The Year 4 Ambigo class at Bay View State School in Thornlands have held a Koala Expo for parents and special guests, including Redland City Mayor Melva Hobson and Councillor Debra Henry, calling on people to help save the koala.

The children's Koala Expo was the idea of the class and the culminations of six weeks' intensive research as part of their sustainability studies and another six weeks of preparation for their Expo displays.

The creative displays included an impressive stop-animation video, a wonderful rap video and colorful artworks, puppet displays, poems and stories.

Using all media to get their messages across, the year 4 class called for people to help stop the death and decline of the koalas on our roads, in backyard pools and from dog attacks and habitat destruction.

The Expo exhibits also told the story of koalas including Little Miss Sunshine a Cleveland, koala and popular favorite of the children, who had a poem especially written in her honour.

Redland City Mayor Melva Hobson congratulated the class on their creative and intelligent exhibits, saying the children clearly understood and valued our unique Redland koala population and were concerned to stop the continuing threats to their existence.

"I was touched by the thoughtful and heartfelt messages the children have developed from their studies and expressed in a very impressive display.

"Their message is also an important one for all adults in our community," the Mayor said.

Councillor Debra Henry also congratulated the children on their creativity and hard work in putting the expo together, saying they were wonderful ambassadors for the future.

The class thanked Ruth Vickery from Redland City Council's IndigiScapes Centre for helping them with their research and presented the proceeds of donations for koala protection from Expo guests.

Samples of the Bay View schools expo exhibits will be placed on the Koala Central website (www. koalacentral.com.au) in coming weeks.

The Bay View School is one of several schools considering entering a school team in the Redland Koala Fun Run on the Sunday 29 May with major prizes available for the winning school team.