Students and teachers from a rural Taupo school have been busy sprouting big ideas on how to create an environmentally-focused education space on their school grounds with hopes of winning a $10,000 environmental makeover.
Wairakei Primary School is one of 11 schools who have been named finalists in the Treemendous School Makeovers for 2015 project, a joint initiative between the Mazda Foundation and Project Crimson Trust.
Highlights from this year's submissions include the proposal from Wairakei Primary School to restore a gully. School principal Paula Farquhar said she knew the community would get a lot of use from the project.
"We are a community-based school and have always had a lot of support from our community. If we are successful in our application, I know the gully will become an extension of our school."
Other proposals focused on building nature walks and research into native plants that would attract birds, insects and even frogs.