On a day when most youngsters would be glued to televisions watching cartoons, Kingsway Academy's fifth grade student Sierra Blair was hard at work participating in a coastal clean-up initiative spearheaded by Etienne Dupuch Jr. Publications Ltd.
"At the end I was tired, but I had a lot of fun doing it," said the 10-year-old. "We got rid of a lot of garbage. You could see the difference."For two hours on Saturday, February 8, Sierra and four employees of Dupuch Publications collected more than 20 bags of trash from along the shores of Delaporte Beach. The most commonly found trash items were food wrappers, bottles, cans and plastic -- which, if washed into the ocean could endanger the marine life. "It's never too early to teach our children the importance of keeping our surroundings clean," said Sierra's mom, Dupuch Publications writer and clean-up volunteer Tosheena Robinson-Blair. "We tend to keep that lesson of cleanliness confined to our home and school, but it's equally important that children learn we have a collective responsibility to keep The Bahamas clean."Sierra does just as well inside the classroom as she does outside. She's a Principal Honor Roll student who snagged top honors in fourth grade when she tied with a classmate for most outstanding female student. Subsequently, she was chosen to be a prefect. Her current grade point average is 3.813.A well-rounded student, Sierra participates in Kingsway's Bahamian Culture Club. She is also a member of the Kingsway Academy Elementary student choir, Heavenly Voices. More recently, she began modeling at Yodephy.An inquisitive child, Sierra's interest in the environment was sparked after her summer 2013 participation in the Ardastra Gardens and Zoo camp, a program funded by the Bahamas Reef and Environmental Education Foundation (BREEF). It was there Sierra learned more about marine life and ways to preserve the ocean. As a part of the fun and informative week-long camp Sierra got to snorkel and even observed sharks in their natural habitat during a swim at Stuart's Cove."As a parent I try to not only support Sierra's interest but also to broaden her horizons, so she has taken up various unrelated activities," said Robinson-Blair. Thus far Sierra has dabbled in horseback riding, cooking, photography and playing the guitar. "Hopefully, she will continue to be environmentally aware and be able to pass that awareness on to her peers," said her mother.Coordinating the initiative was Etienne Dupuch III, the company's vice president. He also participated in the clean-up."This initiative shows a few people can make a difference in keeping the beaches and coastal system clean and free of garbage for Bahamians and visitors alike. People noticed the difference immediately," he said.The Ministry of Tourism designated February as "Sustainable Tourism Month," and emphasized the importance of local beaches to tourism and the Bahamian economy.
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