‘SAVE the koalas!’ has been the rallying cry of a band of pint-sized protesters along Myall Street in Hawks Nest recently.
“People were beeping their horns and waving; the children just started singing it out,” chuckled TGHN Preschool supervisor Judy Clarke.
During Koala Week in September 2025, the children spotted a couple of toy koalas staging a silent protest in the trees and decided the movement could do with a few more recruits.
Environmental awareness is woven into the preschool’s daily activities, encouraging children to care for their surroundings, from local bushland to beaches.
“They’d seen a few of the toy koalas already in the trees and asked me what it was all about,” Clarke told NOTA.
“I explained how the adjacent development meant the loss of the koalas’ food trees and homes.”
What began with a simple question soon became a mission, with trips to city op shops helping recruit an army of toy koalas for the preschoolers’ growing cause.
“We give them ways that they can make a difference. When we’re at the beach we ‘take three for the sea’ and pick up three pieces of rubbish,” she said.
“The kids decided that they wanted to find more koalas for the installation.”
The approach encourages children to see themselves as part of the solution, transforming environmental concerns that might otherwise seem beyond their reach into opportunities for meaningful action.
And while some of the original silent protesters may have mysteriously vanished, their youngest supporters are not ready to surrender.
With another op-shop mission on the horizon, a fresh contingent of furry recruits looks set to take up residence in the trees of Myall Street.
By Charlene RUSSOM
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