Greenwich Park Primary School wins ECHO’s ‘Most improved school yard competition’

Nov 22, 2012 News

 
Greenwich Park Primary School defeated 14 other schools on the East Bank Essequibo to cop first place and emerge winner of the Environmental Community Health Organization (ECHO) ‘Most improved schoolyard competition’.
Leonora Primary School and Stewartville Primary took second and third place respectively and received trophies at an award ceremony held at the Stewartsville Primary School yesterday.

EHCO club schools showcase their prizes with Executive Director EHCO, Royston King in the background.

Several students and teachers from schools that participated in the six-week-long competition also attended the get-together with some receiving prizes such as cricket bats, balls and smaller replicas of winning trophies for their efforts.
According to the rules of the competition, the schools were to improve their surroundings, keeping it clean and exhibiting good disposal habits. Judges who visited the schools throughout the six-week period checked for the manner in which students were keeping the environment.
Students had to keep their school drains and gutters clean and litter-free. It was considered the way in which this was being done. Washrooms were also monitored. The judges checked for odours  and the cleanliness of the area, while taking note of hand washers and the free flow of water for sanitation purposes.
With the help of school authorities, students had to protect their school buildings by maintaining clean walls and floors. Judges checked for the enhancement of their surroundings by natural beautification. This entailed students increasing the number of plants in the school yard, by growing flowers and planting trees.
Executive Director of ECHO, Royston King, congratulated the winning schools and applauded the other institutes for their efforts. In his address to those present, King commented on the importance of maintaining a clean surrounding and thus protecting the environment.
He noted that the initiative for the competition brewed for early education and awareness of environmental protection and care. “We chose the schools because we felt that it was the perfect starting point to raise awareness and teach students about the importance of the environment.”
He said that schools provide a flow of creative energy and it was felt that new approaches and attitudes to environmental care existed. Positive thinking and attitudes can be embedded in younger students, King cited; shifting and molding their minds as they are the environment’s future.
Apart from the competition, King explained that the EHCO organization is working with schools, focusing on the areas of solid waste management, water conservation and purification and climate change.
He disclosed that the organization has instituted in the school ECHO clubs and has elected that students play an integral role in managing the activities.  These clubs are educated in the collection and disposal of the solid waste in their school environment; educated on the conservation and purification of water and further on climate change; its effects, causes and possible outcomes of the global phenomenon.
Activities like the most improved school yard competition will be going to other regions, King noted. Coupled with that, he introduced the upcoming “Ambassador for recycling” initiative which will be launched in the respective schools. That aspect of waste management, King said is very essential and a student from each school where the programme is launched will have the privilege of being the ambassador.
To conclude his address, King thanked the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment who sponsored the awards and the refreshments. He also recognized private entities and urged them to continue their support of the students involved in the initiatives of EHCO.