Chandigarh
8 February 2018
DIVYA AZAD
A team of students and teachers from St. John’s High School, Chandigarh got the proud privilege to represent India for the very first time at the Global Youth Summit organized by Hemispheres Foundation, Singapore from Jan18 – Jan 20, 2018. The school teams not only participated in the summit along with other countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, Myanmar, Indonesia, Philippines etc. but also won in both senior and junior categories for their project presentation.
The Global Youth Summit is a global environmental platform for the youth which is organized twice a year with a focus on facilitating sustainable environment development. The theme of the summit was, Young Environmentalists Making Change. The Junior category team of St. John’s comprised of Yajan, Chaitanya, Bhavin, Zoravar and Digvijaye of classes 7 to 9, presented the project, ‘PLASTRICS’ – bricks made of soft plastic like toffee and chips wrappers etc. They won the FIRST prize in this category. The senior category team comprised of Livkirat, Akshit, Jaskaran and Rehmat of classes 9 to 11. Theypresented the project, ‘No stubble, No trouble’, bricks made of stubble which would work against the evil SMOG and won the third position. Both the projects, under the able guidance of the principal Mrs. Kavita Das and the teachers Mrs. Neeru Sood Abrol and Mr. Michaelangelo, aimed at providing innovative solutions to the problems of plastic waste and SMOG. The competition was between 17 teams of different countries and the Indian team of St. John’s emerged as the ultimate winners. They qualified for the final 5 minute judges round after getting more than 90% of the audience votes for their projects in the first 1 minute round. Both the projects were inspired by the idea for providing inexpensive bricks for the homes of economically disadvantaged groups
During the summit the teams got the opportunity to interact with students, teachers and mentors from different countries. As a part of the Live Green Outreach Programme they surveyed the locals and visitors at the Tampines Hub, Singapore to acquire the knowledge about waste management and even made them sign a pledge to reduce waste. The 2322 sq m. Eco Community garden located on the roof top of the hub and the Eco Digester system of the hub working to provide means to convert food waste into non-portable water, liquid nutrients and organic fertilizers were among some of the new educational attractions for the teams. The teams at the global summit also became part of an environment protection outreach programme at Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Primary School, Singapore.
The extended learning programme for the teams included the study of flora and fauna with their visit to the beautiful Gardens by the Bay, amazing River Safari and the Great Panda Forest. They also visited the Science City at the universal studios. It was a great time for the team to visit Singapore as on one hand the China town was all decked up for the Chinese new year and the small town of Little India was all lit up to celebrate Pongal. The students witnessed the diverse cultures of the world in one beautiful city -Singapore.
St. John’s team has not only brought laurels to the school but has also made its country very proud.
