Becoming a Flick the Switch Regional Finalist School

Marilena Sibechi, a teacher at Eco School Ion Creanga in Suceava, Romania describes what it was like to take part in the campaign and become a Flick the Switch Regional finalist!

“As we all know the world is changing, but not necessarily in a good way. How can we justify spending billions of dollars a year to further inspect the moon, asteroid belts and the uninhabitable planets of the solar system when our own planet is struggling? Searching for the words „problems of the planet‟ on Google gives you 63,000,000 results, of which global warming is one of the most serious.

For the situation to improve, for the whole world to change, we need to begin with ourselves. We need consistency and discipline. When millions of people say together “I‟m a responsible person” the message is more powerful and goes further, changing our way of thinking and our behaviour.

Wanting to be the change the world needs, I started looking for websites supporting my cause. One click led to another and I found the Flick the Switch website. I was intrigued by its funny characters and I was sure the children would love them so I registered my school for the campaign! The main idea of this project is to unplug all electric equipment which you don‟t use and which is left in stand-by mode. This can include printers, TVs, phone chargers, microwaves, toasters, radios, etc. Many people didn‟t know that electric equipment left on stand-by still consumes 10% of household energy. We also encouraged people to buy equipment with low energy consumption. It‟s not complicated.

Furthermore, we held presentations and had debates with pupils and their parents. The pupils managed to express the campaign‟s ideas through the poster competition. From almost 50 posters we chose the most beautiful to represent our school in the final poster competition, in Estonia.

During Flick the Switch week, in March 2010, a week full of events took place at our school. It started with a show called „A beautiful sprint for Earth.‟ The show represented the collaboration between our team working on Flick the Switch and the „Life Link‟ team. For this occasion an exhibition of posters made by pupils was organised. On Thursday 25th March, our school, represented by 2 pupils, participated among another 14 schools from Europe in the second edition of the on-line Flick the Switch Energy debates.

But the surprise was yet to come because later Ion Creanga School was picked as the regional winner for Romania! That‟s why I was invited to participate in the Flick the Switch Closing Ceremony, which took place in Rakvere, Estonia. At this event I received the Regional Winner‟s Flick the Switch Flag and certificate. I was proud to learn that the 2 prize winning schools in the Flick the Switch poster competition were also Romanian schools.  I have officially given the flag and the diploma I received at Rakvere to our pupils. In the end I asked every "flicker" to raise their hand. My students did this with joy and enthusiasm. I looked at them, pleased with myself, like a cultivator who just planted seeds in their land. I have planted ideas for a healthy life in my students which will sprout when they become adults.

Flick the Switch was a project which educated both students and parents. It was a dynamic, funny and youthful project. I am proud that I was part of it and I look forward to seeing it continue.

Romania flicks the switch! Let‟s flick together.