Month: February 2022

Room To Read Book Drive!

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Room To Read Book Drive!

My service group, OSC’s Room To Read, is hosting a book drive this year from the 7th to the 21st of February in order to host a book sale to raise funds for our partner school(s) whom we are planning to help facilitate and uplift them with library spaces. We ended up creating posters, both to put in the weekly newsletter, The Gecko Times, and on the daily bulletin in order to spread the word and increase the chances of people donating their old books. Boy were we in for a surprise.

Last Thursday, I was a few minutes late for service due to me having to attend the oil lamp lighting ceremony for the upcoming SAISA Music Festival on Feb 26th. I walked into the library which was an absolute mess (In a good way!!). Books piled upon books. In my absence, my co-leader Zoe and the members of the group had begun sorting the books into different categories. Ranging from kindergarten, primary school, secondary school, to adults.

OSC’s Room To Read Members sorting out books by category. Credits – Ms. Lockwood

Sorting out the books had made me realize how many people donated. We had books upon books upon books. All donated either by teachers, parents, or other members of the OSC community. For our upcoming book sale, we hope to raise funds for our partner school(s) and make an impact on them by helping them build functional and enjoyable reading spaces for their children.

 

The author and RTR’s co-leader (Zoe) sorting out books. Credits – Ms. Lockwood

LO1 – Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth Students are able to see themselves as individuals with various abilities and skills, of which some are more developed than others.

LO4 – Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences. Students demonstrate regular involvement and active engagement in CAS.

LO6 – Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance Students are able to identify and demonstrate their understanding of global issues, make responsible decisions, and take appropriate action in response to the issue either locally, nationally or internationally.

Volleyball and Dog Walks In Port City!

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With the recent opening of The Beach Park at Colombo Port City, I was invited by one of my mom’s good friends to come along for a visit. This wasn’t going to be any ordinary outing to the beach. I was told that there would be volleyball and more interesting to me, an allowance of dogs. My overweight beagle, Jackson, is in dire need of some exercise as my family has been told time and time again that he is overweight. Probably doesn’t help that my mom feeds him way too much. Nonetheless, I put him in my car and drove up to Port City. To get into Port City, you have to make a reservation at beach park with your vehicle number so that the security guards will let you in at the entrance.

We arrived to The Beach Park around 5:30 PM. I’d recommend people visit at this time due to the fact that it is almost dusk and the heat is surprisingly manageable. The park was not too crowded with a fair number of foreigners along with children running around playing on the beach or in the ocean.

Jackson enjoying the sandy environment and exploring The Beach Park at Port City. Credits – The Author

I was also intrigued by those playing volleyball. A sport I wish I could play more in school, but I have concert band on the same day. My mom’s friend held onto Jackson for a few minutes while I put my basic volleyball skills to good use. It had been a while since I had played with a full net as usually in school, I usually play with my peers during lunch near out lockers when the volleyball nets are usually put away. This, along with the strong winds against me, made it difficult to serve properly as it was difficult to judge how much power would be needed in order to get the ball over the net. Depending on the winds and the power of my serves, the ball would either not clear the net, or go too far out of bounds from the team on the other side.

The author playing volleyball with other beach goers. Photo Credits – Yami

I can see this spot being a more frequent destination for Jackson and I. I used to take him for walks before school started F2F usually to Thalangama lake. With school being in session, it doesn’t make much sense to come all the way back home and then go back towards that area as with traffic and other factors, it would be too late to do anything. With The Beach Park being a mere 15 minutes from my house, it makes more sense to go there instead. I ended up leaving around 6:45 as Jackson and I were both quite tired and darkness was ensuing.  The exercise was definitely much needed for Jackson. Despite him being tired, it was easy to tell that he enjoyed running on the beach and exploring the unknown very much and I’m sure he is looking forward to his next outing there. I know I am.

The author trying to maintain a grip of a curious Jackson wanting to explore more. Photo Credits – Yami

Officially Starting Service!

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After School Activities (ASAs) at OSC are finally back up officially! I say officially because my service group; OSC’s Room To Read was already up and running last semester. Albeit it was just Ms. Lockwood, my classmate and co-leader Zoe. However, we can now function as a whole with new members and more importantly, new ideas!

 

During our first meeting, Zoe and I had prepared some ice breakers in order to get to know our new members. I was excited to finally be interacting with my service group in person for the first time in a long time. Prior to this, the only way I was able to interact with them was through a computer screen where it was much more difficult to get to know people without actually meeting with them face to face.

Zoe and I giving the new members of our service a presentation on what we do and how we do things.

With this being my final semester at OSC, I feel like this service has helped me greatly over the 3 years i’ve at this school. Now being service leader, I feel more confident when speaking to members of the group as well as interacting with peers outside the group. Our second meeting where Ms. Lockwood was absent due to quarantine, Zoe and I led and I had never felt so confident in addressing the group and instructing them in what we had to do. This semester, we also started advising our next generation of leaders for Room To Read; Thevuni and Eleez from DP1 and enlightening them with the work they will have to input to ensure the group functions efficiently and effectively as a whole

Looking back on the time i’ve had with this service group, I feel satisfied with my inputs and contributions. The guidance both from Ms. Lockwood and Zoe have been extremely helpful in helping me reach this point. All that’s left to do in the final few months of is help our partner schools the best we (Zoe and I) can before we leave for good (A day i’m low key dreading) and hopefully our contributions will be a useful guidance for the next generation of leaders.

LO 1 – Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

Students are able to see themselves as individuals with various abilities and skills, of which some are more developed than others.

LO 4 – Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

LO 6 -Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

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