VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Burnaby North Secondary School was handed the keys to a new plug-in hybrid school bus from IC Bus during an event celebrating both Earth Day and a student's winning video in last year's “Canada’s Greenest School" contest.
Jennifer Hao, 16, created and submitted the video “Burnaby North: Youth in Action,” that featured how local children can inspire their school and the community to increase green initiatives. IC Bus, a subsidiary of Navistar and the largest school bus manufacturer by volume in North America, ran the contest in the spring of 2010 and received more than 100 submissions from across Canada. Then, last April, the company announced 10 finalists, and more than 25,000 online voters chose Hao's video.
As the grand-prize winner, Hao also earned a “green” audit of her school by a LEED-accredited Morrison Hershfield, an engineering and management firm providing engineering and design build services, and $3,000 educational scholarship. Hao's teacher, Donna Morgan, also received $500 toward eco-friendly class supplies.
“Our students have worked very hard to be conscientious about caring for the environment," said Lynn Archer, principal of Burnaby North. "The hybrid school bus presented by IC Bus is a symbol of the students’ dedication to making the world a greener place, starting with their own school.”
Jennifer’s video discusses the students’ struggle to walk or bike to school due to the twice daily traffic jams making it difficult to enter and exit the school’s traffic zone. Her video further explains how using a hybrid school bus is the most effective solution for reducing pollution thus leading the youth and staff to work together towards implementing a bus system by replacing old buses with hybrids for their “Green Rides Campaign.” Jennifer also outlines ways she sees Burnaby North reducing waste, energy consumption and choosing more environmentally friendly products.
“The commitment of Canada’s youth to greening schools was evident in all of the entries," added John McKinney, president of IC Bus. "It was clear that Jennifer and Burnaby North Secondary had really planned and assessed more effective ways of going green — and the people of Canada made a great choice in selecting Jennifer as the winner.”
Burnaby North's new PHEV school bus retails about $200,000 Canadian. The company said the bus can realize improved fuel economy by up to 65 percent and can emit about a third less greenhouse gas emissions.
An IC Bus spokesperson said South Shore Charter Public School in Norwell, Mass., the 2010 America's Greenest School winner, was scheduled to receive its PHEV school bus on April 30.