St Mary's - the Return. 15th May

The junior classes were disappointed that they missed out during eco week, so the Powerpod returned! Liston, Danielle, Louise, Victoria & Lindsay took the p1-p3 classes. Danielle introduced a couple of new games (which have been added to the 'games book'). Danielle's p7 teacher couldn't believe her eyes to see her ex-pupil running the 'circle introduction' for the whole class with so much confidence! Everyone had a chance of peer assessing a session. The group are well on their way towards the first stages of their Dynamic Youth Awards (and Youth Achievement Awards for Louise, Lindsay and VIctoria). Andrew, a new adult volunteer, came along to the Powerpod in the afternoon. The peer educators took him through the workshops and swiftly introduced him to the humour of Liston, Louise and Danielle...

Parents Like Us, Leith Links, 9th, 10th & 11th May

Lindsay, Victoria and Rachel ran the show on the Friday afternoon, enjoying (?) my classic tunes (thanks to Lauren from my High School for the 18th birthday mix CD). Although someone was a bit embarrased and keen to dissasociate herself from them... (ahem)
Plenty of sun on the Saturday, but not so many kids who were big enough for the bike. At lease it gave us an excuse to stay on the saddle and to test our own power most of the day... and embarrass some parents. Naomi, a new adult volunteer, came along for her first Pod visit on the Saturday... Much to delight of the peer eductors, who're excited that she'll be running some of the Powerpod sessions!

Tollcross Eco-Day, 9th May

Rachael, Morag and Lindsay ran the workshops at Tollcross Eco Day, with Polar Bears dancing to 'Build me up Buttercup' and solar engineers tasting some solar popcorn. The groups were great!

Big in Falkirk! 3rd & 4th May

The Powerpod joined up with the Co-op as part of the Falkirk outdoors arts festival. Fair Trade chocolate tasters a-plenty as well as the chance to go rock climbing! Our budding radio interviewers came out in force on the Sunday.

Mel Awarded Millenium Volunteering SIlver! 29th April

Melanie Hall was awarded her Millenium Volunteering Silver and Bronze Awards at a ceremony in the Scottish Parliment. Melanie has been involved in the project from the initial stages of the project, back in 2005. Mel was part of the group who made the designs for the trailer and was a member of the youth interview panel who hired Sara, the current project worker. As a Peer Educator, Melanie designs and delivers workshops and games for all ages and as a member of the Management Committee, Melanie works with a group to make decisions on the the planning and delivery of the project. Congratulations to Mel for achieving this level of recognition! She is the first person in the whole of Scotland to reach the Silver MV through the passport scheme. Robin Harper presented the awards.

St Mary's p5-p7, Tuesday 29th April

The Powerpod powered along to St Mary's as part of their Eco-week. And the sun shone!Drummond HS and Broughton HS peer educators ran workshops for the primary 4-7s. Teachers and pupils all loved the activities, commenting on how much fun the peer educators were. Again, solar popcorn went down a treat...

Lorne Primary, 22nd & 23rd April

A visit to Lorne Primary was the first school visit for a few of the Leith Academy peer educators. The whole school got a chance to take part in the Powerpod activities. p5s-p7s learnt about solar, wind & making their own power on the 22nd, with a number of p7s taking part in a peer education session so they could run the workshops the next day. Bouts of rain were dealt with by a quick removal operation inside to the classrooms!

On the Thursday, a different group of peer educators from Leith Academy and Drummond ran the workshops for the p1s-p4s, with assistance from the Lorne Primary p7s. Solar popcorn was a big hit with all the groups! The bike was tested out many times; even a few of the teachers managed to generate the power for a lightbulb...

Feedback from the teachers was very positive: "the peer educators were so professional" "one of the peer educator pairs had me in stitches! They were such a comedy duo" "Thank you! The peer educators were just fantastic - such excellent representatives of Edinburgh's young people"

Edinburgh Science Festival at the Botanics! 29th March - 4th April

The peer educators were used to being the participants in the Science Festival's interesting (and bizarre) workshops, but this time, they were leading them! It was the first workshop session for a number of the new peer educators from Leith Academy, Drummond HS, Boroughmuir and Broughton HS.

The sun shone on a number of the days, making more than enough power for some smoothies and popcorn, as well as the usual laptop loops.

The management meeting took place on the 2nd of April, where plans were made for the next few months. A ceilidh put on for all the Science Festival Volunteers was brought to life by the Powerpodders!