Taupo Times

Bug Man will be crawling into town

- TAMARA THORN

‘‘Teaching outside is better than inside.’’

Bug lovers prepare to ’bee’ excited because the ’Bug Man’ is crawling into Taupo¯ .

Ruud Kleinpaste [aka ‘The Bugman’], is set to make an appearance in Taupo¯ next week to help Kids Greening Taupo, students, teachers and their families, celebrate their many environmen­tal achievemen­ts.

Kleinpaste is the guest speaker at the Great Lake Centre on Tuesday evening [November 7] where the Kids Greening Taupo¯ [KGT] student leadership team and others involved in a range of projects, will be acknowledg­ed for their work.

Kleinpaste will be speaking about the ‘‘biodiversi­ty of life and how incredibly important it is.’’

He said people have lost their way when it comes to biodiversi­ty and there is less greenery around due to spraying and killing.

As part of his visit he will be going to Greening Taupo¯affiliated schools and teaching them that learning can be done outside using nature.

‘‘Teaching outside is better than inside. Classroom things can be done outside.’’

He said by walking into a natural bush area he can show students and teachers what to use in terms of learning.

Kleinpaste plans to meet with teachers and help promote the values of Kids Greening Taupo¯ with the aim of getting more schools engaged.

KGT Coordinato­r Thea DePetris said the work of Kids Greening Taupo¯ was vital for the well-being of young people and their community.

‘‘Our pilot programme has already demonstrat­ed how cool it is that a community of early childhood and schools can collective­ly contribute to a shared environmen­tal vision and achieve stuff, and we’re really happy to have Ruud here to help us celebrate this.’’

‘‘Being involved in Kids Greening Taupo¯ is not a bunch of extra work for teachers,’’ said DePetris.

‘‘We make it easy and there are heaps of cross-curricula learning opportunit­ies as well as the community and environmen­tal aspects of the programme.’’

Kids Greening Taupo¯ is under the umbrella of Greening Taupo¯ which works collaborat­ively with the community to create a sustainabl­e future for the Taupo¯ environmen­t and its future generation­s.

Everyone is welcome at the Kids Greening Taupo¯ evening on Thursday at 6.30pm. Contact thea@greeningta­upo.org.nz to organise.

 ?? SUPPLIED ?? Ruud Kleinpaste visits Taupo¯ to share and inspire locals about bugs and nature. Ruud Kleinpaste
SUPPLIED Ruud Kleinpaste visits Taupo¯ to share and inspire locals about bugs and nature. Ruud Kleinpaste

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from New Zealand