Jasper Junior/Senior High School is now the proud new owner of a six-tonne, seven-metre-long ocean predator鈥攐r symbolically, at least.
As part of their stewardship course, a group of the school鈥檚 Grade 10 students recently adopted an orca in the school鈥檚 name, through the World Wildlife Fund鈥檚 Wildlife Adoption program.
The program allows anyone to symbolically adopt a member of an at-risk species for $40. The money goes to the organization鈥檚 conservation efforts, and the adopters get a certificate and information package about the animal they supported.
Along with the whale, Jasper Gabel, Shaquila Orich and cousins Morgan and Stella MacMahon, also adopted a wolf in the name of Jasper National Park and a lynx in the name of their teacher Barb Schmidt.
Schmidt leads the school鈥檚 stewardship course, which takes place over an intense several days at the start of the school year. Grade 10 students head into the woods to learn outdoor skills and environmental consciousness.
As part of the program, students also have to commit to two hours of 鈥渃ommunity outreach鈥� work, which the orca group did with a two-day bake sale at the Servus Credit Union.
Despite a few mishaps during the baking process鈥斺�淚 burnt half my cookies!鈥� Stella MacMahon joked鈥攖he group raised $120. That was enough to adopt the three animals.
The WWF was one of the organizations the students learned about during the four-day stewardship course, and Orich said she and her group thought supporting animal preservation made sense for a Jasper school.
Plus, Stella MacMahon said, there鈥檚 something pretty cool about 鈥渙wning鈥� an orca.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like, our entire school owns an orca,鈥� her cousin Morgan agreed. 鈥淚t鈥檚 actually really cool.鈥�
Their adoption certificate and a small display now sit in a display case in the halls of the high school.
Trevor Nichols
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