A Baobab and an Umbrella
As the end of the academic year drew to a close, La Retraite Scholarship students in Year 9 - 12 participated in a Climate Leadership Project, targeting those with career choices in the fields of ecology and animal/human conservation.
Led by Miss Dack, Sessional Artist from the Wishbone Partnership the day consisted of gaining new knowledge around the different types of trees (specifically the Baobab and Umbrella Tree), their importance in the environment, which animals use the trees, places of origin and attempted to replicate the tree utilising wire. As the day came to an end, students planted a plum tree in the School Orchard, to celebrate their contribution to the activity.
We would like to extend our thanks to Ms Jarrett, Mrs Winterton, Mrs Chang, the Art Department, Ms Taylor and Mr Roach for their support in helping Mrs Sacks (Director of Innovative Learning Opportunities) to arrange this event.
“The workshop was incredibly useful, as it encouraged me to think of how the knowledge learnt was directly linked to my chosen career. Being an ecologist, you study how organisms interact with their environment, and today brought a fresh perspective on this for me”. Participant
“I enjoyed the event as it consisted of both arts & crafts with creating out own trees out of wire, inspired by the different trees we learnt about. Both the Umbrella tree and Upside-Down tree were interesting types that I had never known about before. I like the legend behind the Baobab tree as it spoke of God assigning every animal with a tree, the hyena received the Baobab tree last and planted it ‘upside-down’ out of spite.
After crafting our trees as we learnt about the environment, I helped dig the hole where we planted the lime tree in the school courtyard. Overall, it was a fun experience! I hope there’s another chance for me to partake in another similar event soon!” Participant