The air was filled with smiling faces at each of Collect-a-Can’s recent school awards ceremonies.

Representatives at the Gauteng regional awards ceremony were kept entertained with an interactive drumming-performance hosted by the Drum Tribe. At the Cape Town regional awards ceremony, two pirates entertained the crowd with an exciting pirate-show as ceremony attendants were taken out on the ocean for a boat trip. At the Durban regional awards, Mthethomusha SP School (Kwa-Zulu Natal Provincial Choir Competition winners) gave a choir performance and entertained the audience with their angelic voices.

The National Schools Competition runs annually from 1 February to 31 October. Schools are rewarded for collecting the most used cans during the course of the year. The more cans the school collects, the higher their chances are of winning prizes. There are two categories for schools to enter Category 1 (501 and more learners) or Category 2 (500 and less learners). Category 1 awards large schools for collecting the most cans per school, while Category 2 awards small schools for collecting the most cans per learner.

Overall first-prize winners received R25 000 each, second prize receives R15 000 each, while third-place winners walked away with R10 000 each. Winning schools look forward to investing the money back into improving their facilities.

Category 1 first place regional winners:

• Aeroton and Vanderbijlpark region – Lekang Primary School  collected 165 762 cans;
• Cape Town region – Bergvliet High School collected 206 284 cans;
• Durban region – Mthethomusha SP School collected 171 762 cans; and
• Pretoria and North West region – Itirele Primary School collected 418 720 cans.

 

Category 2 first place regional winners:

• Aeroton and Vanderbijlpark region – Emfuleni Pre-Primary School collected 510 cans per learner;
• Cape Town region – Morester Akademie Care collected 15 485 cans per learner;
• Durban region – Peter Speelgroep collected 3 687 cans per learner; and
• Pretoria and North West region – Hammanskraal Rollerskating Club collected 21 922 cans per skater.

“The learners, teachers, parents and local communities worked tirelessly throughout the year to collect as many cans as possible to make sure that these schools win their share of R788 800. We decided to reward these green schools and their representatives with fun and interactive awards ceremonies over and above the prize money received,” says Zimasa Velaphi, marketing and public relations manager of can recovery and recovery organisation, Collect-a-Can.

The National Schools Competition reaches up to 250 000 children in schools throughout Gauteng, KwaZulu Natal, Western Cape and the North West Province annually and is a wonderful opportunity for schools to raise funds for themselves, while creating environmental awareness.

Collect-a-Can announced that they are planning on revamping the competition to make it more fun and to also reward individual learners for their efforts in collecting the most cans. “All schools are encouraged to participate in next year’s competition to ensure that they don’t miss out on more exciting prizes and another thrilling awards ceremony,” concludes Velaphi.