Partnership Programs for Cleaner Schools
The Richmond School District and the City are active partners, working to create awareness and effect behaviour change among students to help enhance their sense of community stewardship and social responsibility.
Educational Theatrical Shows and Contest
Every year, the City coordinates and sponsors two theatrical shows (Zero Heroes and Clean Up Your Act - Make Richmond Sparkle) for elementary school students. These shows are fun and engaging, and inspire students to take action on reducing solid waste and increasing recycling, as well as teaching them about the hazards of littering, vandalism and graffiti.
Students are encouraged to demonstrate what they learn by participating in the City of Richmond's My School Sparkles Contest. The contest begins with students watching a City sponsored live musical comedy show called Clean Up Your Act – Make Richmond Sparkle, performed by Dreamrider Theatre. The show teaches how littering, graffiti and vandalism adversely affects neighbourhoods. Data are collected about the condition of each of the participating school grounds before and after watching the show. The objective is to see if any noticeable positive changes took place regarding litter and vandalism.
In 2011, 10 schools participated in the contest and two schools proved to be sparkling winners. McKinney Elementary won the School That Always Sparkles award for having the least amount of litter before and after the contest. Cook Elementary was awarded the School That is Sparkling award for showing the most improvement after watching the Clean Up Your Act – Make Richmond Sparkle performance.