YP’s young environmental leaders mark successful year

More than 30 year 6-7 students from Curramulka, Stansbury, Port Vincent and Edithburgh primary schools, along with St Colomba’s Memorial, Yorketown Area and Minlaton District schools gathered to celebrate and present on their sustainability projects completed throughout the year.

Natural Resources Northern and Yorke community ranger Fabienne Dee says she was thrilled with the presentations made by the students to wrap up the 2014 project.

"The schools either presented an iMovie, verbal or Powerpoint presentation independently created by the students," she says.

"Each school displayed creativity and leadership in presenting on their respective project, demonstrating their understanding of environmental issues."

Projects undertaken at the schools included: Curramulka PS, bush parkland, weed control, parkland signage and planting of trees, grasses and sedges (including a workshop on Bridal creep rust control); Minlaton DS, composting to reduce waste; Stansbury PS, sensory garden and butterfly garden; Pt Vincent PS, native garden transformation; St Colomba’s MS, worm farm; Edithburgh PS, water sustainability gardening, and Yorketown PS, rejuvenate, renew, revisit, recycling.

Three workshops were held throughout 2014, bringing the students together from the participating schools to take part in a series of hands-on activities.

Ms Dee says the projects undertaken at each school were student-driven and chosen by the students and their school to reflect school and community environmental needs, as well as each school’s capacity to successfully undertake the project.

Ms Dee says the YEL program – an Australian Government Caring for our Country-funded initiative – was empowering for the students involved and the outcomes were far reaching.

"The idea of the program is to start with the YEL students and then they involve students back at school as well as the wider community," she says.

"The projects undertaken by these Yorke Peninsula schools influenced several hundred people through community involvement in the projects and sharing of information and news through newsletters."

Natural Resources Northern and Yorke are calling for schools to be involved in the YEL project for 2015. All YP schools have been sent information packs and registration forms, but for more details contact Fabienne Dee on 8853 2795 or 0428 429 321.