Dream fish at Robert Service School
A team of facilitators from the Stream of Dreams program was in Dawson this week to promote environmental stewardship and facilitate a community art project. The program ran at Robert Service School (RSS) from May 8–11.
Students in all grades, from K–12, learned about ways to maintain clean water and protect fish habitat, before painting a wooden fish in their own design. These painted wooden “dreamfish” were installed on the fence of the school as a reminder that “all drains lead to fish habitat.”
Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Education and Robert Service School invited the program to Dawson: it emphasises the importance of clean water, protection of fish habitat, and general environmental stewardship. As well, Stream of Dreams offers a hands-on way for students to create a lasting reminder of these ideas for the whole community, through a mural of dreamfish.
The wooden fish are cut and prepared by the North Fraser Pretrial Centre in Port Coquitlam, B.C. They are in the shapes of salmon, burbot and pike, to represent fish in the local area.
The Stream of Dreams project at RSS was supported by Yukon Salmon Sub-Committee, the Pacific Salmon Foundation, the City of Dawson, and Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in.
Each participant paints a wooden fish that is installed onto a chain link fence as a legacy of the project. These murals represent hope for a future with healthy watersheds. Stream of Dreams educates communities about the life function of their watershed, with the main focus on salmon and storm-drain pollution.
The program hopes to inspire youth to save the world. Stream of Dreams believes that communities who participate are inspired and their passion is painted on every dreamfish.
The focus of the program is a whole school eco-education that educates communities about their local watershed, rivers and streams, encourages behavioural change to conserve and protect water, empowers youth to make a positive environmental impact and creates a community art legacy by and for the whole community. It’s science; it’s art. They can be contacted by email at [email protected] or by phone: 604-522-9420.
The science workshops address these questions:
- Where is your local stream?
- Where does the water in the steam come from?
- How do storm drains work?
- Where do your household drains lead?
- Where does your drinking water come from?
- What can we do to protect salmon and water?
Stream of Dreams provides
- Design, planning and watershed research
- Art paint and all other supplies for workshops
- Workshop presenters
- Professionally prepared wooden fish for each student, teacher and staff
- Mural Installation (one to two days, depending on the number of volunteer helpers and the number of pieces)
