Anne Parisianne
St Monica’s College in Epping won two categories in the Sustainability Victoria’s Resource Smart Schools Awards.
The school won the Best Student and Environment Team for Secondary School award and the Leadership in the Sustainability in the Curriculum Award, highlighting its commitment to environmental education and sustainable practices.
These awards recognise the achievements of Victorian schools by celebrating their efforts in reducing resource consumption, integrating sustainability into their curriculum, and fostering sustainable practices within their school communities.
St Monica’s College principal Brian Hanley complimented the efforts of the students and staff and stressed the significance of the awards.
“More than 100 students and staff are involved in the related activities ably led by Mr Ben Coleman,” Mr Hanley said.
“The environmental-based projects that this team tackles have a great impact on life at our college and provide students with excellent skills to take back into their community.
Mr Coleman said, “It’s just amazing that the students get the recognition and the programs that we’ve developed are getting recognised.
“We’re excited because we can reach out to other schools and encourage them to try some of these projects.”
Students have worked on projects that supported environmental sustainability, including maintaining a vegetable garden and building nest boxes in the woodwork room for local wildlife.
They have also managed an animal room with turtles, frogs, lizards, and insects, emphasizing the circular economy.
The school’s STEM students have developed various sustainability effort activities, including using Raspberry Pi computers to create environmental sensors for monitoring water health and temperature differences caused by different tree species and developing an automated small greenhouse in the school with sensors to manage watering and temperature control, reducing the need for human intervention.
Mr Coleman, whose passion for the environment is deeply rooted in his childhood experiences and his background in zoology, was also recently honoured as the City of Whittlesea Sustainable Citizen of the Year.
His dedication to the environment extends beyond the school grounds, as he volunteers with local environmental groups and engages with the community through activities like biodiversity audits and litter clean ups.
