Whanganui Intermediate School is one of ten schools in the final the TREEmendous contest. WIS project is to install a garden on the top field of the school grounds.
Whanganui Intermediate School students have come up with a plan that has made the top 10 in a national competition.
The TREEmendous competition, sponsored by Mazda New Zealand in partnership with Project Crimson, offers $10,000 to the top four schools to help make their designs for native gardensand outdoor classrooms a reality.
Morgan Taituma Hamilton, Finn Sinclair, Reina Jones and Hector Macbeth are the year 8 steering group which came up with a design for an outdoor classroom in the school grounds.
"It is an area that doesn't get used often and should work well as an outdoor classroom," Finn said.
The students used the Minecraft video game to create a three-dimensional model for their design which incorporates the Whanganui River and the different landscapes it passes through on its trajectory from the mountains to the sea.
"Minecraft doesn't have the right plants and trees but we were able to create a fairly accurate design," Reina said.
Hector Macbeth, Finn Sinclair, Reina Jones and Morgan Taituma Hamilton are the TREEmendous team working at Whanganui Intermediate.
Photo / Bevan Conley
Hector explained that the design is not to scale but incorporates their concepts which include a large, central conversation pit where classes and individual study could take place.
Surrounding the pit, the area is divided into four sections which are named for the four clusters at the school - Harakeke, Rātā, Tawa and Kahikatea.
A mini awa will run through the centre of the design and all the features will be constructed from natural materials.
Asked how mountains will be made, Hector pointed to the large fountain constructed from boulders outside the classroom window.
"All the benches and seating areas will be made in the materials room here at school from native timbers that would have gone to waste otherwise."
The students said the design also fits with their school's status as an enviroschool where young people are empowered to design and lead sustainability projects.
In the event that their design doesn't make the top four, these enterprising students have some back-up plans in mind and have already investigated a funding application to Horizons Regional Council.
Minecraft ... the video game students used to design an outdoor classroom.
"There are other options we can look at and the Mazda Foundation also offers funding options for school projects," Finn said.
The initiative, launched in 2007, is about encouraging environmental education in schools, along with teaching children and the wider community about the importance of caring for the environment.
Project Crimson was founded in 1990 to protect pōhutukawa and rātā trees facing an uncertain future. The organisation has broadened its mandate to champion all native plant species and the TREEmendous project is part of that aim.
If Whanganui Intermediate makes the top four, their design will be developed next year by which time the steering group members will be at high school.
Teacher Karen Booth-Richards said they would be invited back to help oversee the project.
