Sustainability Group Present Proposal to Contact Energy

By Justin Zani | Posted: Thursday May 18, 2017

The School Lodge is an integral part of our school community, and it is in need of redevelopment to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of our boys for another 40 years and beyond.

For the last year, a dedicated group of students have developed a vision and plan for creating a Sustainable Education Centre out of the School Lodge. This will enable all OB’s students to focus on “Contributing to the well-being of New Zealand – social, cultural, economic, and environmental,” as laid out in the vision New Zealand Curriculum.

After seeing Sam Kilsby launch the idea, and being awarded a scholarship from the Untouched World Charitable Trust, Contact Energy invited our students to present our proposal to them, to see if they would be able to support the initiative. On Friday 12 May, a group went to the offices at the Clyde Dam to meet with some of their people. Josue Munro, Jack Craig and Tom Sharp were accompanied by Sam Kilsby (ex student), Mr Zani and Mr Hall so we could give an overview of how we would like to develop the sustainability of the Lodge over the next ten years.

As the Lodge needs to be sustainable, both economically and environmentally, our aim is to develop a program for educating our students about a Sustainable Future. This program could be offered to students beyond our school, which would bring in essential funding for maintaining and developing the Lodge, as well as extending the current programs which take place at the Lodge. For example, each year ten student could visit the Lodge for two weeks or more, which could extend the current program to include Education for Sustainability. This could also lead to reduced costs to our students.

Our first steps on this journey is to replace the current Fossil Fuel based energy source with something more environmentally and economically sustainable. This will enable reduced running costs, and installation of heating and other necessities so that the Lodge would be a comfortable environment for students year round.

As we enter the second stage of our planning and development, we are looking for more people to get involved with the project, both from the student body and wider school community. The School Lodge has been a special place for our students for more than 40 years, and if you would like to help us build upon this fine tradition, then please get in contact, as we would love to hear from you.

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