St Jago Cathedral Prep brings down curtain on 2011 'green' efforts

BY AINSWORTH MORRIS Environment Watch writer morrisa@jamaicaobserver.com

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

ST Jago Cathedral Preparatory School has, for a second year running, demonstrated what good environmental stewards they are.

Late last month, members of the school's Environment Club brought the curtain down on their 'green' efforts for 2011 with a visit to the shores of Hellshire Beach in St Catherine to do their annual clean-up.

According to Nadia Guy, staff supervisor for the club, this year's beach clean-up was as successful as last year's and her team is satisfied.

"After about an hour into the activity, the children (all below the ages of 12) have collected about eight bags of rubbles of all sorts, such as bottles, bags, paper, metal, coconut husk, and clothing, which have been left on the beach," she told Environment Watch during their clean-up efforts on November 26.

Guy noted that for this beach clean-up, only 10 students were chosen to participate.

"I feel very elated for the opportunity of cleaning up the beach. The environment now looks more healthier," said Kerissa Palomina, 10, president of the club whose motto is 'A beautiful environment means a beautiful future'.

Her schoolmate Brandon Hall shared the same sentiment.

"I feel like I am helping the environment in a good way and making the environment more beautiful than ever," Hall, also 10 years old, told Environment Watch.

St Jago Cathedral Prep has, over the past five years, been making its mark in environmental preservation and has been rewarded for their actions. They were, for example, named winners of the 2011 Hellshire Schools' Environment Competition hosted annually by the Urban Development Corporation — recognition for their work in hydrophonics (growing plants on water at their institution).

This past year, they also entered a project dubbed 'Minimising emissions, maximising conservation', which was designed to help people reduce their emission of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, and conserve water.

Guy has encouraged other schools -- both at the primary and secondary levels — to follow in their footsteps, contributing as best as possible to the environmental preservation effort nationally.