saltwater sea aquarium we have at the school,” said teacher Laura McKillop. “We’ve done a lot of work around learning about the creatures, marine life and food webs.”

According to McKillop, the school has a 60-gallon saltwater tank full of local marine species and the ‘Seaquarium’ has been an invaluable tool for students to learn and care about an ecosystem that’s so close to home.

“Many of our teaching programs are based around it,” said McKillop, adding that it’s provided students a new perspective on the marine environment they live so close to in White Rock.

After learning about plankton and how even the smallest lifeforms in the ocean can impact the larger ecosystem, McKillop said the students wanted to explore how they could help keep the ocean healthy.

“We wanted to raise awareness about how important the most microscopic things in the ocean in this really macroscopic way and so each student designed their own little plankton, and we created prints, cards and plank totes.”

After putting together some sustainable and environmentally friendly wares, the students held a fundraising sale from May 17-20. Along with showcasing the crafts for sale, students also put together writeups explaining why they are fundraising and where the funds will go.

The initiative is also a welcome return to the community interaction that’s been so lacking during the pandemic. McKillop notes that for many of the students, this is their first time being able to do something involving people from outside of their direct school community.

McKillop is hopeful this is the beginning of a new tradition, with classes able to host a similar community fundraiser each year moving forward.

“We’ve really missed that community building aspect and this has been awesome for that,” said McKillop. “It’s great to see people coming into schools again after COVID.”

 “This was our first foray into it, and it would be great to have that connection that continues to bring everyone together.”

There are still some plank-you cards and a handful of PlankTote bags still remaining. Those interested in supporting the fundraiser can contact White Rock Elementary for more details.