The BEAT Gets Going!

1 October 2025Tema BC, Hope ‘26

BEAT is more than just a root vegetable; it is Brentwood’s Environmental Action Team, a group of passionate students and staff whose mission is to educate the school about environmental issues, motivate them to care, and take action to find solutions, and, most importantly, have fun while doing it.

This year’s BEAT Captain, Layla R, Mack ‘26 has been a committed member of the club since grade nine and she is looking forward to seeing all the great projects that members of the club will initiate and participate in this year. Layla has been working tirelessly to quickly get things into motion this year. This includes speaking to the Grad Class during Orientation, facilitating weekly club meetings to discuss current projects and goals, forming a leadership group of Grade 12 BEAT Prefects to represent the club in the boarding houses, and educating the Grade 8s about proper recycling during the Eco-Challenge, and the Grade 9s about the BEAT orchard and garden, all while instilling good habits and ensuring a generation of environmentally savvy individuals. Under her leadership, we are in good standing for a year full of success!

Autumn is upon us. For some, this means the season of pumpkin spice, but for BEAT, this means that there is work to be done in the school orchard and garden. Over the past three weeks, the Grade 9 class has spent time there and on some local properties, harvesting apples and potatoes, removing invasive English Ivy from indigenous trees, and planting flowers for our pollinators. Thanks to their efforts – and those of their teachers, Ms Mack & Mr Brennan, and Sebastian S, over 140 pounds of apples were delivered to McBarleys for juicing, and many more were featured in this weekend’s Applefest Sunday Brunch – thanks to Mr Sanderson and the Food Service Staff for their delicious creativity.

And thanks to Ms Cindy Lehman for teaching us how to make apple sauce. We cooked 12 litres! As the days turn colder and the leaves continue to fall, Brentwood will embrace autumn and the opportunity that it provides to bring local, low-carbon food into Brentwood.

BEAT is excited to welcome two new teacher sponsors, Ms Mack and Ms Nice, both of whom have experience in the field and have worked on various environmental initiatives already this year; they are valuable additions to the team.

We haven’t even reached the end of September and BEAT has already had a number of other accomplishments, including recycling the chocolate milk containers at the Terry Fox Run (thanks for the idea, Sara Ross), trail maintenance, and an engaging presentation about thrifting opportunities during the Vic Trip by Sterling R, Mack ‘26 and Zhao L, Whittall ‘27. Thanks to Mr Chalmers’ support, we even sent six representatives to the Regenerative Future Conference last weekend!

Of course, none of these would be possible without the support of Mr. Ganley, who has enthusiastically overseen the club since 2022. He constantly provides support to the students and helps them to put their ideas into action.

It is safe to say that things are off to a fantastic start for BEAT, with lots of activism and action to come. October will include initiatives to reduce food waste, a hike up Cobble Hill Mountain, a visit to Goldstream to watch the salmon run, jam making, and much more!

Tema BC, Hope ‘26

Where Students Choose To Be