Eight schools were given a total of $160,000 from PartnerRe Ltd. last week for community and educational project pairing schools with charities.

The project ?Dollars For Hours: Youth & Community in Partnership? encouraged students from eight secondary schools to lend roughly 1,600 hours of hands-on support to local charities ? for a reward of $20,000 per school.

The project wrapped up with an impressive showcase of the students? achievements at PartnerRe?s Pitts Bay headquarters.

Approximately 200 students, aged 14 to 18, successfully completed projects ranging from environmental schemes and health-related initiatives to working with children and the disabled.

These included:

Packaging TB & Cancer?s ?Sunsmart? campaign materials to help educate local youth about sun protection (Bermuda High School);

Helping to organise PRIDE?s annual telethon (Berkeley Institute);

Improving the exterior of Hope Homes in preparation for opening its craft store (Bermuda Institute);

Designing and creating a mural for WindReach Recreational Village in the multi-access play area (CedarBridge);

Removing invasive species from a National Trust property (Warwick Academy);

Distributing gift bags, running water stops and acting as route marshals for Bermuda Zoological Society?s Zoom Around the Sound fundraiser (Mount St. Agnes);

Improving the play area for the Sunshine League Children?s Home (Saltus); and

Clearing up the marine environment at Cooper?s Island, with the Bermuda Biological Station for Research (Somersfield Academy).

Students completed each task within one or two weekends.

PartnerRe coordinated the effort, covering the cost of materials and also hosting this week?s showcase for students to share their experiences.

?Dollars for Hours has been a great opportunity for Bermudian schoolchildren to get involved in meaningful activities that benefit many worthy local charities,? said PartnerRe?s Andrew Soares, a parent who oversaw Warwick Academy?s clean-up for Bermuda National Trust.

?Through this volunteerism effort, they are assisting the community and raising funds for their schools.?

National Trust Director Steve Conway said: ?For the Bermuda National Trust this initiative was quite timely for a woodland conservation project at one of our new nature reserves.

?The students of Warwick Academy IB Programme worked hard alongside conservationist, Dr. David Wingate, in clearing the invasive vegetation and planting new trees.

?The project emphasised to the students the importance of nature conservation through the control of invasive species and the preservation of Bermuda?s fragile open spaces.?

Participating schools plan to utilise the money awarded for a wide range of initiatives, from maths and mentoring programmes to scholarships, campus upgrades and staff development.