Keeping the community green is important for Gleneagle State School Teacher Belinda James as her and a group of students have received a grant to upgrade their school’s Eco Club.
“As the Eco Champion, I applied for the grant because I really wanted to improve our gardens – they were looking a bit sad,” Belinda said.
“I care about the environment and the future in educating the students on how to grow their own food, compost and co-planting flowers.”
Belinda has been Eco Champion for the past two years, after filling the shoes of a previous teacher who started the Eco Club in 2019.
She applied for the Woolworths Landcare grant under project ‘Strawberry Herbs Smash’ hoping to upgrade two garden beds and add another compost system.
“Those gardens were once full of strawberries and they were so delicious – the kids loved them,” she said.
“It was too hot over Summer, and it just killed them all, so I really wanted to get the strawberries back because the kids loved it so much.”
The school’s Eco Club has over 12 members where the students’ role is to look after multiple garden beds scattered around the school.
“We hold Eco Club on lunch periods and most students come and attend our gardens,” Belinda said.
“The kids really love the achievement of growing plants. It’s like an accomplishment where they’ve grown it and then they can finally eat it.”
Student Eco Captain Ashley Winslet appreciates being part of the Eco Club as she loves being able to grow organic foods and share it with others.
“I’m usually outside a lot and I know how to grow a lot of different fruits and vegetables,” Ashley said.
“I’ve heard a lot of people say that the younger kids would look up to you a bit more, and it might encourage them to want to be that captain and want to do what you do around the school.”
The school encourages students to take the harvested crops home and share it with others.
“The herb and strawberry gardens were to promote community use, like using the herbs in their cooking,” Belinda said.
“That’s what the grant is for; it’s all about the community.”
