Due to the pandemic, a small government elementary school in my neighbourhood has been shut, leaving it overgrown and deserted. With the lockdown recently lifting and hopes of kids being able to return to in-person school, it was apparent that a school clean up was imperative. On Sunday, a neighbourhood effort to clean up the now overgrown and neglected school was arranged which my family and I participated in. The garden was overgrown, and the classrooms were extremely dirty with termite nests everywhere and the chairs and tables dusty.

My brother, dad and I rode our bikes to the school where we met with the other neighbourhood families and the primary school’s staff, including the principal of the elementary school who expressed the difficulties of maintaining a school with no staff and funding during the pandemic.

The garden was extremely overgrown, chairs and tables were scattered across the classrooms, and the floors were covered in dust and termite nests that needed to be broken and swept away. We each took a room in the main building to clean and sort out. It was good for me to keep on my mask, because I have serious dust allergies… Anyways we swept the dirt and cobwebs away, lining the chairs and tables up in a corner and sorting the falling posters and notebooks. There was a natural sense of pick a job, and get to it! The roof of the main hall was about to cave in, and as a result we could only help clean out the main building’s classrooms. After finishing our rooms we went outside to help clean out the garden. We piled weeds and overgrown grasses into a bucket and carried them over to an open designated space where we piled up the overgrown plants. Some plants were very thorny, so we made sure to keep on gloves.

I hope to continue helping in project such as these. The pandemic has seen drastic impacts to government schools with kids essentially out of school for two years. I hope to help more with schools getting back on track, which simply do not have the funding and support. In fact, following the day of clean up, the secondary principal of that elementary school had been speaking to my dad about the struggles of funding and support in getting the school in a working condition again. The school is one example near me that needs support, and I hope to help as best I can.

 

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.

This connects to LO6 because of the engagement with government schools which have halted education for kids due to the pandemic. I hope to continue helping in these small ways step by step.

LO5 : Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively Students are able to identify, demonstrate and critically discuss the benefits and challenges of collaboration gained through CAS experiences.

It goes without saying that any activity needs collaboration to be succesful, and a team effort made the process much more effective.

LO7 : Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions Students show awareness of the consequences of choices and actions in planning and carrying out CAS experiences.