All Posts By

Smriti

May 06
0

Grade 2E inquiry + pickles + GreenWeek 2019 = fundraiser for refugees!

By | GIN & Clubs, Green, PYP | No Comments

Check out Mr. Ryan Scott and his Gr. 2E students taking action & helping an Upper School club fundraise!

“During our 3rd Unit of Inquiry, Grade 2 found out that there are a staggering 10,000 refugees in Hong Kong.  We discovered that although our ‘needs’ and ‘wants’ may differ, we still have a lot in common.

Inspired by this, Grade 2 wanted to help the Refugees.  We decided we wanted to help by providing some of their ‘needs’.  In order to do this, we needed to fundraise the supporting funds. We wanted to host a market, but we needed to understand how a market works in order to host our own.  We went on field trips to markets and learned about goods and services.  The market was highly successful and we raised more than $15,000HKD.  However, 2E didn’t want to stop there.  We have had little pockets of individual fundraising and recently we were growing vegetables and we discussed what we could do with excess vegetables.  Mr Scott told us about how he use to make a variety of pickles with his Nana Myrtle. One thing lead to another and now we have Nana Myrtle pickles.“

A call out across the CDNIS community for used glass jars provided the canvas for Gr. 2E to design the logo and look for ‘Nana Myrtle’s pickles’ and these pickles were sold during GreenWeek 2019 at the pickle pop-up shop to great acclaim!  With all the interest, curiosity and order, they raised over $1000 and 2E decided to donate the money to the Upper School Global Goals Club “Cooking for a Cause” who cook for refugees at the Refugee Centre in Chungking Mansions on monthly weekends.  A fantastic symbiotic relationship at work!

 

Mar 18
0

Gr. 10 students share their Personal Projects with Gr. 4 students!

By | MYP, Personal Projects, PYP | No Comments

On 14th March,  Grade 10 students Tina, Alia, Matteo, Jaden and Matthew shared their Personal Projects with the Grade 4 students, and discussed they ways in which they took action about an issue that mattered to them.  These presentations were used by the Grade 4 students as great idea starters and provocations to consider what ways they may want to support a cause they care about during their own ‘Action Week’.

“I heard from numerous students and teachers how engaging all of your talks were. You all showed passion, enthusiasm and persistence regarding action and delivered your message in a confident manner. Our Grade 4 students look up to you and we really appreciate you all being such positive role models.”

– Grade 4 Learning Leader, Rebecca Tupling

 

 

 

 

Details about each of their projects and what they wanted to present:

Tina Xia 
Environmentally friendly garment
I’ve created two environmentally friendly dresses with natural dyes. I dyed both clothes with grape peels.
Alia Dobles
Wearing Out the Stigma 
In my project, I designed shirts through my own brand, “Floatees,” to raise awareness, as well as funds for teen suicide prevention in Hong Kong. All profits raised were donated to the Samaritans, a suicide prevention organization in Hong Kong. I created a social media account to advocate for this cause, while advertising my product.
Matthew Yong
Sustainability & Technology
To develop an atmospheric water generator that could produce potable water in response to the global context “Scientific and Technical Innovation”. I completed this goal by taking a repairing a broken dehumidifier and modifying it to filter out water.
Matteo Darsono 
Renewable consumerism products
By using the laser cutter I developed a variety of lampshades and artworks that are environmentally sustainable and cost effective. Each of these products will be capable of compact packaging for sending to clients and customisable depending on a client’s needs.
Jaden Benayon
 Raising Awareness of the Plastic Waste Problem of Hong Kong 
The goal of my project is to organise a group beach cleanup event in accordance with my project of raising awareness about waste plastic pollution. Through research, on-site investigation and interviews, I gathered information about Hong Kong’s plastic waste situation with the goal of raising awareness for change. The global context I will be focusing on is that of ‘Globalisation and Sustainability’. Meaning, I will be inquiring into the structure and function of organisations, reviewing their systems and in turn, sustaining Hong Kong’s environment.
Mar 18
1

Charlie’s football project in Philippines continues into 2019!

By | CAS, Personal Projects, Social Justice | No Comments

Charlie Stewart, Class of 2018, shares the way he’s continued to serve a community he cares about, one that started from his time as a Gr. 9 student creating his Personal Project at CDNIS.    Read how he practices the CDNIS Service Learning Pledge #10, “I commit to continually apply my passions, skills and knowledge to my communities no matter where I am in the world”, from his story below, and watch Charlie’s beautifully-shot video that captures the work he’s done with the community in Dumaguete, Philippines in February-March 2019:

“In 2015, the grade 10 personal project started for our year, and we were told to create a project that would have an impact on a community through something we are passionate about. My parents had connections with ICM (International Care Ministries) and they were a major help in connecting us with the children. After finishing the project, we all felt like we had to return because of how much we and the children enjoyed playing together but we never had the time until I started my gap year. I feel that the planning and preparation that goes behind an event like this closely resembles a presentation summative assignment that we do in class. Planning, research and preparation have to occur in both instances. One school project in-particular was very similar to what we did in Dumaguete. In geography class we created an interactive presentation about people living in poverty, I feel that this kind of project helped me understand more about the many issues around the world and think of different creative ways of helping solve these issues or benefiting the people in need.”

Mar 12
0

“Hoops for Habitat” charity basketball event!

