Evergreen Secondary School students, who were in their red or blue uniforms, were paired with the special needs visitors wearing yellow or green shirts. (Photo by Fu Ya Tien)
Secondary school students can be ambassadors of recycling, too, and student Shen Si Qi from Evergreen Secondary School spent the first Saturday after the June school holidays doing something meaningful.
On 2 July 2016, Shen, together with her teacher and 14 other of her schoolmates, arrived at the Tzu Chi Eco-Awareness Centre situated in Woodlands Sector 1. The Centre welcomes members of the public to learn about the organization’s recycling philosophy as well as to volunteer their help.
Shen is part of the Tzu Chi Teenagers’ Class and is currently in the third year of secondary school. Together with her teacher and schoolmates, they were there to facilitate the learning excursion for eight special needs students from Delta Senior School. The day’s activity was made possible through five months of dedicated planning and coordination efforts by Shen, who did not give up even when things got challenging. Finally, a date was set which was convenient for all.
Shen explained that she was motivated by the thought that the earth’s environment was facing the threat of destruction, hence she hoped that students could learn and understand more about the issue. In addition, she felt that it was not often that special needs students had the opportunity to learn about recycling.
Apart from coming up with a “visitors’ guide”, Shen also recced the Eco-Awareness Centre with her schoolmates a month prior, experiencing sorting of recyclables and learning about the organization’s recycling philosophy. This ensured that they would be able to facilitate the visit with the special needs students with greater confidence. With the first such cooperation in place, she hoped that more special needs students would benefit in future.
At 7.15am that day, the 16 man team from Evergreen Secondary School arrived at the Eco-Awareness Centre early to make preparations for the day’s activity. Tzu Chi volunteers even had a simple breakfast provided in case the students did not have time to eat before they left home.
At 9am, the venue was ready to welcome the eight special needs students who were accompanied by two teachers. Evergreen Secondary School students who were in their red or blue uniforms, were paired with the special needs visitors wearing yellow or green shirts. The recycling station was awash with the bright cheery colours that day as youthful energy permeated the whole area.
After a simple introduction, Shen and her fellow volunteers shared the Tzu Chi “ten fingers mnemonic” on how to sort recyclables with the special needs students. Following this, the students began a practical hands-on session, carefully sorting the materials using what they had learnt earlier.
“You’ve all done very well!”
Shen gave the thumbs up sign as she smiled widely in approval. Under the guidance of volunteers and helpers, the special needs students sorted the materials out successfully with enthusiasm (though they required a much longer time to do so).
Following this, students from the two schools played ice-breaker games which dissipated any shyness they might have had towards each other initially. Volunteer Yu Yuan Yuan also introduced Tzu Chi through presenting videos and images to her audience as well as explained the environmental importance of recycling. Bearing in mind that her visitors had special needs, Yu, who had helped Shen in her planning of the event said, “We employ interactive methods to let them understand that everyone can recycle, and also, that everyone is capable of doing their bit for the earth.”
The student facilitators from Evergreen Secondary School also planned a craft making session using recycled magazines and cardboard so as to ingrain the message of recycling in their visitors. They lent a helping hand when needed, as the special needs students fashioned frames for taking pictures. Student facilitators later doubled as photographers as they snapped Polaroids of their visitors who posed with the “Let’s Go Green” frames they had earlier made.
At the close of the event, special needs student Jake smiled as he expressed himself haltingly. He gave thanks for the event, saying that he realized he would miss them all when he was immersed in the activities. “The Ice-breaking game was enjoyable and excited me. The activities were very good and enjoyable, especially sorting recyclables.”
Another special needs student was heard repeating over and over again, “Don’t discard paper, don’t discard plastic bottles, don’t discard resources……” It seemed like the seeds of loving the earth had already been implanted in their hearts, and all that was left was for these seeds to germinate one day!
Tzu Chi volunteer Yu Yuan Yuan (first from right) has helped Shen Si Qi (middle) plan the agenda for the visit to the Eco-Awareness Centre. (Photo by Fu Ya Tien)
Tzu Chi volunteers accompany special needs students in sorting recyclables. (Photo by Fu Ya Tien)
After the hands-on recycling session was over, students from the two schools played ice-breaker games on the second level of the Eco-Awareness Centre. (Photo by Fu Ya Tien)
Evergreen Secondary School student facilitators accompany the special needs visitors in creating handmade frames for photos. (Photo by Fu Ya Tien)
Evergreen Secondary School student facilitators helped the visitors from Delta Senior School take Polaroid shots to capture memories of the recycling activity. (Photo by Fu Ya Tien)
On 4 June 2016, Evergreen Secondary School student facilitators made a recce trip to the Tzu Chi Eco-Awareness Centre to gain a prior understanding of recycling processes and Tzu Chi’s recycling philosophy. (photo provided by a South Zone volunteer)
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