A project to strengthen bonds between teachers and students.
Imagine building a towering structure made entirely of plastic straws to hold half a liter of water. Sounds impossible? Well, a total of 140 students and 20 teachers from Mayflower Secondary School did just that.
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| PHOTO COURTESY OF CHCSA |
They were participants of “Project Winning Formula,” an activity organized by City Harvest Community Service Association. The event, held on Jan. 11, was a new initiative of the school to help teachers and students build rapport. The target groups for the project were classes from the Normal Academic and Normal Technical stream. Holding the event at the beginning of a school year was so that teachers and students could kick off to a great start after getting to know one another better through the activities.
The values of “C.A.R.E.” which stands for Care and Commitment, Attitude, Respect and Excellence were incorporated in the activities. The teachers who participated had to go through a preparation course before the day of the event.
The straw tower challenge was a timed competition between four classes to build a tower, using straws, to hold a 500ml bottle of water. Students and teachers triumphed over the mental impossibility of building a seemingly weak structure to support a heavy item.
“I learned that one should never judge a book by its cover. We thought that it was impossible for our structure to withstand the weight of the bottle, but it passed the test!” exclaimed one delighted student.
Another game required the students— blindfolded—to form shapes with rope entwined around their legs. They had to do this by listening to the instructions of their classmates amidst the instructions being shouted out by other teams. Through this activity, the students were motivated to expand their imagination and come up with creative ideas to get the task done. They had to find a way to get the attention of their members in a unique way. Despite failing several times, the students eventually succeeded in completing the task.
Cara Kwok, 21, an NUS undergraduate and a volunteer with CHCSA, was especially encouraged by the positive attitude that the participants showed in spite of the challenging tasks.
“The way the students and teachers bonded through the games was interesting. They displayed a ‘can-do’ attitude throughout the activities,” said Kwok.
The three-and-a-half hour event left many students motivated and happy about what they had accomplished. “I thoroughly enjoyed the day and hope that there will be more of such sessions with my friends and teachers,” quipped 16-year-old Perlin Ng.
