THE endangered Hunter River Turtle has become the new mascot for a Raymond Terrace school, which has committed to raising funds for the animal's protection.
St Brigid's Primary School's Aboriginal education teacher Kristen Jones said it was "mind-blowing" how the school community had embraced the animal and made it the centrepiece of several educational and fundraising activities.
The school has already raised $300 for an Aussie Ark program to look after the turtle, which is being run through the Australian Reptile Park.
"It's brought us all together in a year where everybody has had to stay apart," Ms Jones said.
"To have a common goal that we were all working on, it was just beautiful to see in action.
"This is the beginning, it's the first step, it's going to be a long journey for us."
Ms Jones said the seed for adopting the turtle as a mascot was born out of an initiative to encourage students to "care for country".
She contacted Hunter Local Land Services school engagement officer Jane Lloyd-Jones about the Enviro-Stories program, which involves students learning about their local area and passing this knowledge onto others through storytelling.
Ms Lloyd-Jones also suggested students may like to join Picture You in Agriculture's Kreative Koalas program, which involves using a large fibreglass koala as a canvas for an artwork that reflects one of the United Nations' Global Goals for Sustainable Development.
Ms Jones said the school surveyed students about their priorities and found children wanted to sustainably grow their own produce and create a safe environment for local threatened species.
Ms Lloyd-Jones arranged for NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment experts to host an information day for years four and six about threatened species.
These students decided the school should adopt one as a mascot.
Ms Jones came up with a list of 12 animals and year four researched and created PowerPoint presentations on all of them.
She said more than half of the 450 students and teachers voted for the Hunter River Turtle to be the mascot.
"There were some cute little critters like the sugar glider, but obviously people feel very passionate about the turtle," Ms Jones said.
"Jane said to me 'People just have a thing about turtles', whether it's because it's an ancient reptile, I really can't put my finger on it."
Year six students who had planted vegetables decided to use an OzHarvest donation of cooking equipment to create and sell meals, with the proceeds of $300 going to Aussie Ark for the turtle.
The school's Kreative Koala has been painted to resemble a turtle shell.
Ms Lloyd-Jones also organised a turtle day for years three and five with activities including water testing.
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