Portland Primary School have taken first prize in the Cartoon Network Climate Champions School initiative.
The 2021 instalment saw schools enter various categories to promote climate change awareness.
Various classes from the school took part in different challenges as part of the initiative. “South African kids interviewed are strongly concerned by the climate change issue, more than any other kid in the emea (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) – 90% see climate change as an important issue,” says Cartoon Network.
The aim of their campaign is to empower learners to join the fight against climate change, by creating awareness.
The winning piece was a recycled artwork made from bottle caps.
Mark Jeneker, art teacher at the school, managed the creation of the piece, with the learners doing the work.
“The artwork took two weeks to complete and the caps were collected by the kids as a recycle project,” he says.
“There was a few activities that we had to choose from. We did the dancing happy feet challenge, we also had to create recycle bins and the kids had to create a climate related book.”
The Grade 1 class participated in the dance and recycling bins projects, Grade 4s created the book on climate change and Grade 5, 6 and 7s participated in the bottle cap challenge.
The bottle cap challenge was an under-the-sea inspired image. The artwork won the school R5 000 worth of gardening tools.
Jeneker says the project and participation was made possible through school principal Eleanor Braaf and fellow teachers Lameez Van Reenen, Fahim a Clayton, Meagan Carr, Shahida Colby and Kim Atwood.
