(Saint John, NB) May 10, 2013 – After six weeks of voting by Canadians from coast to coast, Island View School’s dream of teaching and learning outdoors has come true as the winner of the 2013 MAJESTA Trees of Knowledge competition. As the winning school, Island View takes home the grand prize of a $20,000 outdoor classroom from MAJESTA, expert consultation from Tree Canada to help bring their classroom to life and outdoor learning curriculum support from Focus on Forests.

“Congratulations to Island View School for being chosen by Canadians as the winner of the MAJESTA Trees of Knowledge competition,” says Jim Schedler, Vice President of Marketing for MAJESTA. “We want to thank every finalist school for their hard work and participation, as well as every community and Canadian who came together to show their support and help these schools realize their dream of taking learning outdoors.”  

Island View School’s new outdoor learning space will open in October 2013 and will feature a covered amphitheatre-like classroom with stepped seating, learning pods to facilitate smaller group learning and a new structure to help direct rain into the school’s water garden. The school rallied support across their community through door-to-door campaigning, setting up voting booths at local sporting events and creating a “human” MAJESTA logo. To create the logo, all the kids donned red t-shirts and formed an apple shape in the school yard. A photo was then taken from the roof of the school. The image became the face of Island View’s campaign, appearing in all their social media channels.

“We are absolutely thrilled with the win. Our success in this competition was the result of the hard work put in by students, parents, staff members and the community, as ultimately they made this happen,” says Mark Blucher, Principal, Island View School. “We are excited to get moving with the construction and begin learning in the classroom. I’m grateful to MAJESTA for offering us this opportunity, as they made it possible to make our vision for an outdoor space a reality.”

Other top finalists include Our Lady of Sorrows School in Petawawa, ON ($5,000), École Vision St-Jean in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC ($3,000) and École St. Thomas in Lloydminster, AB ($2,000). The winner of the $3,000 Most Creative Idea Award will be announced the week of May 13, 2013.  

School submissions for the next MAJESTA Trees of Knowledge competition will open in early September. More information can be found at www.majestatreesofknowledge.ca.

About MAJESTA:
MAJESTA is the soft and green choice for household paper products. MAJESTA products are made from trees from J.D. Irving, Limited’s forests. As part of its award-winning commitment to responsible forest management, J.D. Irving, Limited plants seedlings every spring and summer to reforest the woodlands. In the past 50+ years, J.D. Irving, Limited has planted more than 940 million trees. Since 2001, J.D. Irving, Limited’s forests have been certified by The Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc. (“SFI”). In the U.S., the company’s forests are also certified under the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC® C041515). Part of the J.D. Irving Group of Companies, a family business in operation for more than 132 years, MAJESTA’s head office is located in Dieppe, New Brunswick.

Our promise is: We plant three trees for every one we use to produce MAJESTA products. Both soft and green, MAJESTA delivers the softness you can feel and feel good about. To learn more, visit:  www.majesta.com.

About Tree Canada:
Tree Canada is a not-for-profit, charitable organization established in 1992. Under the direction of an 11-member volunteer Board of Directors, Tree Canada provides education, technical assistance, resources and financial support through working partnerships to encourage Canadians to plant and care for trees in rural and urban areas.

About Focus on Forests:
Focus on Forests provides hands-on curriculum linked activities and support materials to assist teachers of all grade levels. The lesson plans are well organized and designed to be easily adapted to any teaching environment or grade level. Focus on Forests is a program of the Ontario Forestry Association. Together with Tree Canada, these two groups have combined their efforts to bring this forest education program to a Canada-wide audience and highlight the value that Focus on Forests plays in introducing forests to Canadian classrooms. This exciting new partnership is supported by Irving Consumer Products, the makers of MAJESTA household paper products.

For more information:
Sheri Papps/ Andrea Hanft
Paradigm Public Relations
spapps@paradigmpr.ca / ahanft@paradigmpr.ca
416-203-2223