19 Share $20,000 Schools’ Environmental Awards

Projects from honey harvesting to ridding exotic plant pests are among 19 school initiatives to share this year’s $20,000 Northland Regional Council Environmental Curriculum Awards (ECAs).

Council Environmental Education Officer Susan Botting says the annual awards aim to foster excellence in environmental education, with schools eligible for up to $2000 each for their efforts to educate children ‘in, about and for’ the region’s environment.

This year’s 19 recipients will receive amounts between $458 and $1700 each for their 21 projects. (The Council typically sets aside $20,000 in annual ECA funding, however, the total awarded this year is $21,688.89 as it incorporates funds unspent by one of last year’s recipients.)

“Once again, this year’s projects are impressive; both in their scope and their quality. Especially pleasing is the increasing role that students are playing in planning and designing them,” Ms Botting says.

She says the ECAs recognise and support the environmental education efforts put in by more than 1700 Northland students (aged five to 18) in 80 classes and/or school student environmental groups. Six winning schools are based in the Far North, 10 the Whangarei District and three in Kaipara.

The winning schools and GST exclusive funding for their projects are:

1. Dargaville Intermediate
Project: Seed raising glasshouse
Funding: $1500
Contact: Brendon Lucich (09) 439 8045
Project details: Funding towards buying a glasshouse to help raise seedlings for the school garden and native trees to supply future riparian planting projects.

2. Hurupaki School
Project: Seats for Students
Funding: $876.29
Contact: Katy Howett (09) 435 0733
Project details: Funding towards buying materials to replenish permanent seating for students in the school’s long-established wetland.

3. Kaingaroa School
Project: Room 4 garden and teaching resource
Funding: $614.00
Contact: Sue Masters (09) 408 7031
Project details: Funding towards buying native trees and environmental education-focussed videoing gear. Students will produce a tree-planting video as a future teaching resource.

4. Kaitaia College
Project: Haumietiketike
Funding: $ 1500
Contact: Mike Bryan (09) 408 0190
Project details: Funding towards buying gardening equipment and materials to clean out exotic pest plants and plant natives at the school.

5. Kamo Intermediate
Projects: # 1 Islands of Life (2010) and #2 Green Dream (2010)
Total funding (both projects): $1040.99
Contact: Jan O’Connor (09) 435 0343
Project details: $901.99 for materials to continue developing the school’s long-running ‘Islands of Life’ project and $139.00 for irrigation timing equipment for the Green Dream project.

6. Kerikeri High School
Project: To Waste or Recycle? Protect our Future!
Funding: $838.25
Contact: Ria Bright (09) 407 8916
Project details: Funding to buy a camera, tripod and recording material as part of the school’s Recycling Action Group making a documentary about recycling and waste to use as future teaching material.

7. Mangakahia Area School
Project: All-Weather Recycling Station: Minimising Waste
Funding: awarded $1249.75
Contact: Elyne Semenoff (09) 433 1702
Project details: Funding to buy materials for building an all-weather recycling centre in the school.

8. Mangonui School
Project: Are we the Guardians?
Funding: $1594.92
Contact: Dave Sedcole (09) 406 0182
Project details: Funding to buy weed mat, timber edging and watering materials to use as part of developing natives plantings on school land.

9. Ngunguru School
Project: The Living Kitchen
Funding: $473.38
Contact: Loren Hope (09) 434 3805
Project details: Funding to buy gardening equipment and general material for building a pizza oven to cook pizzas made with the garden produce grown at school.

10. Onerahi School
Projects: #1 Enhancing our Bush & #2 Pathways to the Future
Total funding (both projects): $1222.88
Contact: Renay Brown (09) 436 0521
Project details: Funding of $100 towards buying ferns plus $1122.88 for timber and metal for pathways through a dedicated Environmental Education zone in the school grounds.

11. Otaika Valley School
Projects: Uru huaraakau
Funding: $458.00
Contact: Eden Tomlinson (09) 432 2731
Project details: Funding to buy fruit trees to establish a school orchard.

12. Oturu School
Projects: School is Sweet! Honey Harvest
Funding: $1206.08
Contact: Fraser Smith (09) 408 2050
Project details: Funding to buy equipment to mechanically extract honey from school hives.

13. Rawene School
Project: Composting Unit for Edible Gardens
Funding: $949.78
Contact: Maria Barnes (09) 405 7885
Project details: Funding to buy compost bins, worm farm, a wheelbarrow, spades, buckets and potting mix as part of developing a school-wide composting unit for an edible garden.

14. Ruakaka School
Project: Solutions not Problems
Funding: $1700
Contact: Gillian Roberts (09) 432 7503
Project details: Funding towards the purchase of a garden shed to store garden equipment used by students to service the school’s well-established garden programmes.

15. St Josephs School
Project: Native Bush Area
Funding: $1000
Contact: James Nyssen (09) 439 8639
Project details: Funding towards buying plants and bark to enhance the school’s mature trees.

16. Tangiteroria School
Project: Native Bush Learning Environment
Funding: $1287.83
Contact: Mark McCann (09) 433 2635
Project details: Funding towards buying timber and other materials to build a lookout onto a well-established native bush reserve in school grounds.

17. Tauraroa Area School
Project: Class Gardens and Polyhouse
Funding: $1500
Contact: Joanne Searle (09) 432 2643
Project details: Funding to buy a polyhouse and gardening equipment.

18. Waipu School
Project: Garden Group Water Supply
Funding: $1176.75
Contact: Paul Ramsay (09) 432 0135
Project details: Funding to boost school gardening sustainability through buying a 5000 litre water tank to nourish already-established greenhouse/growing areas.

19. Whananaki School
Project: Our Learning Environment
Funding: $1500
Contact: Shaun Davidson (09) 433 8231
Project details: Funding to buy a polyhouse to grow natives for the school grounds.

ENDS

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