Mazda New Zealand's special ambassadors have made a special visit to Strath Taieri School in Middlemarch, Otago after it won a TREEmendous Education Programme.

Ruud “The Bugman” Kleinpaste and Dr Riley Elliott, Shark Scientist recently visited Strath Taieri School and spoke to the whole community about the importance of sustainability and to help with the habitat restoration project for the endangered giant Otago Skink.

The initiative from the Mazda Foundation also sees the school receive $1000 prize money and 200 native trees from Trees That Count for their school grounds.

Being a small school and community, they reached out and invited students from other nearby schools to also attend the talks and then visit the skink habitat that they are developing.

Principal Jim McArthur says the project has been the catalyst for some much-needed community connections.

“TREEmendous has already had a huge impact on our school and community and when people not involved or connected with the school talk to me about the work we are doing, TREEmendous is often the first topic of conversation,” said McArthur.

“Seeing the big group of parents walking with us up to the skink habitat made me feel like we had done something very cool.”

Ruud also spent a day at the school earlier in the year, providing teachers with resources to incorporate conservation and environmental science into the curriculum. 

“The students and teachers are so enthusiastic about the environment,” Kleinpaste said. “It’s great to see how excited they are to learn new ways to expand their knowledge and develop their conservation project.

“The students are set up to take on the next stage of the skink conservation project and I’m looking forward to seeing the amazing results!” 

Applications are open for Primary and Intermediate Schools to apply for a TREEmendous Education Programme for 2023.