Forming fauna friends
A school project encouraging students to connect with and support a regional business provided the inspiration for a dressup day at Ararat West Primary School.
Youngsters and their teachers dressed up as their favourite animals as part of a sponsorship program with Halls Gap Zoo.
The school’s junior council decided this year to support a district business and chose to sponsor different animals at the zoo.
Principal Terry Keilar said the school contributed to the zoo each term by sponsoring a different animal.
“This term was the red panda and next term is the bison,” he said.
“All the kids came to school dressed up as their favourite animal and money raised will go towards supporting the zoo animals.
“This means locals can continue to visit an establishment that is wonderful to have in our area.”
Mr Keilar said the zoo sent information about the sponsored animals each term and the school used the material in classroom discussions where everyone was able to learn about the animal.
“This is our first year we’ve done this. We became involved through one of our teachers who has a link and our junior school council thought it was something good to get involved in and a way to give back to the community,” he said.
“It’s been a tough year for everyone including tourism so for us to be able to give back to a local organisation has been great.
“The kids and the teachers did a fantastic job dressing up and parents no doubt put in a lot of work over the weekend.”