Myrtleford - 2017
Although the weather threatened the day before to spoil our plans, Myrtleford’s Student Environment Day could not have been more perfect. Held at the McNamara Reserve, the venue offered wonderful facilities amid the mountainous backdrop and beautiful sunshine.
More students than ever before in the Alpine Shire, attended the Student Environment Day geared at grade five students. There were students from Falls Creek, Harrietville, Wandiligong, Porepunkah, Bright P-12, Myrtleford P-12 and St. Mary’s from Myrtleford. The students were treated to some very interesting and hands-on workshops where they learnt lots of lessons including:
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How to sort rubbish in order to minimize waste to landfill
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Identifying water bugs to determine the health of the local water ways
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Identifying local bird and other fauna habitats and how to help look after these
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Being aware of how much water we use and to use water wisely
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Understanding the environmental effects of the use of non-renewable energy
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How to use your organic waste to grow vegetables through composting
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What to do in case of natural disasters such as floods
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and … through Aboriginal Art … cultural environmental practices
I would like to thank all the presenters and the local Resource Management Groups for their contributions to the day including the Alpine Shire, Landcare, the SES, Petaurus Education, North East Water, Goulburn Valley Water, North East Catchment Management Authority and the North East Waste and Resource Recovery Group.
The day practiced what they preached with students re-filling their Water Bottles from the North East Water’s Drink Tap Water Station and I am pleased to report that by the end of the Rubbish Free Lunch day, there was a total of only 7 pieces of waste produced from the 230 person event.
I would also like to thank the Alpine Shire and the Myrtleford Football & Netball Club for their contributions to the day and the partnership of the North East CMA and the North East WRRG for the organization of the event. Local media also gave the event lots of coverage.
Students and teachers went home very happy from the day armed with lots of great learning and ideas to follow up. The SEED website will assist in this follow-up.
The next Student Environment Day will be held in Wodonga in August. All days for this year are now fully booked.
See below for pictures of each of the activities
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NECMA - Water Bugs
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NEWRRG - Waste Wise
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Landcare - Biodiversity habitats
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North East Water - Water Issues
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Alpine Shire - Sorting Rubbish
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Petaurus Education - Aboriginal Art
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NECMA - Waste to Plate
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ResourceSmart - Chocolate Chip Coal Mining
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SES - Natural Disasters
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Assembly - Rubbish Free Lunch
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Goulburn Valley Water - Macro-Invertebrates
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McNamara Reserve - Myrtleford
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When students return to their schools they will share their learning with their classmates and follow-up some of the learning they were particularly interested in using the SEED website and other resources to take their investigations further and learn more.
Many thanks go to the Rural City of Wangaratta, Wirraminna Education Centre, Park Lane Nursery, Landcare, North East Water, ResourceSmart, students from Galen College, North East Catchment Management Authority and North East Waste and Resource Recovery Group for their contributions and willingness to share their expertise with students and staff attending this event.