by Michael Broadhead, MYP / DP Chem/Math Teacher -

This year, CIS students across the high school have stepped up their Service & Action in the MYP and Creativity, Action & Service in the DP. There are many different outreach initiatives happening across the High School at any one time. Vallesca Da Silva, a high school senior, was chosen out of many candidates (Singapore wide) to organise the 24 Hour Stop the Traffik race for Singapore in Gardens by the Bay. The event included participants from around Singapore, with CIS being the most represented school. Students also collectively participated in the Terry Fox Run, while individual student efforts contributed to 141 Schools for Peace. 10 CIS volunteer trips to Causes for Animals animal shelter took place this school year - these trips saw students getting lots of pet therapy while walking, cleaning kennels, giving dogs baths, and feeding the adoptable furry friends. Many students are also taking roles in EarthFest, an upcoming sustainability festival in Singapore, that I am organising.

Both MYP and DP students have taken on various leadership roles across the following initiatives:

Children's Cancer Foundation

As part of their science unit on Body Systems, Several Grade 9 girls examined cancer, an important topic that is becoming a larger issue in the world. Empathising with how difficult it is to have cancer (and all you can go through), they initiated this project to raise awareness as well as to provide encouragement for those children who are battling cancer. The girls raised awareness in the school community as well as the community at large through a social media campaign (#fightchildhoodcancer) where they encouraged CIS students to write (positive) messages which were then sent to the children in the Children's Cancer Foundation.

Fed Up Movie Screening

Throughout their lessons in science class, a group of Grade 9 students found out that obesity and diabetes were one of the most concerning health factors in developed nations. They realised that obesity can be prevented if people start taking action for themselves - which led to their own action. The group decided to start raising awareness so that more people could live a healthy lifestyle. The movie we screened was called Fed-Up and their goal was to help more teens realise that our diet is very important and children all over the world suffer from problems due to their eating habits. The movie helped other students see the effects of our dietary choices, and what the food choices we make and the food we eat can do to us. To promote healthy eating, we also organised a table of fruits and vegetables at the movie screening.

Project Cuddles

In Grade 11, Nicole Ferguson was inspired by her own personal experiences when her best friend was suffering from a heart disease known as HCM (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy). During this time, her friend's spirit was rapidly decreasing and Nicole was looking for ways to “cheer her up”. That’s how she decided to start Project Cuddles, to help anyone going through a tough time. Nicole aimed to spread happiness and cheer through what we call “kindness missions” where people do small acts of kindness for unsuspecting people. One of their biggest missions was surprising a lucky One Direction fan (plus a friend) with two standing tickets to the concert.

30 Hour Famine

Amna Alqubaisi, a Grade 11 student was inspired by the school's historical 30 Hour Famine events and volunteered to organise this year’s 30 Hour Famine on campus, on 10 April. She always wanted to plan a charity event where everyone would fight for the same cause. The primary aim of this event was to raise funds to help those in need around the world. Amna first contacted World Vision to find out more about the event’s specifics, then began the planning (venues, materials, dates...etc), and got all of these approved. Turning conceptualisation and planning into action was challenging, but very rewarding. The 30 hour famine event this year proved to be extremely successful. More than 90 students participated, and a sum of $3,000 was raised.

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It has been a rewarding year for many of our students. Action, seems to be something that comes naturally to our student body, as they work to make the lives of others more comfortable, and help shape the society they would like to live in.