Help Saanich Peninsula students help the Environment!

Please consider volunteering for our 10th annual Creatures of Habitat events this spring! Volunteers are absolutely vital to this program, providing instruction and supervision to the students during outdoor activities.

About Creatures of Habitat

Over the course of four days this April and May, we'll engage over 500 students in this year's Gr. 6/7 "Creatures of Habitat" Program. This year we will visit Bayside, Colquitz, and North Saanich middle schools.

Indoor activities will include EnviroJeopardy and workshops. Outdoors, students will undertake hands-on ecological restoration activities on or near their school grounds, including invasive plant removal, mulching, native species plantings, etc. It's for these outdoor activities that we need volunteers to help provide supervision for the students!

Check out this video on our Creatures of Habitat program!

Events will take place on:

1) Monday, April 30th from 8:35am-3pm at Colquitz Middle School
Restoration site: Colquitz River Park
2) Wednesday, May 9th from 8:45am-2pm at Bayside Middle School
Restoration site: Gowlland Tod Provincial Park
3) Thursday, May 10th from 9:05am-3pm at North Saanich Middle School (Day 1/2*)
Restoration site: School grounds and Lillian Hoffar Park
4) Friday, May 11th from 9:05am-3pm at North Saanich Middle School (Day 2/2*)
Restoration site: School grounds and Lillian Hoffar Park
You can volunteer for one or multiple days. If you can be there for only a morning or afternoon shift, please let us know as we can accommodate this as well.
*There are two dates for North Saanich Middle School as both their Gr. 6 and Gr. 7 students are participating. At Bayside and Colquitz schools, only the Gr. 6 students are participating.

Volunteer Activity Description

We're looking for enthusiastic and responsible adult volunteers to work with and supervise youth (ages 11-12) at the school grounds and/or park locations. No restoration experience or plant knowledge necessary; we will teach you everything you need to know at the Volunteer Orientation/Training Sessions (see dates below). As a volunteer, your role will entail supervision of a group of 5-7 students doing invasive plant species removal, garbage pick-up, weeding, planting, mulching and/or other outdoor activities. You will be supported at the site by the teachers and PSS staff.

Volunteer Orientation/Training Sessions

Please attend the Volunteer Orientation/Training Session for the school that you will be volunteering at. Each session is site-specific. If you can't make it to the training session, you can still volunteer! We will send you an information package before the event that will cover all of the important details.

a) Colquitz Middle School – Monday, April 23rd from 5:30-6:30pm.
Meet at school parking lot at 5:25pm (505 Dumeresq Street, V8Z 1X2)

b) Bayside Middle School – Tuesday, April 24th from 5:25-6:30pm.
Meet at Wallace Drive entrance to Gowlland Tod Provincial Park at 5:20pm.
*Note - We do NOT meet at the school for the Bayside training session.

c) North Saanich Middle School – Wednesday, April 25th from 5:30-6:30pm.
Meet at school parking lot at 5:25pm (10400 McDonald Park Road, V8L 0A3)