Cool fun activities are doing more for conservation at Auckland’s regional parks than many a lecture could.
In 2010, park ranger Stuart Leighton and environmental adviser Sarah Sheehan decided there was a more creative way to engage students in Auckland Council's regional parks education programme.
Leighton was involved with the Education for Sustainability group at the time: "We wanted to get kids more engaged and involved inenvironmental care by wrapping it up in a fun sporty event instead of just talking at them. First, we wanted them to have fun in the parks, and get to see them as a cool place to be and bring their families. Secondly, we wanted to show them what goes into maintaining our parks, how different groups are involved in different activities.
"And thirdly, we wanted kids to understand the things they could do to contribute to a healthy environment."
The council partnered with Lactic Turkey Events to create an innovative and interactive experience for students with firm objectives:
• Provide education in park management, including pest management and the impact of recreation on the natural environment.
• Foster a sense of kaitiakitanga - guardianship and protection - of the environment New Zealand is blessed with.
• Introduce students to a wide range of outdoor experiences, encouraging them to enjoy and value the ecological sustainability of our regional parks.
The Schools Sustainability Challenge consists of a series of Rogaine-style events for teams of four students who compete against each other in a mixture of run/walk and sustainability-based challenges.
Each event is set within a different regional park, showcasing some of Auckland's most beautiful wild places. The range of environs from coastal to native bush introduce students to a wide range of ecology, habitats, flora and fauna.
The activities are exciting, fun and challenging, and require a mix of strength, logic and reasoning. Setting pest control traps, pest footprint identification, carrying bags of gravel for track rehabilitation, the Great Drain Game and classifying in-water samples provide educational opportunities in environmental protection.
Identifying native trees and/or bird calls, planting native trees, building a bivvy and cross-cut sawing simply encourage students to enjoy being outdoors. Each activity is supervised by an Auckland Council Park Ranger who provides tuition and guidance.
High-performing teams have a range of skills and abilities and work together to employ their key competencies at each stage of the event. Participants in the 2014 Junior Schools Challenge felt valued, despite their different skill-sets, as Luke explains: "I'm not exactly the fastest runner in the group, but I had a lot of fun and enjoyed the teamwork. In the sustainability activities, brains mattered more than speed."
Leighton notices that although the students approach the challenge from different perspectives, they are universally excited about being in that environment.
"They say 'Wow, this is a cool place' - some of the kids have lived in Auckland all their lives but have never been to Muriwai."
Event director Shaun Collins is passionate about the educational opportunity the Schools Sustainability Challenge provides: "It's great to take kids into our regional parks, raising awareness of how special they are, the threats posed to them and how students can make a difference by taking positive action."
Volunteers and workers from a wide range of organisations come together to assist at each event, including representatives from Regional Parks, Biosecurity, Education for Sustainability, Department of Conservation, World Wildlife Fund, Wai-care, Biodiversity, Stormwater and Lactic Turkey. This abundance of skills and experience provides extensive opportunities for students.
Auckland Council Environmental Education Co-ordinator Bronwyn Smith is effusive: "We really appreciate the support to make a fun, challenging, educational and safe event for students."
The Schools Sustainability Challenge touches on many areas of the curriculum. As the series continues to develop, Lactic Turkey director and ex-schoolteacher Madeleine Collins would like to strengthen that link, particularly at secondary school level. Twelve secondary school teams participated in the inaugural Sustainability Challenge, which was extended to junior schools in 2012.
Firefighter fires up over leukaemia awareness in honour of mate
Firefighter Brad Taylor is raising awareness and funds for the Leukaemia and Blood Foundation.
You may think being a firefighter is challenging enough, yet Brad Taylor has spent the past three years fighting to raise funds and awareness for the Leukaemia and Blood Foundation New Zealand.
Taylor will join 750 other firefighters competing in the annual Firefighter Sky Tower Stair Challenge next Saturday. At 328 metres, the Sky Tower is the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. Participants from all over New Zealand will battle their way up the 51 flights - 1103 stairs - wearing 25kg of firefighter kit. Now in its 11th year, the 2014 event alone raised more than $900,000 for the Leukaemia and Blood Foundation New Zealand.
Taylor is returning to the Sky Tower for the third time, but this year he understands first-hand the pain of losing someone to leukaemia. Skotty Walton died in August last year from the disease, and Taylor watched how much the loss affected his partner. He competes this year in honour of Walton, and to show his support for leukaemia victims and their friends and families.
As part of his training, Taylor returns to Mazda O Rock today. The 12km obstacle course requires Taylor to climb over parked cars, fences and containers, slide down fireman poles, crawl under nets, run off-road and jump over and under walls. And he will be competing in full firefighter kit.
"Over Waitangi weekend I walked 192km in my kit from Palmerston North to National Park, where Skotty spend a lot of his time. This helped to greatly improve my fitness," Taylor says.
The Leukaemia and Blood Foundation does not receive government funding, and Taylor has set a personal goal of raising $5000 for the charity, hoping his discomfort will encourage others to give. In his words: "Every little bit helps."
