P Aruljothi, school teacher from Nagapattinam who received the Green Champion Award, has used half the prize money for the renovation of a building at Panchayat Union Middle School in Nagalur village, the institute where he has been working for the past 17 years.
Earlier this month, the 42-year-old teacher, who is also coordinator of the National Green Corps, received the award and a sum of `1 lakh from the State government. He has used half the prize money for the renovation. "I am planning to utilise the remaining to plant tree saplings and distribute the rest to the
public," he said.
The school is located in Koorathangudi panchayat of Kilvelur block in the district. Aruljothi said, "The floors and walls of the school's buildings were in poor condition. After receiving the sum, I decided to renovate at least one of them. I have contributed `51,000 for fixing the tile floors and painting the walls of a computer lab." He spent `36,000 on the flooring and `15,000 on painting the walls.
Over the years, he has been planting saplings, leading cleanliness campaigns, promoting indigenous trees and herbs, and organising green fests to create awareness of planting trees. TNIE had published an article about Aruljothi in the edition dated April 24.
The panchayat school was started as a primary school in 1925, and was upgraded into a middle school in 2004. It has eight classrooms in four buildings. At present, there are 138 students, including 58 boys and 78 girls, studying from Classes 1 to 8. There are seven teachers in the school.
Teachers, parents and the villagers lauded his efforts to renovate the building. P Parameswari, headmistress, said, "We are proud of Aruljothi's continuous efforts towards ecological conservation. We thank him for his contribution towards the school infrastructure."
V Thandayuthapani, president of parents-teachers association, said, "My daughter studies in the school. Its infrastructure is poor. We had requested the department for renovation and we appreciate Aruljothi's efforts."