Green warriors in the making

It is said that "Good teachers are the reason why ordinary students dream of doing extraordinary things." This has been the reality of the students of Navi Mumbai's Sacred Heart High School. The students found an environment champion in their Science teacher Nirmala Nair. Nair, with the help another teacher, Neena Francis, and backed by the support of Principal, Sister Sharmila Fernandes, has managed to achieve an envious list of accolades. Notable among them — 65 students of Navi Mumbai's Sacred Heart High School have converted their school campus into a green zone, which has made it a hotbed for biodiversity.

The various achievements are not merely trophies and awards that decorate the school office, but includes something more, at an intangible level. Spearheading the school's nature club, with activities and experiments, Nair has been able to change the mindsets of students, who are part of the club. These children have now adopted eco-friendly habits and read a lot about global environmental problems. They even shared their green concerns, featured on YouTube:

Https://youtu.be/gpLYbRjC6AY at the Paris Climate Change Conference 2015.
The nature club students under the guidance of Nair and Francis, have been able to change the look and feel of the entire school. What started as a little green corner on the school campus four years ago, has today spread into a noteworthy project tapping into the zeal of young minds. Using their creative trait, they reused the old school benches by converting them into bird houses and these bird houses were placed in the garden area and on a few trees. Soon, the feathered guests started perching and nesting in these houses, much to the delight of the students. Intrigued by the different kinds of birds that were spotted on the campus, they started learning the names of the birds, and also put up signs on trees with the birds' common and scientific names. Thus was born an informal bird spotting club.

Encouraged, and taking a step forward, Nair set up a compost bin and started waste segregation and soon the kids happily learnt waste segregation and now each and every student practices it, including e-waste. All the leaves that are shed by the trees in the campus are collected and used to create amrit mitti in the compost bin. Their efforts didn't go unnoticed and they received the 'Greenest school award' two years ago by Green Line.
Nair elaborates, "The school management, the principal and staffers have been so supportive that it encouraged us to try things without any fear. Apart from the main garden, we have set up three more niches — butterfly garden, amphibian garden and creepy-crawly garden, all of which are maintained and taken care of by the students."

Immense research was undertaken by the students to figure out which kinds of plants would attract butterflies. The green warriors didn't stop here. Some have 'adopted' trees in the campus. Francis explains, "The 'adopt a tree' policy has become extremely popular. Each group of students is in charge of one tree on the campus and they have to water it, observe the changes in the tree, the kinds of birds and insects that visit it and also the changes that the tree undergoes every seasonal." Needless to say, these students religiously 'attend to the tree' despite their busy schedule."

Both teachers agree that the students are so proactive that there isn't a dull moment with them. They are never short of ideas while discussing environmental activities. With an experiment such as this where a school encouraged its teachers and students to make the earth a healthier place to live in, one can't help but feel that there is hope after all: for the city, for the country and for the planet.