City school gains national recognition
THE GREEN SCHOOL
THE “green school” in Dagupan City continues to harvest more awards.
The Bonuan Boquig Elementary School hauled anew three national and regional awards in the search for Sustainable and Eco-Friendly School for its innovative and novel ways to green its surroundings to help mitigate climate change.
The school earned the Nestle Water Leadership Award, Meralco Energy Leadership Award and Land Bank of the Philippines’ Greening Leadership Award and ranked third place in over-all standing among 16 regions that vied for the awards.
Manuel Ferrer, school principal, told The PUNCH that the collaboration and concerted efforts of the students, teachers, parent-teachers association (PTA) and the barangay council paid off anew after the school was named a grand slam winner in the regional search level and won three special awards in a contest under the auspices of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau in partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd).
“It was the first time that an elementary school in Region 1 garnered all the awards,” Ferrer proudly said.
The national search for the competition presented the awards to the winners on November 23.
Bonuan Boquig won P80,000 in cash prize and three trophies for its three awards.
“It was difficult to qualify even in one category yet we made it not only in one but in two plus a big bonus of being third over-all champion nationwide,” Ferrer said.
The total cash prizes for the regional and national awards they garnered for the search for sustainable and eco-friendly school was P125,000.
Ferrer said what impressed the evaluating team most are their water facilities, particularly how they conserve water with their bio-sand filter. Since their barangay is flood-prone, Ferrer entered into an agreement with the Rotary Club of Mabalacat, Pampanga whose officers visited the school after learning about the success in their greening and gardening activities/practices that had earned several awards earlier.
Ferrer made a machine that would pump floodwater and passes it through bio-sand that can be eventually used for washing restrooms or to water the plants. The Rotary Club provided the containers for the filtered floodwater.
Another unique project in the school is its photo-flow where it could catch rainwater during rainy season by placing it in a tank. A solar panel would catch the rainfall, he added. The school has no pipe connection in the water district and uses solar-powered jetmatic pump.
They, too, had their aquaponics, which they had modified and known now as solar- aqua- vermi- mushroom- ponics, he said.
Two of their latest technologies are the aeroponics where roots of the plants are hung but water sprinkled on them supplies food and nature ponics where materials used are environment-friendly like bamboo.
Other fascinating things in the school are vertical tower garden with built-in vermin composter, green house nursery, upo-ampalaya fly-over, urban containerized garden rotonda, mineral water gallons garden, tetra pots and bottles garden, hanging plastic pots, rubber boots garden, among others. Practically, one sees green around the school vicinity. (Tita Roces)
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