Chisholm Day

This year’s Chisholm day celebration took place on Wednesday the 5^th June. This date is also the annual celebration of World Environment Day and so Chisholm day conveniently became centred around a very important focus; Our planet, and the increasing need for environmental awareness and conservation. Jake Lyttle and Lily Cooper; the Chisholm house captains, teamed up with former Carroll College students, Pearl Mitchell and Ella Hodges who attended the school last year. They collaborated with one another to organise both the events of the day and the fundraising involved. Pearl and Ella are both closely affiliated and involved with the non-profit organisation “Ekipa Tasi Mos”, and so it was decided that all funds raised from the day would go towards this amazing environmental group.

Ekipa Tasi Mos translates to ‘clean ocean team’ in Tetun; the local language where the organisation originated. Ekipa Tasi Mos is based in Atauro, a tiny Island off East Timor, just north of Australia. The island sits within the world-renowned coral triangle and is home to amazing fish species and coral reefs. However, with the recent introduction of single use plastics and the unfortunate swell direction towards Atauro, the once pristine beaches of the island are becoming inhabited by the masses of plastic and waste that wash ashore. The aim of Ekipa Tasi Mos is to remove and record this plastic pollution from the beaches of Atauro, and to assist the local community in reducing their use of single-use plastics.

Since 2014; locals, tourists, and volunteers have been doing Marine Debris Clean-ups on the Island. However, until now, the plastics and debris collected from the beaches have been either buried or burnt; neither of which are good for the environment. There is now substantial action in place to build a new recycling station on Atauro. The machine will re-shape the marine debris into usable items for the community, such as bowls and cutlery. The items produced can then be sold by the locals, helping provide an income as an added benefit to the project. The funds raised from Chisholm day were donated specifically towards the installation of this station.

To begin the day, students came to school dressed in either red or recycled clothing for a gold coin donation. There was then an assembly where Jake and Lily introduced both Chisholm day and world environment day to the college. They then passed over to Pearl and Ella who discussed the amazing contributions of Ekipa Tasi Mos, and explained what the proceeds of the day would go towards; the recycling station on Atauro. Then the students took part in a trivia, split up in their homeroom groups, and answered questions about the waste found on Atauro over a 90-day period. The winning homeroom was Xavier 4, Ms Richards homeroom.

After trivia, everyone headed down to the oval to make a human sign. Together with three other schools; Radford College in Canberra, Emmanuel College in Victoria, and St. Mary’s Primary School in Moruya, the words ‘Ekipa Tasi Mos’, followed by a heart shaped full stop were formed. Carroll College spelt out the word “Mos” and a drone was flown overhead to take an aerial shot of the formation. The letters had been marked out on the oval the previous afternoon by Ella, Jake and Lily. The human sign was part of raising awareness for Ekipa Tasi Mos and world environment day.

Following the excitement of creating the sign on the oval, the students headed to recess where Jake and Lily ran a very popular hotdog and soft drink stall, raising more funds for the day. The stall was a huge success and it wasn’t long until all the hotdogs had sold out! Overall the day was not only a huge success but also a lot of fun. The contribution and involvement of all the students allowed a total of $900 being raised for Ekipa Tasi Mos. That is an amazing outcome that couldn’t have been possible without the generous donations from all students and teachers who either purchased a hotdog or willingly donated to the organisation.

Although it may not seem like much in the big picture, every small action such as the installation of the recycling station on the tiny island of Atauro, contribute positively towards environmental change in our world. It is becoming even more detrimental to make these small contributions in order to see large results. Hopefully the day also exposed the students to the startling effects of littering and the increasing need to look after our planet. A massive thank you to Mrs. Price and Mrs. Enfield who helped organise and make the day come together. Also to Pearl and Ella for their time and dedication, you two are truly inspiring and set an example to so many! Big thanks to Jane and Louise for ordering and cooking the hotdogs, and to Tom Gear from the shire council for coming and flying the drone for the human sign. Finally, one last massive thank you to the students of Carroll College for your generous donations and amazing involvement on the day. We hope to keep you up-to-date on the installation of the station on Atauro so that you can see first-hand that your money went to an amazing cause. In the meantime, remember to put your rubbish in the bin and avoid using single use plastics!! And…Go Chisholm

 Mel Price

CHISHOLM Pastoral Leader