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Almost 12 000 Students Participated in This Year’s Forest Master Class

Aicinot skolas mācīties dabā un iepazīt meža bagātības, arī šogad AS “Latvijas valsts meži” (LVM) īstenoja vides izglītības programmu “Meža meistarklase”, kurā sasniegts jauns dalībnieku rekords – teju 12 000 dalībnieku no 220 Latvijas skolām.

Urging schools to learn in nature and get to know the riches of the forest, JSC “Latvia's State Forests” (LVM) implemented the environmental education programme “Forest Master Class” this year as well; this year, a new record of participants was reached – almost 12 000 participants from 220 schools in Latvia.

The Forest Master Class supports competence education in accordance with the School 2030 programme. Students of grades 1 to 9 are invited to take part in it; together with their teachers, they had a task to do one of three crafts during the school year – an outdoor workshop, a wooden workshop, or a forest workshop.

Creating a Forest Day sticker

As part of the programme, the Forest Sticker Contest, which has become a tradition, was also held in schools, where students were invited to express themselves creatively by creating a sticker design. This year's theme “With birds in the forest” allowed getting to know the diversity of birds living in the country's forests not only by drawing but also by creating separate group works in the classroom and conducting research on bird species found in Latvia.

Two winners were selected from all submitted works. In the age group from 1st to 4th grade, the jury recognized Emīlija Beļakova as the winner, whereas in the group from 5th to 9th grade, it was Laura Meikstuma. The two winners received a paid bus for the whole class to the Latvian Forest Days, which took place in the LVM Nature Park in Tērvete on 24 and 25 May, an exciting exercise book titled “Birds in Latvia”, as well as stickers with their own design.

Also, the jury decided to award a special prize for the best collective work to the 4th grade of Zemgale Elementary School, evaluating the extensive research work done by the students in the development of the sticker design. The winners of the special prize will also have an opportunity to attend the ambitious forest industry festival in Tērvete with a paid bus for the whole class.

Encouragement to increase oxygen

A major cause of global climate change is excessive amounts of carbon dioxide, or CO2, produced by human activity. Schools were invited to plant and grow their own trees, sequestering carbon in the atmosphere, to provide competent education on climate change and raise awareness of the role of trees in the fight against global warming.

More than 500 classes and clubs responded to the invitation, collectively planting more than 16 000 seeds.

“In autumn, the students picked acorns and stored them according to the instructions. In spring, we planted the acorns that had already started to sprout in pots. We decided that at the end of the school year, each student would take home the seedlings they had grown and plant them on their property. We also sowed and grew the pine seeds sent – they germinated very well. The children will also take these seedlings home for the summer and take care to plant them in a permanent place later,” says Sanita Krūmiņa, teacher at Limbaži Region Special Primary School.

Masterpieces should have an assessment

The participants registered the completed work and will soon receive diplomas for their performance. 75 classes have completed at least two masterworks this academic year, thus receiving apprentice diplomas, while 101 classes have completed all three tasks, so they will be awarded master diplomas