What an amazing level of participation – a total of 63 students, from Year 1 right through to year 6, entered the Amanyara Nature and Discovery Centre’s Shark Conservation Awareness Poster competition last week. The message was clear on every child’s poster – sharks are important to the marine ecosystem and we need to protect them, both here in the TCI and globally!
We were extremely impressed by the high standard of research, aesthetic presentation skills and the phenomenal level of creativity that went into each poster’s design. Recognition of the time and effort that each child had put into their poster was celebrated in a special assembly on Wednesday and each child received a special certificate – well done, everyone! All of the posters were displayed around the school and, at the end of the assembly, we all got the opportunity to view them together.
All the posters will be displayed at the Rob Stewart Sharkwater Talk and Screening event at Brayton Hall this Saturday and also at the Turk and Caicos Reef Fund Cocktail Party fundraiser on Wednesday at Provo Golf Club – we hope to see you there at either or both events. Our Year 5 and 6 students have been invited to a special Sharkwater school presentation this Thursday.
It was incredibly challenging to pick only 5 shark posters, from so many fantastic ones, to go on to represent Provo Primary, but with the help of David Bowen, Director of Culture, the difficult selection was made. On Friday we heard the news on the final 2 winners – the two posters on the right in the photo above. Congratulations! These children will receive complimentary entry into the Sharkwater talk and screening event and will go up on stage to collect a prize pack and to receive congratulations from Rob Stewart himself.
We would like to pass on a big thank you to Jackie Walker, Manager of the Amanyara Nature Discovery Centre, who connected with us about the competition. She was amazed by all of the posters and passed on her congratulations to all the children in our special assembly. We hope to connect with Jackie again in April when we have our own ‘Shark Theme Week’, and we continue our interest in learning about the importance of sharks and what we can do to help to protect them.
Community Awareness
The Department of Environmental & Maritime Affairs, in collaboration with The Pew Charitable Trusts and Amanyara, will be hosting Shark Conservation Awareness Week from March 25th to 30th, 2015. Mr Rob Stewart, Director of the award-winning documentary Sharkwater (2007), will be visiting the Turks & Caicos Islands to increase education and awareness about the importance of sharks to the reefs, and healthy marine ecology.
Rob, a conservationist and photographer, will have a full itinerary including school visits, scuba diving, community talks and various documentary screenings, all providing an insight into how he became a shark advocate and why they should matter to you too!
There will be a community screening and talk, hosted by Rob Stewart, at Brayton Hall, on Saturday, March 28th from 7pm-10pm. Tickets will be $10, in advance at Unicorn Bookstore or at the door. All Proceeds go to shark conservation in TCI.
The Turks and Caicos Reef Fund Cocktail Party will be on March 25 (6:30 to 8:30 pm) at the Provo Golf Club. Tickets at the event ($25 each or 5 for $100) or by contacting Don Stark (649-347-8455 or donstark@tcreef.org.