GUELPH – Wellington Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) elementary and secondary schools took part in the recent 2021 Polar Bear Walk.
This marks the ninth annual Polar Bear Walk, which has been recognized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as a national event for Arctic habitat conservation.
The walk was founded in 2013 by Sean Hutton, who is now in Grade 10 at St. James Catholic High School in Guelph.
“The walk has received a lot more attention than when I started,” said Hutton in a press release, noting that the first walk had fewer than 10 participants.
Now the WWF has made it a national event, with schools participating across Canada.
“What led me to start the walk back in 2013, was information about sea ice in the Arctic melting. I wanted to do something about the negative impacts of climate change on Polar Bears, and other Arctic wildlife,” Hutton said.
This year Hutton is a student of the TERRA district program, which focuses on outdoor education, character development, leadership, teambuilding, faith and land stewardship.
In the early part of the program, the class decided to help promote the walk. As such, the TERRA team encouraged individual classrooms to complete a physically distanced walk of 1km, 5km, or 10km.
To donate or learn more about the Polar Bear Walk, visit: https://secure.wwf.ca/site/TR/FundraiseforWildlife/Fundraiseforwildlife?team_id=6000&pg=team&fr_id=1260.
