Project goes through roof
After organising the roof gardening competition for three years, the Hong Chi Association is keen to extend its greening efforts this academic year. The association is hoping to expand the project into a 'Community Organic Farming Competition' to spread the message among more schools.
The award ceremony for the third Roof Greening Competition for Primary & Secondary Schools in Hong Kong was held on September 25. There were four categories - Best Learning Outcome, Best Greening Design, Best Plant Nursing, and Best Student Involvement.
The competition, which was launched in 2006, has attracted more than 100 primary and secondary schools. Participating students have to create and manage their own green roofs.
Association vice-chairman Stephen Miller said the competition aimed to promote green messages among students, and give a practical spin to environmental conservation education.
One winner, CCC Yenching College, shared its experiences at the prize presentation ceremony. Form Seven student Mavis Lee Ming-lai, chairperson of the school's Eco Club and captain of the participating team, said they were very surprised to win as it was the first time they had entered such a gardening competition.
'We participated in the competition to gain experience. The award is definitely a bonus for us,' Mavis said.
She and her 14 teammates devoted a lot of time to the garden. Under the guidance of teacher Heidi Leung Mee-wah, they turned the roof into a world of greenery.
Mavis said she had become very aware of the weather report. 'Whenever I heard bad weather was coming, the first thing that popped into my mind was what would happen to our roof garden,' she said.
The students did not have green thumbs when they started so they did not handle the project very well in the beginning. Half the seedlings they first planted died.
They did not give up but grew through failure. They were over the moon at harvest time.
'We invited our principal and teachers, together with our teammates, to enjoy our harvest. We had a great hot-pot night,' said team member Benny Chu Chung-yin. Mavis added: 'We had lots of fun in the roof garden. We will continue to take care of it even though the competition is over.'
This year, the association has rolled out the Community Organic Farming Competition for Primary & Secondary Schools in Hong Kong as a sequel to the roof gardening competition.
'We've been promoting roof gardening for three years and think it is time to spread a wider message to more schools,' said Wong Siu-kai, general manager of Hong Chi Pinehill Integrated Vocational Training Centre.
Wong said because not all school roofs were suitable for planting, they came up with the idea of organic farming in wooden wine boxes. 'The wooden wine boxes are portable and don't take up too much space,' he said.
The association hopes the competition will promote the skills of landscaping and organic farming.
It also wants the students to spread their new-found skills into the community and encourage more people to join greening efforts.
'The competition can also reveal the talent and potential of our intellectually disabled trainees,' Wong said.
'They are going to prepare most materials required for the competition, such as the seeds and recycled red wine boxes.'
Applications to join the organic farming competition close on October 16.
