Schoolchildren will help restore an old park in the Sharkovshchyna district

More than 30 educational institutions in the country have been awarded the "Green School" status, including four schools in the Sharkovshchyna district. They were recently presented with diplomas confirming this high status.

Today, there are over 40,000 "Green Schools" worldwide. Their task is to draw the attention of adults and children to environmental education issues. The "Green Schools" program, implemented in our country with the support of the EU/UNDP project, has been approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, as well as the Ministry of Education, as a republican environmental education project. Educational institutions in the Mosty, Miory, Sharkovshchyna, and Kobryn districts were the first to participate. For three years, teachers and students of the Germanovichi and Luzhki secondary schools in the Sharkovshchyna district conducted research, observations, and experiments. To this end, project coordinators provided them with the necessary methodological literature and equipment. In 2012, the secondary schools of Sharkovshchyna joined the project.

With the support of their teachers, students were tasked with completing assignments in relevant areas: energy saving, water saving, biodiversity, waste management, as well as conducting informational and environmental events, such as campaigns, exhibitions, and contests. The students studied the energy consumption structure in residential buildings and schools, analyzed waste generation sources, and identified methods for their minimization, and so on.

— The successful completion of the set tasks allowed us to obtain the coveted "Green School" status, — says Marina Fedorova, a biology and geography teacher at the Germanovichi Secondary School. — Firstly, it is important and prestigious, especially for a rural educational institution, and secondly, it obliges us to a lot. We will strive to continue to make every effort to study and preserve the natural environment.

This year, during their classes, students made a sensational discovery: they found a spider wasp, a hybrid of two insects. A spider with black and yellow stripes on its back is characteristic of the southern regions of Belarus. How did it end up in the Sharkovshchyna district? The students suggest that global warming is the cause.

— We have established the "Chorny Busel" school forestry, the "Praleska" ecological and local history club, and organized the "Green Schools" elective course, — continues Marina Fedorova. — Young ecologists use special equipment to study herbaceous and woody plant species, as well as insects and birds that can be found on the school grounds. We create photo reports, collect herbariums, and use the obtained results when designing information stands.

Marina Fedorova laments that high school students do not always have enough time for research, but students from other grades, especially primary school, are actively involved in the work. For example, this year preschoolers conducted an experiment on growing porcini mushrooms. The results of the work done will be known next year.

— The residents of our agro-town have a cherished dream: to revive the splendor of the 18th-century palace and park ensemble, — notes the teacher. - The residential building has survived to this day, but the ancient park has become neglected. Due to the lack of financial resources, it was not possible to implement the developed environmental project. In August 2013, the Sharkovshchyna district joined the project "Small Rivers – Big Problems: Working Together to Protect and Future of the Small Rivers of the Disna River Basin". The matter has moved forward. In April of the following year, we will begin restoration work.

Diana Bernikovich, "Vitebskiye Vesti"