Moncton, NB - More than 1000 young New Brunswickers participated in the fourth Branch Out, Make Waves Challenge, organized by the New Brunswick Environmental Network. Together, youth, schools, environmental groups, and community groups from across the province planted 1510 native trees and cleaned 26 hectares of shoreline.

Branch Out, Make Waves is a challenge for youth and community groups to work together on nature conservation projects in their local communities. To help raise awareness of their efforts, the youth groups were invited to participate in a photo challenge. Photos of their conservation projects were posted on-line and the public was invited to vote for their favorite entry. The photos can be seen at: https://nben.ca/en/branch-out-make-waves.

The grand prize winner of this year's challenge is Dalhousie Regional High School with more than 600 votes and 3000 views. Mr. Justin MacCurdy's students planted 50 trees and cleaned up three hectares of shoreline with the Town of Dalhousie as a partner. As Mr. MacCurdy explains, "Fresh air! Salt air! [This challenge] afforded the grade 6, 7, and 8 students of DRHS an opportunity to pursue a learning experience outside of the traditional classroom…The day was a great lesson in environmental stewardship, which gave students the opportunity to show their innate concern for our local natural environment. Just like the rocks that skipped across the bay that day we can sometimes find ourselves skipping along life’s trajectories but it is important to take the time to sit and enjoy our natural surroundings, in all their splendour, to find ourselves grounded and connected.”
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Photo: Dalhousie Regional High School students participating in Branch Out Make Waves.

Contact: Raissa Marks, New Brunswick Environmental Network, nben@nben.ca, 506-855-4144
 © 2018 NBEN / RENB