Published on Monday, 1 December 2025 at 8:32:10 AM
Exmouth District High School Students have taken matters into their own hands, cleaning up Exmouth to support their end of year graduation goals. The Year Six 2025 graduating class had the challenge of finding funds to hold their annual graduation ceremony at the Paltridge Memorial swimming pool. They rose to the occasion, negotiating a deal with the Shire to bring education and environment together, for the benefit of the town.
The students dedicated a day to picking up litter, earning a fee waiver to hire the pool as their graduation celebration venue. They negotiated this with the Shire, who agreed to give them the venue without fee on condition they give back to the town. Their creativity and innovation achieved tangible results, with the Shire recognising their efforts as a remarkable display of environmental stewardship and the promise of environmentally conscious future leaders, thinkers and decision makers.
Shire president Matt Niikkula said “The youth of Exmouth are inspirational environmental leaders. They’ve shown us they care for the place they call home and demonstrated their initiative to recreate norms in society with an ‘Exmouth effect’. They have brought real change to their community and surrounding world heritage listed environment. we are proud to support them in their efforts and celebration of their well-earned graduation and look forward to the changes they will make in the future, positioning environmental care as the forefront of reasons to act.”
Collecting a total of 20 bags of rubbish from around the Exmouth township, students were “horribly shocked” at the state of the local community environment. Exmouth is situated between the Cape Range National Park, Exmouth Gulf and Ningaloo Reef World Heritage listed marine park, all iconic and unique environments worthy of protection and care.
Year six teacher Tom Norman said “The volume of waste was confronting for many students, who expressed concern that such pollution existed in a region they regard as one of Australia’s most beautiful—and their home. Despite this, students voiced a strong sense of civic pride and accomplishment, noting that contributing to a greater cause felt rewarding. As their teacher, I could not be prouder of their engagement, creativity, and commitment.”
The students worked hard to clean their town and were disappointed at the how easy it was to find litter and urged residents and visitors of Exmouth to be more litter conscious and look after Exmouth’s environment.
Upon reflection of their clean up efforts, the students were saddened at the volume of litter and the apparent lack of responsibility and accountability taken by others by littering or not picking up litter.
The class look forward to their graduation celebration at the pool, and hope that their initiative inspires future generations of students to continue championing environmental action and advocacy in their community.
The Shire is proud to support this student-led initiative and appreciates the opportunity students presented to collaborate on a meaningful venture, encouraging sustainability and environmental stewardship within the community.
For more information on sustainable waste management and recycling options, please visit the Shire waste website page.
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