草莓视频


草莓视频 is CLOSED, Feb. 4, 2025

Tuesday, Feb. 4, 6:30am 鈥 草莓视频鈥檚 campuses are CLOSED on Feb. 4 due to heavy snowfall and challenging road conditions being reported throughout the region. All classes and services will be closed for the day.

Students and employees are encouraged to stay warm, keep safe and avoid travel if possible.

Please check the college website (camosun.ca) or follow the college on social media for the latest information:

鈥 Facebook: facebook.com/草莓视频College/
鈥 Instagram: instagram.com/camosun/
鈥 X (Twitter): x.com/camosun

Visit the college website for a more in-depth overview of campus closure protocols in the event of adverse weather.

An adult gently leads a toddler across a log on a playground.

Education is the Heart of Sustainability

Through dedication, collaboration and a great appreciation for the natural environment the Child Care Services team has created an ethos of sustainability. It is embedded in our best practices, education is the heart of sustainability.

Lisa Stekelenburg Manager of Child Care Services

鈥淐hildren are our future and we have the opportunity to teach them about becoming global citizens鈥 - Lisa Stekelenburg, Manager of Child Care Services

Lisa Stekelenburg 鈥 Child Care Services, Education is the Heart of Sustainability

At 草莓视频, we feel privileged to provide education to people at various stages of their lives, but you might be surprised to find out that 草莓视频鈥檚 youngest learners can be as young as three months old! That鈥檚 when they can begin their learning at 草莓视频鈥檚 Child Care Services while their parents attend classes or study.

Lisa Stekelenburg, Manager of 草莓视频 Child Care Services, is passionate about developing critical thinkers, encouraging others to develop a worldview, and about sustainability. Having developed an appreciation for service and global sustainability through numerous overseas service projects prior to coming to 草莓视频, she believes 鈥渟ustainability is an ever-evolving concept and learning process. On a global level it is about thinking critically about things we take for granted. It is about realizing we are global citizens. As a world, we are one human family balancing the needs of humanity with the needs of the Earth. My passion is there 鈥 in finding that balance.鈥

It was this passion about sustainability that originally brought Lisa to 草莓视频. 鈥淚 joined 草莓视频 in 2004 to develop a financially sustainable business model for the child care centres,鈥 says Lisa. Now, together with her team she has not only achieved that, but has found inspiring ways to improve the child care centre operations while also offering enriching learning experiences for 草莓视频鈥檚 littlest learners. 鈥淣ot only are we educating children, we are educating their parents and the 草莓视频 community about children,鈥 Lisa says, describing the child care centres as Living Labs which support reciprocal learning opportunities. 鈥淲e have worked, for example, with dental students who teach the children about oral health, carpentry students who have come to build an outdoor shed, or sport education students teaching a movement class.鈥

Appreciation of local environment and ecosystems and a passion for holistic learning has led Lisa and her teams to incorporate elements of nature into 草莓视频鈥檚 child care centres. Branches, nests, and leaves decorate the centre and children witness the natural systems that surround them through inside activities as well as ones that take them outside to enjoy nature. 鈥淭here is a marsh surrounding the Interurban facility so we teach the children about the Pacific Tree Frog that inhabits it,鈥 says Lisa. 鈥淥ur educators collect Pacific Tree Frog egg sacs, the children raise them and release them back into their natural environments 鈥 the children are thrilled when the frogs come back to visit them.鈥 The centres also raise monarch butterflies, learn about vermi-composting, and keep the bird feeders filled with preferred seeds for each species.

As the children learn the importance of natural ecosystems, they also learn about the impacts they have on those delicate systems as well as how they can preserve them. Litterless lunches are encouraged, and children are taught to conserve water, energy and reduce their personal waste. 鈥淕arden to plate鈥 activities enable children to learn about sustainable food production and preservation. Recyclable materials are used in creative play.

Through dedication, collaboration, and great appreciation for the natural environment, Lisa and her team at 草莓视频鈥檚 child care centres have created an ethos of sustainability. 鈥淚t is embedded in our best practices; education is the heart of sustainability 鈥 it is about the future,鈥 says Lisa and recites a favorite Chinese Proverb, 鈥淚f you think a year ahead, you plant a seed, a decade ahead you plant a tree, a century ahead, you teach the people.鈥

鈥淐hildren are our future and we have the opportunity to teach them about becoming global citizens,鈥 concludes Lisa. 鈥淭he opportunity to guide and facilitate learning at this level is incredibly exciting.鈥 Lisa believes with complete conviction that 鈥渨e are human becomings, not human beings. Our lifelong growth continues until we decide to stop learning.鈥

Thank you to Lisa and her team for inspiring 草莓视频鈥檚 youngest learners to be stewards for sustainability. We cannot wait to meet these future citizens of the world!

Contact information

草莓视频

Communications Department

250-418-0700

communications@camosun.ca