KELP stands for P'KOLS Environmental Leadership Program. P'KOLS is the name for Mount Douglas in the Indigenous SENĆOŦEN language.
Program members are Mount Doug students in grades 10 to 12 who are passionate about getting involved in environmental initiatives and fostering an environmentally-conscious community.
The program is led by Ms. Kucher, classroom teacher and Science Department Head of Mount Douglas Secondary School.
The program is composed of student-led groups in charge of running projects and hosting events related to a specific topic. The groups for the 2025-2026 school year are as follows:
Recycling
Garden Growing and Harvesting
Native Garden
Garden Engineering
Design, Art, Environment (DAE)
Oceans Group
Youth Outreach Group (YOG)
Members have the opportunity to participate in events hosted by any of the above groups, regardless of which group they belong to. Additionally, members can get involved with Surfrider Foundation and Pulling Together Saanich on Mount Tolmie. They are also welcome to propose their own projects and take on unique roles such as worm farmer, meeting secretary, or webmaster (hi!!)
Check out our projects! To learn more about what each KELP group does, visit the groups page.
Members of KELP lead and partake in environmental initiatives at Mount Douglas Secondary School. We are also involved in the community through ecological restoration at Mount Tolmie, clean-ups at various beaches, and environmental awareness outreach to local schools.
KELP acknowledges we exist on the traditional territory of the lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples, who have stewarded and continue to steward these lands for generations.
Meetings are held every Tuesday lunch in room 219. A variety of KELP events will run throughout the week. These are posted on the Google Classroom.
Interested in joining? Mount Doug students entering grades 10 to 12 can enroll in Environmental Leadership by checking it on their course selection forms, or speaking to their academic counsellor. The course description can be found on the school website. Students can also directly get in touch with Ms Kucher if they’d like to attend an event, observe a meeting, or ask a question about the program.
Want to support KELP? Keep an eye out in the Mount Doug weekly newsletter for our native seed & plant sales during school events. We also sell fresh garden produce weekly on Thursdays after school in the foyer.
KELP is interested in presentations from community leaders of environmental initiatives. This could be during Tuesday lunch meetings or other times, in-person or over Zoom. Please Reach out to Ms. Kucher.