Waipahihi Botanical Society chairman Graeme Robinson (centre) lends a hand to collect seedlings for Hawke's Bay schools.
Waipahihi Botanical Society chairman Graeme Robinson (centre) lends a hand to collect seedlings for Hawke's Bay schools.
Children are using their green thumbs to support the ecological recovery in Hawke’s Bay.
Conservation education group Kids Greening Taupō struck upon the idea to use their plant prowess to support the long road to recovery for a school in Hawke’s Bay.
Having previously worked with Awanui School to add a variety of young native trees to its grounds, they knew the saplings they planted would not have stood up in the face of the winds, rain, flooding and silt that have affected the area.
Although not the immediate priority, they know that eventually, the school would be looking to rebuild its site to welcome back students and nature.
When the time comes, Kids Greening Taupō and Waipāhīhī School plan to be on hand to deliver some lovingly tended native plants.
The Waipahihi Kids Greening Taupo student leaders worked with (back row from left) "Bugman" Ruud Kleinpaste, KGT lead education co-ordinator Rachel Thompson, and Waipahihi Botanical Society chairman Grame Robinson to collect plants.
Kids Greening Taupō staff, along with Waipāhīhī School’s student leaders, recently teamed up with Waipahihi Botanical Society chairman Graeme Robinson and “Bugman” Ruud Kleinpaste of Field-Based STEM to gather seedlings from around the botanical gardens.
The team got special dispensation from Robinson to take some of the excess seedlings that have become established over summer from the site because removal of plants from the gardens is usually not allowed.
Rachel Thompson, lead education co-ordinator for Kids Greening Taupō, said it was an opportunity for collaboration in Taupō that would have a positive impact further afield.
“[It’s] four different organisations coming together to do something really cool for kids over in Hawke’s Bay.”
The students at Waipāhīhī School will tend to the seedlings and grow them until Awanui School was ready to receive them.
Waipāhīhī School deputy principal Mands Wilson said tending to the seedlings gave students a valuable, real-world opportunity to put their learning into practice.
“This term our key concept is hauora, ‘Looking after me, looking after you’.
“We could not imagine a more purposeful way to put this into action than looking after schools just over the hill. "
Deputy principal Jen Maloney said the project was a testament to students’ team-working skills.
“We are proud of the empathy shown by our students across the school who have been involved in starting our little native nursery.
“Our Kids Greening Taupō leaders went further afield to the botanical gardens while dozens of other students worked onsite to make this happen.”
Kids Greening Taupō had also compiled stationery and learning resource packs to send to students in Te Pōhue and Tūtira, two of the communities hard hit by Cyclone Gabrielle.
These resources were donated by local individuals and businesses, and delivered to students who are unable to attend school due to the effects of the recent weather event.
