Australian students take action for animal welfare during Be Kind to Animals Week 2015
Announcement posted by ThinkKind Australia 03 Sep 2015
Students across the country are taking part in celebrating Be Kind to Animals Week, a week where people are encouraged to carry out one kind act that makes the lives of animals better.
The Be Kind to Animals Week school competition is a nationwide initiative by Edgar’s Mission farm sanctuary and ThinkKind Australia, and asks students to work on a project that helps animals or spreads awareness about animal welfare issues in their community.
Be Kind to Animals Week takes place on 1-7 October in Australia, but students are already getting their projects ready to enter before 10 October.
Students from Greystanes High School in Sydney researched multiple animal welfare topics such as keeping whales in captivity, polluting waterways, and the effects of Australia’s rising levels of meat consumption, which not only has a devastating effect on animals raised in intensive food production systems, but also on climate change.
The students of Greystanes High School created two sketch-style videos to raise awareness on these issues in their local community and raise vital funds for animal welfare groups.
Other schools are encouraged to carry out all sorts of projects, from making toys for shelter dogs, organising a clean-up of their local park, or writing short stories or blog posts about pressing animal justice issues, such as palm oil and deforestation, overfishing, puppy farming, and illegal wildlife hunting.
Valerie Wangnet, the director of ThinkKind Australia, a humane education not-for-profit run by volunteer educators, said the competition is a great opportunity for students to learn the value of kindness, responsibility and compassion for all living beings.
“It’s a great way to empower young people to take positive action for a cause they feel passionate about. At the same time, they're learning the value of social responsibility and active citizenship in their communities.”
Three primary and secondary school finalists will be selected to win up to $1000 in prize money for their schools.
The competition is supported by Voiceless, the animal protection institute and the Pollination Project, who had provided grants to ThinkKind Australia for the purpose of spreading humane education – the teaching of compassion and respect for all living beings – in Australian schools.
Primary and secondary school teachers can register their class, year level, student team or entire school online at www.thinkkind.org/enter and download their free Resource Kit developed by ThinkKind Australia and aligned to the National Curriculum. Entries close at 5PM, 10 October 2015.
Further information:
For more information about this press release contact admin@thinkkind.org
About Edgar’s Mission: http://www.edgarsmission.org.au/
About ThinkKind: http://www.thinkkind.org/about/
About Voiceless, the animal protection institute: https://www.voiceless.org.au/
About the Pollination Project: https://thepollinationproject.org/
About Be Kind to Animals Week school competition: http://au.educationhq.com/events/29631/be-kind-to-animals-week-2015-school-competition-registrations-open/