The advisory on February 7th focused on reflections amongst the various service learning groups at ISY. Secondary students gathered with their service group student leaders and advisors to discuss various topics ranging from what they are doing well in, to what their next steps should be. Our Global team dropped in on all the discussions; here is a selection of the comments.
“Darker windows, air conditioners that are serviced regularly, air filtering units as well… we need to put more fans… rewire this building.” The environmental group SEEDs had an in-depth discussion of how to spread awareness within the ISY community and in what ways we as a school can lower our emissions to the environment. “We should push for more people wearing longyis and pasos,” a member insisted, while another mentioned, “…have competitions between the different buildings to see who can conserve more energy.” There were simple suggestions that could help make a big difference such as “stop ordering takeout to school” or how “before ten o’clock, especially this time of year, we don’t need the aircon at all.” The next step for this group would be to publicize their ideas and inform students, teachers, and staff about what efforts they want to see ISY making in terms of environmental impact.
The Community Service gardening group had a discussion with Mr. Key as he was teaching them composting techniques and how this can be implemented at ISY. There was a large white barrel that contained rice husk and placed near our new recycling bins. Members of the group were asked to help with monitoring the barrel during lunchtimes to make sure that people would put food in the compost bin. This compost will later be used in the ISY gardens.
Youth Action Aid also had a lively discussion about where their group was and what their next steps should be. There were a lot of comments about the slow progress of the group, but a member spoke up saying, “We’re a small group compared to other service groups but we are very efficient.” Although there were comments of “there’s a lot of work to do” and “it’s taking a long time to get there”, helpful suggestions were also offered such as “we could utilize the social media platforms”.
Mr. Sturmey, the HS service learning coordinator was very happy with the event. He said, “I was impressed by the quality of the discussions. The student leaders did a great job guiding the discussions. Each group discussed important issues regarding the work their project does and the role of each individual student in the group. I felt that students had explored new territory. Each student was given an opportunity to think about how they have changed through their experiences, and how they can use this knowledge to make a more positive contribution to the project. Yet again, ISY students showed that they can be a force for positive change.”
- Published by Global (Haein, Hayman, Phaebe & Mr. Sturmey).
