Young authors love the Lakes

Eagle Point Primary School students became published authors and illustrators overnight in an exciting new project that shares children’s stories about the Gippsland Lakes.

The students, their teacher and two visiting specialists spent time on the foreshore at Eagle Point exploring, experiencing and getting ideas before coming back to school to draw pictures and write about what makes their surroundings special and why they love the Lakes.

Why We Love Our Lakes is a school reader written and illustrated by the students for distribution to schools throughout the region, and is part of a program that will be rolled out to other schools in 2014.

The project has been funded through the State Government’s Gippsland Lakes Environment Fund in a program involving schools and  community groups in learning about and sharing their experiences of the natural environment of the Gippsland Lakes.

On Wednesday (23 Oct 2013) Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, joined the students to see the first copies of the books and celebrate their achievement.

Mr Bull spoke to grade 5five and six students, explaining the scope of the work of Gippsland Lakes Ministerial Advisory Committee in caring for the health of the lakes and told the students about the Love our Lakes forum to be held November 15 and 16.

“I grew up on the Lakes around Metung, I attended Metung Primary School and was one of seven students at the school, and I suppose I took the Lakes a bit for granted,” he said.

“It is only as I have grown older and talked to other families, people in Melbourne who don’t have this great system at their doorstep that I realized how lucky I was and what a precious resource we all have here.

“To see you working on this project and to find that these books you produced will be seen all around the region and be available online is something I hope you are all very proud of because the work you have put into this project is appreciated.”

Mr Bull said as he travels around the region he is often disappointed to see rubbish that could potentially end up in the Lakes.

“These little books will go a long way toward get ting the message of looking after our lakes out to thousands of schoolchildren all around the region and here we are speaking of the next generation.

School principal, Jenny Leggatt said the project provided a great opportunity for the children to express their love for their local environment while working on their literacy and drawing skills.

“Our students are so passionate about the place where they live and this was a fantastic opportunity for them to express themselves and to create a lasting product of their work,” she said.

The children were assisted by Kelly and Peter Coleman, who established the Enviro-Stories Education Program after hearing a parent’s concerns that her children were learning to read with stories about foxes rabbits and cats, rather than Australian wildlife.

Through inspiring local literacy, the program’s goal is to help connect students with their local environment and then support the writing of a narrative that will engage and/or educate other students.

“We are passionate about bringing children’s stories to life,” Kelly said.

”By combining literacy, science and sustainability, this program not only supports student learning about their local area, but it is also aligned to core curriculum outcomes.”

Enviro-Stories is about to be brought to 10 other schools in the Gippsland Lakes catchment.

GLMAC executive officer, Martin Richardson said that the involvement of young people in thinking about and caring for the Lakes was a very worthwhile investment for the future.

“One of the best ways to empower young people is to let them speak and learn for themselves,” he said.

Kelly and Peter will present more about the program at the Love Our Lakes forum in Lakes Entrance.

Keynote speaker at the forum will be Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, the  nationally recognised science communicator, who will also be speaking with local secondary school students in the lead up to the event.

Other presenters include experts involved in environmental research, including dolphin researcher, Kate Charlton-Robb, Monash University algae specialist, Perran Cook, along with speakers covering the work of environmental agencies, local community groups and schools.

Mr Richardson said that the event aims to share understanding of the Lakes environment and highlight the great work undertaken by many people to look after the Lakes.

“It’s about celebrating our love for the Lakes and building our commitment to look after this unique natural asset,” he said.

The event includes an all-day forum, dinner and affordable boat trips on the Lakes to encourage participation by the whole community.

Bookings can be made at the Love our Lakes website www.loveourlakes.net.au, or via the Gippsland Lakes Ministerial Advisory Committee website www.gippslandlakes.net.au.

Published in the Bairnsdale Advertiser on 25 October 2013.

Other related articles

[blog load=”6″ columns=”3″ showexcerpt=”no” boxed=”no” orderby=”sac” id=”1677,1579,1548,1545,1738,1723″]