Powerful display of energy and sustainability at college's community event

Bright P-12 College hosted an Energy and Sustainability Showcase community event last Tuesday 20 October. Participants were divided into three groups and toured different areas of the school, accompanied by staff and students. In the new - still under construction - primary playground area, visitors saw a ‘before’ photo of an uninspiring space which was a dust bowl in summer and a mud pit in winter. With help from local families who have donated time, materials and expert advice, the area is being transformed into a creative play space with natural elements including lots of greenery. Visitors also spent time in a Year 5/6 classroom, hearing from students about how they’ve been using the gadgets in the Energy Efficiency Kits at school and at home. In the college's outdoor classroom, students explained how their hydroponic system works, and visitors had the opportunity to prepare a seedling to be added to the existing thriving food forest. Visitors also got a lesson from students in how the food grown at school is sold via the Bright Food Co-op or used in the school canteen. Students demonstrated how the worm farm is used to turn scraps from the vegetable gardens into a valuable resource. The Bright Food Co-op was another destination on the tour – where visitors heard about how this volunteer-run organisation is going from strength-to-strength, selling locally grown fresh produce and bulk food items to the community. At the end of the event, all participants gathered in the school vegetable gardens to enjoy lunch made in the school canteen using fresh produce from the gardens. Bright P-12 College principal Jean Olley said sustainability is embedded in learning at the college, giving students hands-on opportunities to explore environmental challenges and solutions through real-world experiences. "Through our gardens, horticulture and food production programs, greenhouse and hydroponics facilities, biodiversity projects, waste reduction initiatives, and energy efficiency projects, students develop practical real-world skills while making meaningful connections to their learning," she said. "The showcase demonstrated the strength of our students, staff and community partnerships, and we are excited about the opportunities ahead.” Vince Humphries from Sustainable Upper Ovens (SUO), which has provided technical resources to students to conduct household energy audits in their own homes, said the demonstrations were impressive. "Students were comfortable with using the energy audit tools, and showed real skill in drawing practical conclusions from the audits that would make a real difference both to comfort in the home and to energy costs,” he said. Fellow SUO members Petula Edwards, Peter Gough and Helen Meggs, said they were "truly inspired" by the event and students and it gave them hope for the future. "The children were inspirational in their enthusiasm for learning every aspect of sustainability - from insulating homes and measuring electricity usage to hydroponics and growing their own food," Ms Edwards said. 'Just as exciting was what the school are doing to protect the children for the future by making shaded spaces outside for them to learn and play safely as temperatures rise each summer. "The teachers and staff need to be congratulated for what they are doing and it is so rewarding that Sustainable Upper Ovens environmental group are able to be involved in helping them.” Sabine Glissman-Gough from U3A said that "in a time of doom and bad news stories I felt uplifted by the energy and skill that went into the projects for a positive future that the students embraced". "Receiving an eggplant seedling to prepare and plant into the permaculture 'beds' was one of my favourites. "I also enjoyed the demo of the technical equipment used to detect poor insulation, moisture in walls etc, which can lead to cost savings and better health outcomes when using recommended remedies on how to fix them.”

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