December 2017

On Thursday November 16, RESPECT successfully organised our school’s first spelling bee in recent memory! Contestants from grades 9-12 put their spelling acumen to the test as they competed for the chance to win two free tickets to this year’s school musical, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

Example sentences were refugee-themed in order to raise awareness of refugee issues in Hong Kong, and the hosts were none other than the actors playing the word pronouncers in the musical themselves, Alison and Roark. It was a fun-filled event that, at the same time, helped advocate for refugee issues and bring attention to how people could get involved in the local community.

Thank you to all participants, and congratulations to Vesta in grade 12 for winning the bee!

As is annual tradition, CDNIS sent delegates to the GIN852 Conference held at Discover College. This year’s theme was “beGIN” and to act on this, students were divided into five GANGs to collaborate and create solutions to local and global problems. A new initiative, this conference included hands-on work experience at NGOs SoCO, Green Glass Green, SoapCycling, Home of Love HK and Sunshine Action. Our students worked with Green Glass Green at the Wanchai Refuse Collection facility recycling glass bottles and with the Society for Community Organisation in Sham Shui Po hauling a startling amount of rubbish from stairwells of sub-divided and cage-home apartment blocks. The vision of GIN is to empower young people and we hope to attract further interest in local and regional conferences in future.  Many thanks go to Ms. Jong and Ms. Ifi for leading the whole Global Issues Network (GIN) culture at CDNIS and for guiding the students through this year’s GIN852!