Tall And True Short Reads
Classroom Conservation
Episode 14 (15 February 2021)
My class had a lesson on “conservation” at school today. Miss said it’s where people reuse old things or use new things more thoughtfully. Or do stuff differently to stop using up the Earth’s resources. She said conservation is important because our planet is sick, and we need to help make it healthy again.
Classroom Conservation
Show Notes
Season One: Episode 14 (15 February 2021)
Classroom Conservation is a short story from the Tall And True writers’ website, written and narrated by Robert Fairhead.
Read the story: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/childrens/classroom-conservation
Podcast website: https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com
Support the podcast: https://supporter.acast.com/tall-and-true-short-reads
Buy Robert’s short story collections online:
- Amazon Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Robert-Fairhead/e/B086HZ36NM
- Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/author/robert-fairhead/id1436773436
- Rakuten Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/au/en/author/robert-fairhead
Story Insight
I wrote Classroom Conservation when I was living in England in 1992.
Looking back at my 1992 diary, it was a productive year for me writing-wise. In addition to this short story, I wrote many other stories for magazines and writing competitions. One of these was A Moving Sculpture, which I’ve shared on Tall And True and narrated for the Tall And True Short Reads podcast.
I also wrote a radio play and a couple of travel pieces. And I even submitted a job application to be a research writer for the Rough Guide to Singapore and Malaysia!
My writer’s life during this period was up and down emotionally. I experienced the highs of finishing and submitting a piece of writing and the lows of rejection letters. And at times, it was a lonely existence. I wrote about this in two Tall And True blog posts: Days of Gentle Rejections and Writing Can Be Lonely.
Classroom Conservation was written for a BBC Radio 4 environmental program, Costing the Earth, which is still in production. I enjoyed writing the story and exploring a schoolchild’s perspective on conservation.
But it’s a shame that almost 30 years on many do not heed the teacher’s message: “Our planet is sick, and we need to help make it healthy again.”
I hope you enjoyed this story and got some ideas about conservation. You can read Classroom Conservation and all my short stories and other writing at TallAndTrue.com.
The next episode of Tall And True Short Reads will be in your podcast feed shortly. In the meantime, check your feed for earlier episodes.
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Podcast Theme and Sound Effects
Royalty-free music from Pixabay.com: Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28 ‘Pastorale’ – IV. Rondo. Allegro ma non Troppo, performed by Karine Gilanyan.
Sound effects licensed under Creative Commons 0 from FreeSound.org:
- Classroom: https://freesound.org/people/craigsmith/sounds/480708/
- Kids laughing: https://freesound.org/people/Ben%20Keaton/sounds/430815/
- Clock ticking: https://freesound.org/people/gecop/sounds/522119/
- School bell: https://freesound.org/people/13FPanska_Stranska_Michaela/sounds/378394/
Production Notes
Tall And True Short Reads is produced using Audacity. Thanks to Josh (VoiceOverMaster) Meyer for Audacity recording tips and tricks.
Podcast episodes are recorded in Sydney, Australia, on the land of the traditional custodians of the Eora Nation.
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