Schools Swap Old Mobile Phones For Classroom Resources

Media Release 14 February 2011

Schools Swap Old Mobile Phones For Classroom Resources

Nearly 300 schools across the country have already got on board with the Starship School Phone Swap – a new programme which helps both the national children’s hospital as well as the schools involved to get valuable resources for their classrooms.

Starship Foundation, together with its mobile phone recycling partner Folamh, have invited schools across the country to collect as many mobile phones as they can to fundraise for Starship’s Air Ambulance Service, which airlifts hundreds of children with life threatening medical conditions to Starship every year.

Based on the number of phones the school collects, they can ‘cash them in’ for resources – such as Promethean ActivBoard interactive whiteboards, laptops, books, handycams, sports gear and cameras.

For as few as 55 mobile phones, a school can get a digital camera or an interactive whiteboard (including installation and training) starting at 570 phones.

The first school to register on this programme was Parakai School in Helensville. Its 170 students collected 291 phones from family, friends, local business and the wider community, and donated them to the Starship School Phone Swap.

“The programme has been absolutely incredible,” says Sue Caltaux, Deputy Principal of Parakai School. “Starship has great profile, it’s for kids and it’s got heart. The rewards are a fantastic bonus for us, but that’s not why we did it. We did it because we were looking for something for our school leaders to do to give back to the community. I hope this is something we continue to do year after year.”

There is no limit to the number of schools that can participate and there is no end-date to the campaign – but schools are encouraged to get on board early and get their students collecting phones all year round. Schools can sign up for the programme at www.starship.org.nz/schoolphoneswap.

Starship Foundation CEO Brad Clark says “The Starship School Phone Swap is a great win-win. We’d like to get whiteboards and other superb school resources into every classroom in New Zealand while teaching the children about the environmental benefits of recycling plus helping to fund Starship’s vital Air Ambulance – a service bringing seriously ill or injured children from all around the country to Starship.”

For more information, visit www.starship.org.nz/schoolphoneswap

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