Reposted from the "United Nations Association of Australia WA Division September-October UN Matters Publication" with the permission of Geffory Holt
150 students from BSHS, Geographe and West Busselton PS took part in a walk from Eagle Bay to Pullman Bunker Bay on Friday 24th where they were joined by a host of community supporters for a morning tea reception.
School Captain, Damien Farrell, welcomed everyone to Country and spoke of the cultural significance of the area to the Wadandi custodians. Emily Armstrong then delivered an inspiring speech calling for all girls across the world to be educated by 2030. Over 132m girls miss out due to poverty, cultural practices, and a host of other factors. Emily spoke of the Student Council’s support for the UN Sustainable Development Goals and for the girls at Tenderfeet our sister school in Kibera. The BSHS student council has raised in excess of $26,000 up until this year. “We are confident that we will exceed $30,000 by the end of today.” She later commented.
Year 6 students from Geographe and West Busselton Primary School alongside BSHS leaders Damien Farrell and Emily Armstrong, with Libby Mettam MP and Barry House former MLA
This year students from West Busselton Primary and Geographe Primary joined the walk and enjoyed a glorious morning capped off with a sumptuous morning tea on the terrace courtesy of Pullman Bunker Bay also a supporter of the UN SDGs.
Libby Mettam MP and Mayor Grant Henley made speeches congratulating the students for their remarkable efforts whilst expressing the pride of the whole community for their leadership and ongoing commitment to humanity and the goal of educating girls.
Emily’s speech was the centerpiece of the event with her impressive inclusion of a message directly to the Tenderfeet students delivered in near-perfect Swahili. “Many of the audience found Emily’s speech quite moving in its sincerity and as an expression of the heartfelt empathy of our fabulous young leaders.” Commented event organizer and Global Schools Advocate, Geoff Holt.
“Those of us here today could not be more proud of Emily and Damien and all of those who took part in this the seventh Walk for Tenderfeet. It has galvanized community support and we would like to say an enormous thank you to all of our corporate and community supporters.”
Last year Geoff and the Tenderfeet program at BSHS received recognition from the UN (WA) for Excellence in Global Citizenship Education. “It’s great to see that Education for Sustainable Development is now taking hold in more local schools and garnering support from the wider community. It is also informing many other initiatives at the school level such as climate action, conservation, waste recovery, recycling, and other programs alongside Tenderfeet. All of these are directly aligned to the 17 UN SDGs.”
After the event, students gathered for a sausage sizzle back at school and were treated to some Brazilian drumming and a quiz based on the UN SDGs. “What a great way to end the term. We were so happy to be involved and to raise money for such a good cause,”
commented Y6 Sophie Smith of West Busselton Primary.
Written by Geoffrey Holt, Head of Year 9 and 10, Sustainability Coordinator, Busselton Senior High School
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