Do you enjoy nature?

PHOTO THANKS TO CHRIS AGE 16

"The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be."  Anne Frank

What kids did for Earth Day

STUDENTS IN TANZANIA AFRICA

22 April, was Earth Day.
School students played a huge part in Earth Day 2011, with over 60,000 schools receiving Earth Day materials in the Green Schools initiative.
Some of the activities included:

• tree plantings and trash clean-ups by 1,000 students in Tanzania, Africa
  
  


• sixth-grade Iraqi mine survivors planting trees




• Detroit school kids building a plastic bottle boat




• The Planet Earth in Our Hands global project promoted student voices in recognition of what we all can do to use the earth's resources responsibly.


• students at Patriarch Diodoros, “The 1st School” formed an ‘Earth Day Volunteers’ group and are ‘greening’ their school inside and out.
  
  

Visit the Earth Day Organisation

Get your Student Activist Toolkit for ideas to make Earth Day every day

Let us know what you or your school did this year for Earth Day.

Planet Patrol's Paper Pledge

Alastair, Freya and Imogen co-founded Planet Patrol which is written BY kids, about the environment, FOR kids.

They have started a Paper Pledge where companies and organisations can pledge to use Australian recycled paper which contains 50 to 100% of paper sourced from Australian landfill and wood pulp which is grown sustainably (unlike cheaper overseas imports).

This will:

• help save our trees



• reduce water pollution



• improve air quality



• reduce global warming



• save habitats and wildlife



• provide jobs for Australians
  
  

KNN Enviro Award - Weetangera Primary School Canberra Australia

The inaugural Enviro Award goes to Weetangera School Canberra.

Clean Up Australia sent "A big thank you to students at Weetangera School, Canberra, ACT for their generous donation! The students raised the money by selling home made cup cakes at the school fete." 2010

This is not all that this school is doing to help our beautiful environment. The school is promoting environmental awareness and establishing green practices within the whole school.

Some of what they are doing includes:

• the sustainable schools program - being an “energy wise”school
• adopting “water wise” strategies
• participating in Clean Up Australia Day
• created ecological outside teaching area
• participating in “green” initiatives such as “Tree Day”, “Green voucher” for a water tank
• recycling
• collecting food scraps for composting
• promoting a litter free environment
• student environmental schemes are recognised through certificates and Newsletter

CONGRATULATIONS to everyone at WEETANGERA SCHOOL

Weetangera School currently has 413 students enrolled from preschool to Year 6. The fully integrated Autism specific Support Unit, is currently fully enrolled with 6 students.

Animals at school

Ballina High School in northern NSW, Australia is one of many schools that keep animals at school. Their Marine Discovery Centre has fish and yabbies which are allocated to students who then record their growth.
The program uses a “hands on” and “feet in” approach so kids can learn about the marine environment and good coastal management.

News about kids and news for kids.

Get connected to the good news around the world for kids. Find out what other kids are doing or send your own news to kidsnnau@gmail.com from your home, school or country.

Join in at Kids News Network - KNN

What Schools are doing for the environment.

At Slade Green Junior School in Bexley, London, U.K. children and staff have reduced waste by over 90%. Their action plan focused on paper, cardboard and organic materials.
PHOTO from Wiki commons Aluminium recycling drive.

What kids are doing.
Supporting Street Children in Ethiopia and other countries is what 11 year old Isla Ratcliff is doing by playing her violin. Busking for Street Children , started by Ilsa, is a fund raising campaign. "buskingforstreetchildren was inspired by my experience in Edinburgh in Summer 2007 when I managed to raise over £500 in 9hrs of busking over 8 days." Ilsa Ratcliff

A Children's News Network: Y- press. Visit their site which has up to date news, reviews, forums and the Constitution Project.
Book made by students "Soil clings to our skin and covers our feet." This is an excerpt from 'In Our Village: Kambi ya Simba Through the Eyes of Its Youth'. It is a book made by a group of students in Tanzania with help from WKCD (What Kids Can Do). The students, aged sixteen to eighteen years, gathered photographs and stories about the day to day challenges in their world. How the students made this book

Students raise $300,000 in 'Dollars for Darfur' Challenge. Students from more than 2,000 U.S. high schools are raising public awareness about the ongoing genocide in Darfur. They raised $300,000 in the national Dollars for Darfur competition sponsored by the Save Darfur Coalition. The students are continuing to express their concerns with politicians in the American Capitol.

Clearwater Central Catholic High School, raised funds by providing a meal of a bowl of rice, bread and water to remind us of the conditions that refugees in Darfur face everyday.

Children's Choir Raises Hope.
The African Children’s Choir has children from ages 7 to 11 performing African songs and dance and raising funds for continued development in Africa. More info... where you can hear the choir sing or buy a CD.

Reducing Energy Comsumption.
Avery Hairston, a 15-year-old from New York City, U.S.A., has started a charity called RelightNY. Hairston states 'I, along with a growing teenage advisory board, plan to take on the issue of climate change through the simple action of changing a light bulb.'
RelightNY helps people save money on their energy bills by giving them CFL's. These Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs are given to low-income families in an effort to educate and inspire everyone to take better care for the environment. CFL's last up to ten times longer than a regular bulb.

Personal Achievements.
Helping Others
Taiki Kasuga, who is part of RelightNY, travelled to Peru for three weeks of community service.

Science Wizz Blake Bambrook has been given a scholarship by the NSW Government Office for Science & Medical Research to travel to the Nobel Prize-giving ceremony and the Stockholm International Science Seminar in Sweden. Blake was selected from over 1200 applicants in Australia. Full story at Ballina Advocate



Student Donates Winnings to Amnesty Myfanwy Appleton, an Australian High School student, donated $500.00AUS to Amnesty International to make a "positive impact upon people's lives". Myfanwy won the Charles Sturt University’s Making a Difference (MaD) Competition. More detail about Amnesty...