My Personal Project – Noah Jay

My name is Noah Jay and for my Year 10 Personal Project I am organising the Somerset Community Tree Planting Day 11 May 2019. This event will mark the launch of the Somerset Creek Conservation Project and everyone is welcome to help achieve our goal of planting 2,500 native plants in two hours!

The Somerset Creek Conservation Project will rehabilitate approximately 2.6 hectares of land surrounding Wyangan Creek over the next five years. This aligns with the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030, which aims to enhance biodiversity and fight climate change worldwide by massively scaling up the restoration of degraded and destroyed ecosystems. The restored areas at Somerset will create habitat for local native wildlife and also provide students with an outdoor classroom for nature play, scientific investigation and a whole range of other educational activities.

The most important piece of advice for future Year 10 students is to begin your personal project early and set goals. Over the summer holidays, I kick-started the planning process by meeting with Naomi Edwards from youth environment group, Intrepid Landcare. After designing a general outline, we worked on a detailed mind map to identify the steps required to organise a successful event. This has helped me to maintain focus and keep on track.

Over the past few weeks, I have helped the team from Regen Australia to prepare the site for planting and started to see my ideas transform into reality. I also had meetings with Councillor Glenn Tozer, Saraya Robinson from Gold Coast City Council and Mrs Jenny Tobin from Clover Hill State School, who all offered invaluable advice and assistance. Throughout this project, I have received incredible support from the Somerset College leadership team, my teachers, the MYP Sustainable Spartans Committee and many other people within the Somerset community. This has given me the confidence to engage with adults about real-world issues.

The Somerset Community Tree Planting Day on Saturday 11 May promises to be a really fun event, which will involve the whole community in taking action for conservation. There will be 2,500 native trees to plant, a sewing bee to make fabric pouches for rescued joeys and a free sausage sizzle. CAS hours will be available for MYP students.

Please register for your free tickets here.