A TREEmendous Day for Riverdale School
A TREEmendous Day for Riverdale School
Riverdale School in Palmerston North is undertaking a range of conservation projects to improve biodiversity and help to protect native insects and birds in the school’s local area.
Ruud “The Bugman” Kleinpaste and Shark Scientist Dr Riley Elliott visited Riverdale School to talk to students and teachers about the importance of sustainability and how they can help to look after the environment.
The visit was part of the TREEmendous Education Programme for 2022, an initiative from the Mazda Foundation, with Riverdale School being one of the five winning schools from around the country to each receive $1,000 to go towards an environmental project.
The schools also receive 200 native trees from Trees That Count for their school grounds.
Riverdale School’s Science Lead Teacher, Janine McIntyre, says providing an outdoor learning space is important for children to explore and make connections to the natural world.
“We want to inspire our students to learn more about their natural environment. A key focus of these projects is to increase the biodiversity in our local area and to help protect native insects and birds from predators.”
Kleinpaste is also working with Riverdale School to identify ways to incorporate its conservation and environmental work into the curriculum.
“The students and teachers are so enthusiastic about their environment,” he says. “It’s incredible to see how excited they are to learn new ways to expand their knowledge and develop their conservation projects further.”
Kleinpaste and Elliott will visit the remaining winning schools over the next few months to share their environmental knowledge and talk to students about their individual projects.
Applications are open for Primary and Intermediate Schools to apply for a TREEmendous Education Programme for 2023. Please visit: http://treemendous.org.nz for more information or to enter.