4/11/2007 10:13:00 AM Kids plant seeds of hotel's environment scheme
Green future: Planting this Bermuda Cedar tree was the first step in a project by the Fairmont Hamilton’s Green Team to help teach our kids green ways. Pictured are: Jon Crellin, General Manager of the Fairmont Hamilton Princess; Mrs Gloria Martin, Francis Patton School Principal; Education Randy Horton, and (extreme left) Derrick Burgess, Labour Minister. Photo by Suzanne Livingston
Kindergarten students at Francis Patton School have planted a Bermuda Cedar tree on their school grounds to confirm the start of an environmental-care partnership with the Fairmont Hamilton Princess hotel.
The five and six-year-olds are already part of a school environment where separate recycle bins for soda cans, soda can tops, batteries, stamps and newspapers, along with compost bins, are common.
Mrs. Gloria Martin, the school's principal, said that education about caring for the environment is already part of the P1 curriculum and that "the best part of our partnership with (the Hotel's) Green Team is that it shows the students that what they learn in class has a practical application in their everyday world."
Before planting the tree at 11am on April 4, students picked up trash at Shelly Bay Park.
The day's activities marked the first in a series of similar partnerships the hotel's Green Team will launch with local schools.
"Adults also need to recognize environmental education as an important," a Green Team member said.
"People around the island need to know how important it is for the younger generation of Bermuda to understand about the environment and how schools play a very important role in learning about it."
After the morning's activities, the students were transported to Hamilton for lunch at Harley's Restaurant in the Fairmont Hamilton Princess.
The Ministry of Education met the transportation expenses for the children during the event, while the Ministry of the Environment donated the Bermuda Cedar tree that was planted.
Hon. Randolph Horton, Minister of Education and Hon. Derrick Burgess, Minister of Labour and Immigration attended the tree-planting ceremony.
Jon Crellin, general manager of the Fairmont Hamilton Princess said: "The school partnership programme started today puts into action one of Fairmont's core values - a promise to be good environmental stewards, and to share that message with others."
