Kamloops This Week
If the Kamloops-Thompson school district had done nothing over the last 13 years to cut its energy costs, that budget line for 2014-2015 would be $1.3 million higher than it is.
However, Art McDonald, SD73 director of facilities and transportation, told the board of education on Monday, Nov. 9, that changes made in that period have led to:
• A 37 per cent reduction in electricity consumption;
• A 34 per cent reduction in natural-gas consumption;
• A 37 per cent reduction in propane consumption;
• A 20 per cent reduction in water consumption;
• A 14 per cent reduction in diesel fuel consumption but a 13 per cent increase in gasoline consumption; and
• A 29 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
Nine projects in line for grant money
Nine projects have been approved for the district’s Creativity, Innovation and Curriculum grants:
• Sa-Hali family of schools is receiving $20,000 for its kindergarten to Grade 12 teaching and learning project;
• Beattie School of the Arts will get $19,250 for a digital media-arts lab;
• Brocklehurst Middle School will get $12,000 for a Google classroom;
• Clearwater secondary gets $9,500 for a project on critical thinking;
• Pacific Way elementary will get $5,000 for a project with Lego robotics and iPads;
• Bert Edwards Science and Technology School will also get $5,000 for a “loose-play” objects and storage shed project;
• Teacher-librarians will receive $18,000 for digital-literacy programs for grades 4 and 8;
• Secondary math teachers will receive $17,500 for a project that aims to transform math instruction; and
• Dufferin elementary, in partnership with Thompson Rivers University, will receive $9,720 for a literacy project on developing a vocabulary application.