Seven Oaks hosts Strut for Solar fundraiser

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This article was published 16/03/2020 (2001 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Seven Oaks Met School has started fundraising to purchase and install solar panels for its building.

The project’s first fundraiser, Strut for Solar, took place Feb. 28 at the Seven Oaks Performing Arts Centre. The fashion show and concert were primarily student-led, with Meg Boehm at the helm.

Boehm, a Grade 12 student, organized a similar event called Strut for Shoal in March 2019. The purpose of the campaign was to raise money for and awareness of Shoal Lake 40 First Nation, which has been under a boil water advisory for more than two decades.

Speakers representing Sisler High School’s Youth in a Green War and Manitoba Youth for Climate Action groups made presentations at Strut for Solar. There were also musical performers, followed by the main event — a fashion show featuring outfits made by local designers.

“This year it’s really important to me to get across that we really need to advertise how urgent… sustainability and renewable sources of energy (are),” Boehm said.

“I think creating this kind of space and opportunity for students to come to practise, to come perform, to hang out together for a whole day… is really important.”

Met School principal Nancy Janelle said they are waiting to receive approval from the division to have a feasibility study conducted for the school’s solar panel project. Until the study is completed, the cost, timeline, and scope of the project remains unknown.

For now, all money collected for the project — including the $2,000 raised at Strut for Solar — will be added to a “sustainability fund,” Janelle said. If approval for the feasibility study is given, the school will pursue financial support from grants and fundraisers.

Seven Oaks Met School students and staff have been advocating for climate action across the school division, to see carbon footprint levels go down and improve sustainability practices.

Last November, a group of students presented to the division’s board and requested they declare a ‘climate emergency’ — which would have made the division the first in Manitoba to do so.