George Willans, a Year 5 student at Summerland School, has a passion for the environment. His teacher Sonya Galbraith describes George as the following: soon after joining the school mammalian predator control programme he was implementing mammalian predator control in his own patch and beyond. It was obvious that George was on a mission-one of his own making. He is quietly ambitious about making a difference; one rat, mouse or stoat at a time. He is on his journey to becoming a remarkable ecologist. Through his enthusiasm, action and dedication to enacting positive steps for our environment he has become a role model for the younger students in the school team and adults around him. He has developed behaviours and a growing expertise that result in positive conservation outcomes. When we talk of an inspirational role model, we are talking about George.

Eve Dale Y 2 student at Edendale Primary School is described by her teacher Fleur Tuck as an influential environment leader because she approaches all her environmental tasks with great spirit and initiative. She is an inspirational role model to others. She volunteered to go on What Now for a segment on how to reduce waste. Eve offered tips on; how to cook popcorn from scratch rather than buy plastic covered food like chips and how to use soap bars instead of liquid soap. She fronted this segment like a STAR with lots of her own flair! Eve is a passionate member of the local Eco-Neighbourhoods group and helps out flora and fauna at home by making bird feeders and gardening. Eve is a hugely influential student in our school due to her relentlessly positive nature and adherence to kaitiakitangata principles. She helps jolly along her teachers and fellow students alike. Eve is great at explaining why sustainability is important and how to do it. I’ve witnessed her many times explain things to her friends with such a positive spin on how to look after nature, for example on ways to help out native birds. She is always looking for ways to support papatuanuku and manu.