The Beach Bee Club at Festival of Trees

The Beach Bee Club has the buzz on the holidays. On November 20, twelve students took on the task of decorating a tree for the BC Children’s Hospital 2019 Festival of Trees at the Bay Centre downtown. “I think it’s really fun because we get to decorate the tree with stuff we made, and it’s just really fun,” said Grade 5 student Tasha Hartfield. Leading up to the Festival of Trees, Beach Bee Club students were busy making the ornaments and decorations. The students designed and decorated the tree with felted bees and flowers, jute beehives, honeycomb and embossed foil. On top of the tree, there was even a beehive with a swarm of bees buzzing around it. The club members ensured that every child in the Junior School contributed to the decorations in some way, building on the Junior School focus on community. Students in the Beach Bee Club understand the importance of bees and other pollinators in their environment. They work hard to share their knowledge, raising awareness of the importance of bees through gardening, making products and taking advantage of opportunities such as decorating the tree. “They help pollinate plants to make sure plants grow really well, and the plants are eaten by herbivores—bees help to support the entire food chain,” explained Tasha. To demonstrate how they are taking action with their learning, the Beach Bee Club also helps to take care of two beehives located on Shady Lane; they also plant and maintain a garden at the Beach Campus to help attract pollinators. Not only has the club become knowledgeable about the importance of bees and pollinators to the ecosystem, they have also been gaining entrepreneurial skills by selling honey, beeswax wraps and more to help fund the beehives. The students agreed it’s been very fun and not just a great learning experience. “It’s really fun because we get to make a lot of stuff and then sell it, and that keeps the bee club rolling because we can provide the money to keep the hives up in Shady Lane still going,” said Grade 5 student Aslan Stark. “I really enjoy Beach Bee Garden because we get to do all the crafts, and we get to see the bees which are fun,” added Tasha. The students also want to give advice to people wondering about bees and pollinators. They say not to be scared when you see them flying around. The bees are an amazing community who work together in the most extraordinary way. The GNS Bee Tree is located on the second floor of the Bay Centre, near the Fort Street entrance and will be on display as part of the Festival until early January. We hope many GNS families will take the time to find the tree and admire the hard work of our Junior School students. And we hope you will take a photo either of yourself, your child, your family or even just the tree. Post your photo to your favourite social media channel (#gnsbeetree), or send it to communications@mygns.ca, and you will entered into a draw. The Festival of Trees has been running in Victoria for 27 years, as they work to raise money for the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation. You can donate and vote for the GNS Bee Tree here! PHOTO GALLERY