School projects ranging from pop art-inspired recycled sneakers to soul food were showcased at Somersfield Academy yesterday.

The projects were among the work displayed by M5 pupils as part of their International Baccalaureate middle-year programme, which covered topics such as social justice, sustainability and religion.

Nicholas Bonanno, 15, said he had turned hand-me-down sneakers into pieces of “wearable artwork”.

He explained that he repaired and redesigned old shoes into colourful fashion statements, some of which were used to make statements on social justice.

Nicholas said: “There’s a lot of things wrong in the world right now, so this is just my way of speaking to people without me actually speaking to them.

“If someone saw these shoes on the street I’d hope that it’d put something in their mind and hopefully change the world for the better.”

Nicholas, from Smith’s, added that some of his work was inspired by 1960s pop art, such as a pair of sneakers made to look like comic book artwork.

His favourite pair, a set of white trainers with rainbow stripes, was inspired by the LGBT Pride movement.

Nicholas said that he hoped to take commissions in the future and use his website and YouTube channel to sell his work.

Ian Forbes, 15, created a research project on the origins of the American South’s “soul food” to highlight its cultural importance.

He explained: “It’s very popular here and I’m American, so I wanted Bermudians to understand the significance of soul food.

“If there’s any awareness I can give around it, that’d be great, because I really want Bermudians to know about it.”

Ian, who lives in Smith’s but moved to the island from Boston, Massachusetts, said that he carried out research in Atlanta, Georgia, last summer.

He added the project was a combination of his passions for food, culture and history.

He said: “The most interesting thing I saw wasn’t about food, but seeing the neighbourhood where Martin Luther King Jr grew up.

“That was very interesting because we’d always learn about him in school, but actually being there was like a whole other experience.”

Grayson Toogood, 15, used his interest in drawing and boats to design an eco-friendly oil tanker.

Grayson explained he wanted to find an environmentally sound solution to crude oil transportation.

He added: “I don’t know the statistic exactly, but I heard that about 15 of the largest ships in the world create more carbon dioxide fumes than all the cars in the world, so that just shows how terrible the waste is from these ships.

“There needs to be a solution because the shipping industry is a really important industry and it won’t go away, so in order to fix this we need to come up with a solution.”

Grayson, from Paget, said that the tanker was designed to store oil in small compartments to minimise oil loss if the hull was breached.

Grayson added that wind turbines and solar panels above deck would power the eco-friendly vessel.

Anne-Laure Bazin, the personal project co-ordinator at Somersfield, said the pupils were given six months to concentrate on the practical side of their projects.

She added that the course was designed to apply theoretical skills in practical ways.

Ms Bazin said: “All the skills that have to do with researching, reflecting, thinking, communicating, were put into practice and the creation of a tangible product.”

The pupils will submit a 3,500-word essay at the end of the year on how their projects were carried out and what they learnt from them.