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MAD Day 2006
Over 2600
Tasmanian students participated in a MAD
Day in 2006.
While many students chose to
make a difference with issues involving the environment, it was by no
means the only focus. Grades 7 to 10 at Scottsdale High
focused on working together in groups to achieve results. Participation
and team spirit were celebrated as classes completed a trivia contest
and various team challenges.
A class of Grade 3/4 students
at New Town Primary
decided to form an environmental club called ‘The Clean Up
Club’. They launched their club on MAD Day with a clean up of
the school grounds and adjacent streets. Interested children from other
classes assisted and in a short space of time, seven kilograms of
rubbish was collected.
Students at Campbell
Town District High School organised a walkathon. Funds
raised were donated to Oxfam.
Don College students
are concerned with issues of youth advocacy, wishing to spread the
concept that by thinking and being informed, youth are enabled to make
a difference in their community. MAD Day was the day chosen to
launch: ‘UthInc’, a youth
think tank; ‘The Voice’, the college newspaper; and
the Muv health facts booklet.
Riverside High and Longford Primary
students explored possibilities for making a difference by
participating in ruMAD? workshops.
Under the broad banner
of ‘Getting Along’, each child at Princes Street Primary
chose one aspect that they would like to improve and that they would
concentrate on during the day. Additionally a MAD dress-up day,
organised by the student council, was held.
‘Care
for the
Environment’ was the theme for MAD Day at Taroona High.
Individual students designed and painted flags to raise awareness of a
variety of environmental issues. Native shrubs were planted and a
copious amount of litter was collected from the school grounds and the
beach.
Students
at Gagebrook Primary
School
chose to improve the appearance of a local park. A group of 21 students
spent the day painting the amenities building and planting native
trees. Brighton Council assisted by providing paint
and equipment. Click
here to see photos and more detail of Gagebrook
Primary’s MAD Day.
Clemes students at The
Friends’ School
participated in a variety of activities to celebrate being
‘MAD’. Environmental actions included building a
peace
garden, cleaning up Cornelian Bay, replanting under the overpass and
eradicating weeds at Coningham. Other activities involved mental
resilience, coping with grief, head injury prevention, gaining
expertise in CPR, defensive driving, refreshing Bronze Medallion
qualifications, restorative justice and prevention of bullying and
understanding of cultural differences. Some students trained as carers
at The Dogs’ Home, some helped with meals on wheels, while
others
worked with The Salvation Army teaching computer skills to the
unemployed. Over 80 Friends’ students visited Risdon Vale
Primary
School where they engaged the children in sports activities, cooking,
reading and mentoring.
Each
class at Perth Primary
School
has become responsible for an area of the school and other community
spaces. ‘Clean Up Our Act’ was the slogan for MAD
Day as students tidied their areas, with a particular emphasis on
litter collection.
Grade
9 students at Devonport
High were concerned that sometimes their opinions were not
valued. MAD Day activities gave them the opportunity to model ways of
having their say and of simulating opportunities for voicing
opinions.
On June 29th Rose Bay High
students ran a MAD Day aimed at
raising awareness of the Oaktree
Foundation (an Australian,
youth-run aid and development organisation) and the international
‘Make Poverty History’
campaign. Click
here to read more about their involvement with the Oaktree Foundation. |
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