By | GIN & Clubs, Staff | No Comments

Hoops for Habitat is a fundraising campaign organized by Habitat for Humanity. Hoops For Habitat is a tournament aimed to generate interest for the cause of Habitat among the Upper School, in order to make them more aware about the inadequate housing situation in the world.  The main advocacy components were the lunchtime quiz regarding Habitat’s goals and what our club does, and the shirts promoting the name of Habitat. At the lunchtime game, we chose to incorporate the quiz into the basketball game, by giving both teams chances to earn points by answering correctly. This made not only the teams but the audience very interested in this quiz game.  The shirts have the Hoops for Habitat logo printed on them, and many students still wear it regularly as a shirt for sports. By making the shirt look good, students participating in the event can wear the shirt outside of this event and it may assist in raising awareness for Habitat.  Enjoy the photos of the event (need to have a school student account to view)!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mar 06
0

Bronze AYP Adventurers & their successes!

By | Green, MYP | No Comments
Lower School teacher and AYP supervisor, Rebecca Tupling, shared the recent success of the Bronze AYP students:
“I am just writing to inform you all that this past weekend we had 18 students complete their last Bronze journey.
Groups have to plan a purpose for each journey which may include documenting the local wildlife, identifying landforms, observing the effects of a recent typhoon, taking pictures of the historical buildings, etc., and one journey’s purpose was to pick up garbage along the trail. They picked up nearly half a large bag of garbage over the course of two days. This was an incredible way they showed action, which compliments the IB curriculum. In addition, I have attached a photo of a snake that we saw (although this picture is from the internet). This snake is a Red-necked Keelback snake and is venomous, however it was docile and passive as it slithered past my group on Sunday and we watched it slither through the undergrowth for a few minutes. There was a moment of awe and respect for the snake by the students as they gave the snake space as they watched it from a distance.”
Feb 07
0

Amnesty Club working with “Smile with Us” and underprivileged elderly

By | GIN & Clubs | No Comments

Hey guys! It’s Amnesty and we’ve just done an event on October 27th in collaboration with Smile with Us (a HK based NGO & charity promoting positivism) to volunteer at an underprivileged elderly home. This event helped us become more aware and raise awareness of healthcare rights in HK, specifically towards the elderly, and to bring happiness to underprivileged elderly lives. At the elderly home, our games (charades, pictionary and more) brought smiles to their faces! It was such a joy to see!

Feb 03
1

CDNIS Amnesty x Crossroads

By | GIN & Clubs | No Comments
Amnesty CDNIS is back with another event! In collaboration with Crossroads, Amnesty hosted an event where we travelled to Crossroads HK on the 26th to help with repackaging and organising donated goods. We specifically dealt with clothing and also helped Crossroads clear and prepare their site for a new, more welcoming entrance. This was an amazing service opportunity for us to help the underprivileged as well as learn more about “living in dignity” and Crossroads.
Jan 22
0

E-club’s 1st beach clean-up of 2019!

By | . | No Comments

The beach cleanup held at the rocky shores of the Sandy Bay Swimming Shed on western HK Island on 18th of January was a success! Upper school students participated in the first 2019 beach cleanup organized by the CDNIS E-Club, and they spent their Friday afternoon helping out the local community by picking up trash. They collected around 8 bags filled with trash, 2 bags that were able to be recycled, items such as plastic bottles, styrofoam boxes, metal parts, etc. were found all along the beach. Thanks to the 8 volunteers that came to make a difference in our environment!

Dec 17
0

Paint Your Hammer! with Habitat for Humanity

By | GIN & Clubs, Social Justice | No Comments

See the event wrap-up video here!


What were the specific goals of this campaign?

The goal of this campaign was to get students of the Lower School engaged with the Habitat club’s aims and to help children be more aware of the importance of substandard housing.

How were they met, or not met?

The goals were met moderately. There was active advocacy apparent in the club, as there were photos of build trips and the destinations of money was clearly stated. Students would carry the photos around and explain to Lower School students why they are participating this event and what cause our club represents.

However, there could have been more pictures of the build trip displayed, and more student volunteers available to advocate, in order to reach more children.

How effective was the advocacy campaign, and how do you know?

The advocacy campaign was moderately successful. Although participants knew about the cause they were supporting, it could have been more actively advocated. This is because, when asked interacting with the children, many of them already knew why they were painting, either from previous year’s knowledge or this year’s new advocacy campaign. Some of the kids were either unclear on why they were at the event or what the money went to. This can be a point of improvement for next year.

What strengths of this campaign will you keep, and what learnings might be helpful to consider for future events?

Our volunteers this year were very enthusiastic and the kids seemed to have a great time at the event. The running of the event itself was very well organized, with a good organizational process.

In the future, there are two important points of improvement. Firstly, the advocacy prior to the event could be improved. This is because the advertising and advocacy in preparation for the event was very disorganized. Many parents did not know why this event was happening until later, because of the late posting into the school Flash.

Secondly, the advocacy component in the event should be improved. This can be accomplished by selecting and informing the participating volunteers about Habitat’s missions and goals beforehand, and have more print media of the build trips available. This will ensure more active advocacy next year.

Oct 24
0

Habitat for Humanity: Thailand build trip 2018

By | CISPA Outreach, GIN & Clubs, Social Justice | No Comments

From Sep 27 to Oct 1, over 26 HFH CDNIS volunteers went to help build a home for a couple living in Rayong, Thailand. We were able to gain an experience where the gruelling work that goes into our comfortable homes became tangible. Experiencing the manpower that goes into building a single house in Thailand made each day’s end indescribably rewarding. This gave us an opportunity to connect with others and the local community as we worked together in combatting the need of shelter.

See the video and the full set of photos!

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