HAPPY CHAMPIONS: SMK Lopeng Tengah team on stage during the presentation of their prize cheque.

KUCHING: Students from SMK Lopeng Tengah, Miri, SMK (A) Wataniah, Machang, Kelantan, and SM St Michael Penampang, Sabah came out tops in the recently concluded ‘Toyota Eco Youth 2013 Challenge’, winning the first, second and third place respectively.

To score extra points, the champion nature rangers from SMK Lopeng Tengah made it a point to engage as many stakeholders as possible including St Barnabas Church, Miri City Council and the local Environment Department.

This was aimed at driving environmental awareness, at the same time to rally for support to vote the school to victory.

A press release issued from Shah Alam also revealed that the second prize winner, SMK (A) Wataniah, Machang, Kelantan, spent much efforts to find a suitable project and their perseverance bore fruit when they came across a village head who needed help clearing the trash at Felda Kemahang II palm oil plantation.

Their team work to clean up the tonnes of rubbish was not only covered by the local newspapers five times over the campaign period, but also led to a Memorandum of Understanding being signed between Felda Kemahang II and the Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing and Tanah Merah Land Office to provide garbage services to that area.

This initiative gave the school an added bonus as it promises continuity of the project even after the challenge is over.

Third prize winner World Wise team from SM St Michael Penampang, Sabah, turned their school recycling initiative into a green fund-raiser, and got the school involved with a fun mudball-making project.

The mud balls were later thrown into a clogged monsoon drain, while an elementary grease trap was made using recycled materials to clean the drain.

The technical aspects of their project were derived from workshops by the Penampang Works Department, the District Council, Irrigation and Drainage Department and Landscaping Department.

The knowledge also came in handy during the creation of their blog, which landed them the Best Website award.

The Toyota Eco Youth (TEY) programme held for the 13th consecutive year continues to inspire and motivate participating schools towards a greener and cleaner lifestyle not only within school premises but also in their community.

The challenge saw rising standards among the 15 participants, with better project planning and strategic partnerships with stakeholders.

Closer attention was paid to details such as getting media attention, keeping good records and rallying for support.

The winning teams proved themselves to be a notch above the rest by not just pulling together a winning project but showing how much fun they had in the process.

The ultimate purpose was to relay the message that conservation can be fulfilling and rewarding.

UMW Toyota Motor president Datuk Ismet Suki, who was present at the challenge closing ceremony in October, expressed delight in the way the participants created strategic partnerships with local businesses, the municipal departments, and government agencies to find creative solutions to environmental problems faced by the community.

Winners were judged based on points from onsite judging, website/blog development, exhibition displays and presentation at the challenge convention.

This point distribution system helped the students see a project in its entirety; from planning and idea development to implementation, marketing, vocal presentation and creative input.