Students urged to become Champions of Change

The longest running Roots and Shoots Conference in Canada moves into its 11th year at Science North. Students from all four schools boards in the Greater Sudbury area will attend this year’s conference Oct. 6.

The 2010 focus is on “Champions of Change” and reflects the work of people of all ages whose interesting and positive actions change the world around them. Workshops throughout the day will evolve around this theme and include a field trip where students plant 4,000 trees by the end of the day.

The keynote address at this year’s conference will be delivered by Science North Staff Scientists Franco Mariotti (English) and Dan Chaput (French). They will tell students about how their own city is a Champion of Change and the difference our champions have made in just one generation.

“We hope to educate, inspire and move the young people into action to realize that each one of them has the power to change the world around them,” Mariotti said. “That’s the whole reason for the Roots and Shoots conference.”

The conference is presented in partnership with Roots and Shoots Canada and is sponsored by Xstrata Nickel with the support of the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation.

Roots and Shoots is the Jane Goodall Institute’s global network of young people working for positive change in their communities and beyond. There are more than 240 groups and 150 individual members spanning nearly every province in Canada, and more than 8,000 groups worldwide.

For more information about the Jane Goodall Institute, visit www.janegoodall.ca.