Montgomery Primary School Win EMA Competition

Written by Administrator

MONTGOMERY Government Primary School has won the 2008 Environmental Management Authority’s “Hands - on” Environmental Competition, and is the first school from Tobago ever to do so. Following the competition’s theme “Climate Change – A Call to Action”, Montgomery Primary School picked the category “Coral Bleaching” on which to focus.

Not only were they the overall winners, they also won the following awards: best cultural presentation; best project for a Tobago school; best first time entrant; and best project for a small school. The prizes the school won included many educational books and $7,000 in prize money.

Eleven pupils from Montgomery attended the awards in Trinidad with their teacher Ms. Carol Washington–Williams and Principal Mrs Janette Moore–James. Also present to witness this event were the Honourable Hilton Sandy (Secretary for Division of Agriculture Marine Affairs Marketing and Environment, THA), Barry Lovelace (Environmental Education Coordinator, Buccoo Reef Trust), and Ava Schiavetta (Education Officer, Coral Cay Conservation).

The school performed two calypsoes and a speech band to do with coral reefs and mangroves and presented a music video they produced with the Buccoo Reef Trust.

Some of the highlights of the school’s project included:

• Making fishes for a display and performing a calypso on the corals during the visit of TRH Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall to Tobago;

• A walk-a-thon through the neighbouring community of Bethel;

• Puppet shows put on by members of Coral Cay Conservation;

• A trip to Buccoo Reef organized by the Buccoo Reef Trust;

• A community information evening; and

• Production of a music video based on the project.