2008 Winners

Atherton State School wins $10,000

For the first time since it commenced in 1995, the National Recycling Week (10 -16 November) $10,000 National Schools Competition has been won by an entrant Atherton State School whose entry has been a year long in the creation; a creation of extraordinary communication and engagement with all spheres of influence in the community – business, government, community/not for profit organisations and the media. And they did not let up!The Atherton Year 4’s, contacted the council and gained permission to erect the permanent structure at the entry to their school. They identified to their community, those packaged goods manufacturers whose packaging is made from Australian recycled waste. Most importantly, they relentlessly reinforced the behaviour changes we all must make to achieve a sustainable future.

Phil Enright, National Coordinator of the Australian Recycled Cartonboard National Schools Competition said, “The achievement of these Year 4 primary school students is extraordinary. The creativity and scale of their entry to effectively communicate the key messages was beyond that of many professionals. The commitment of schools like Atherton and their dedicated Teacher’s Aide like Kelly Petrie, is essential to sustain community pressure to keep industry expanding its use of recycled waste in the packaging they use.

“Their achievement in this and other recent activities, seriously challenges the conventional wisdom, our children get a superior education at private schools.”

The pride and joy that welled up in the audience for this exceptional group’s presentation, brought many to tears, including Mayor Tom Gilmour, a ‘former’ politician, hardened by12 years in the Qld Parliament.

The ‘team’ of students who produced the winning Atherton State School entry are:

Rachel Petrie	Jessica Honan	Billy Fogg
Tasneem Bajramovic	Ruby Angell	Ismahil Halilovic
Genea Hodge	Bridget Seymour–Jones	Rebecca Hermanus