Hey all :)
This is my second blog post, I promise that I will try being as regular as possible! Last time I told you one of my passions is dancing: well let me expand on that by sharing with you my experience with Service Work.(I should also mention that I love singing and Drama too - soon to come in future posts!)
In my school (Bangalore International School), students enroll in an extracurricular activity called CAS (Creativity Action Service). This involves students creating their own clubs and volunteering for the benefit of the society in any certain way.
Since ninth grade, I wished to start my own CAS club - one in which I would teach Dance, Drama and Music to underprivileged children in slums or orphanages. The reason I wished to achieve this goal was the because I really wanted to give less fortunate children the opportunity to discover their talent and build confidence while having fun. I wanted them to have the chance to feel the same joy I feel every time I practice my passions.
In tenth grade I started talking to teachers about my project for the new club: I wrote several emails, made several phone calls, wrote down several plans and got ignored several times. However, I did not give up. I kept thinking that the school should have given me the opportunity to accomplish my goal and should have helped me in the process.
Towards the end of tenth grade I thought that the possibilities of my CAS club starting were very low. The complications were many and I did not have much support. However I worked around a better plan and found a partner in my own grade who would have made Music his own branch of my CAS club. Together, we got in touch with a school for underprivileged and created a curriculum to teach. I have to admit that I was really glad for his help and that from this experience I learnt the real meaning of team work. One can not do everything alone.
In 11th grade, when I launched myself into the IB (International Baccalaureate), I fulfilled my goal: my partner and I created The After Step (the name of our CAS club) together and took classes effectively.
I began by training the members of my club within BIS so that they would be able to teach underprivileged children with me. After a month or so, we started visiting and teaching the underprivileged in the school my partner and I got in touch with. Dance and Drama are my departments and I LOVE planning classes for the students, watching them have fun and learn. Most importantly, I LOVE learning from them.
There is really so much to say: the children's enthusiasm, their respect (I have to keep reminding them not to call me 'mam'), their joy and their curiosity is indescribable. The first time I saw them I said cheerfully: 'Hello everybody!' and they replied loudly 'HIIII!' with so much energy, I can never forget. It may sound extremely cliche; , but the CAS club REALLY made me realize the difference between them and I.Leaving the economic gap aside, teaching the underprivileged made me reflect on how maybe my friends and I are not so lucky; maybe the underprivileged students are the lucky ones. We are unlucky to have everything served to us on a silver platter, we are unlucky to underestimate everything and we are unlucky to have stopped seeing the beauty of things. They, wow, they see everything with a different pair of eyes. They appreciate, they adapt and they dream. I envy their innocence.
As the head of the club I have to do a lot of work and it requires strong collaboration with others and organisation. However, The After Step won best club of the school in December! I felt extremely satisfied when we won because it meant that we did our job well and we gave an enormous gift to those children.
In November 2014 The After Step held a bake sale in our school , and with the money we raised I bought props for fun Drama games for the underprivileged children.
Here are a few pictures!
The video is very short, please have a look!
I shall post again, can't wait!
Giorgia
This is my second blog post, I promise that I will try being as regular as possible! Last time I told you one of my passions is dancing: well let me expand on that by sharing with you my experience with Service Work.(I should also mention that I love singing and Drama too - soon to come in future posts!)
In my school (Bangalore International School), students enroll in an extracurricular activity called CAS (Creativity Action Service). This involves students creating their own clubs and volunteering for the benefit of the society in any certain way.
Since ninth grade, I wished to start my own CAS club - one in which I would teach Dance, Drama and Music to underprivileged children in slums or orphanages. The reason I wished to achieve this goal was the because I really wanted to give less fortunate children the opportunity to discover their talent and build confidence while having fun. I wanted them to have the chance to feel the same joy I feel every time I practice my passions.
In tenth grade I started talking to teachers about my project for the new club: I wrote several emails, made several phone calls, wrote down several plans and got ignored several times. However, I did not give up. I kept thinking that the school should have given me the opportunity to accomplish my goal and should have helped me in the process.
Towards the end of tenth grade I thought that the possibilities of my CAS club starting were very low. The complications were many and I did not have much support. However I worked around a better plan and found a partner in my own grade who would have made Music his own branch of my CAS club. Together, we got in touch with a school for underprivileged and created a curriculum to teach. I have to admit that I was really glad for his help and that from this experience I learnt the real meaning of team work. One can not do everything alone.
In 11th grade, when I launched myself into the IB (International Baccalaureate), I fulfilled my goal: my partner and I created The After Step (the name of our CAS club) together and took classes effectively.
I began by training the members of my club within BIS so that they would be able to teach underprivileged children with me. After a month or so, we started visiting and teaching the underprivileged in the school my partner and I got in touch with. Dance and Drama are my departments and I LOVE planning classes for the students, watching them have fun and learn. Most importantly, I LOVE learning from them.
There is really so much to say: the children's enthusiasm, their respect (I have to keep reminding them not to call me 'mam'), their joy and their curiosity is indescribable. The first time I saw them I said cheerfully: 'Hello everybody!' and they replied loudly 'HIIII!' with so much energy, I can never forget. It may sound extremely cliche; , but the CAS club REALLY made me realize the difference between them and I.Leaving the economic gap aside, teaching the underprivileged made me reflect on how maybe my friends and I are not so lucky; maybe the underprivileged students are the lucky ones. We are unlucky to have everything served to us on a silver platter, we are unlucky to underestimate everything and we are unlucky to have stopped seeing the beauty of things. They, wow, they see everything with a different pair of eyes. They appreciate, they adapt and they dream. I envy their innocence.
As the head of the club I have to do a lot of work and it requires strong collaboration with others and organisation. However, The After Step won best club of the school in December! I felt extremely satisfied when we won because it meant that we did our job well and we gave an enormous gift to those children.
In November 2014 The After Step held a bake sale in our school , and with the money we raised I bought props for fun Drama games for the underprivileged children.
Here are a few pictures!
The video is very short, please have a look!
I shall post again, can't wait!
Giorgia
No comments:
Post a Comment