Celebrating Tweed's young environmental leaders

22 November 2018

Tweed secondary school students graduate from new council program

A graduation ceremony will celebrate eighteen Year 10 students for completing Council’s inaugural Secondary School Environmental Leadership Program.

The program aims to better support students’ environmental initiatives in schools and the community.

The graduation ceremony will take place at Tweed Regional Museum in Murwillumbah on Friday 23 November between 4.30pm and 6pm.

More than 30 students applied from eleven Tweed secondary schools for the 18 places, funded through Council’s environmental education funds. An additional grant from Boeing enabled students to benefit from the expertise of the Centre for Sustainability Leadership (CSL).

The students completed a three-day Outward Bound Australia wilderness experience in Kunghur.

Students are now putting environmental projects into action at school and in their community, with initiatives which range from beach clean-up days, recycling in schools, to planting more native trees within school grounds.

Deputy Mayor of Tweed Cr Chris Cherry, who will be attending the graduation event, said that Council was pleased to launch the new program for young people across the Tweed.

“It’s great to hear that students improved their leadership skills and confidence alongside meeting new like-minded people on the program. This is the next generation of leaders and it’s important we encourage them to be passionate about the environment in their schools and communities,” said Cr Cherry.

CSL worked with the students to explore the concepts of environmental leadership, refining their skills in delivering environmental projects and practiced sharing the students’ stories about their environmental passions and actions.

“From being involved I got to see first-hand the value of the program,” said Daniel Robins, Director of Science at Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar School, who participated in the program.

“It was good for the students to meet Council officers who are working in areas they are passionate about. The program was an excellent opportunity to build on our efforts to set the right example in environmental sustainability at school.”