kids' cure

As part of Desert Channels Queensland’s School Landcare Competition, the Windorah students identified a natural resource management issue in their area and put together a plan on how to fix it. Landcare Coordinator with Desert Channels Queensland, Cameron O’Neil, said that while the many entries received were of a high standard, the Windorah one had that little bit extra.

“You could see from the posters that the kids had put a lot of thought and work into the entries,” Mr O’Neil said, “and this made it hard for our judging panel.”

“I think the thing that won it for Windorah was the detail to which they’d gone with their understanding of the problems, how they were going to fix them, and the fact that the solution was not just about better environment for native plants and animals, but for people as well.”

The students identified that an area of their school yard was dry and inhospitable. There was no ground cover for lizards, insects and small birds, no trees for shade, and when something grew, it was usually burrs.

“Their plan was to get rid of bare ground and prickles from a dry and dusty corner of their school yard and provide a more pleasant environment for themselves and native species by landscaping, planting grass and native trees.”

According to Cameron O’Neil, the competition showed that, while the tiny schools miss out on a lot, they have just as much talent.

“Second place in our competition was Jundah and third was Yaraka,” he said.

On a recent road trip through the Barcoo Shire, Mr O’Neil personally delivered the prizes to the winning schools and said that the Windorah kids were so excited that there was a mad scramble to see who would be the first to sit in the bright green and blue, hand-shaped chairs.

“The best part of this competition has been seeing the smiles on the faces of the children and their realisation that the hard work that went into their poster was well worth it.”

Mr O’Neil said that Desert Channels Queensland hopes to turn the competition into an annual event and build on the obvious enthusiasm and awareness among the region’s students.