Students Not Only Learn The Traditional Three R’S At School These Days, They Also Learn To Give Back
STUDENTS NOT ONLY LEARN THE TRADITIONAL THREE R'S AT SCHOOL THESE DAYS, THEY ALSO LEARN TO GIVE BACK
STUDENTS NOT ONLY LEARN THE TRADITIONAL THREE R’S AT SCHOOL THESE DAYS, THEY ALSO LEARN TO GIVE BACK.
MOST SCHOOLS ENCOURAGE A SENSE OF COMMUNITY AMONG THEIR STUDENTS, WHETHER IT’S VOLUNTEERING TO WORK IN POOR OVERSEAS COMMUNITIES IN THE HOLIDAYS OR HELPING THOSE LESS FORTUNATE CLOSER TO HOME.
CASEY CARDINIA FAMILY MAGAZINE ASKED STUDENTS WHAT THEIR SCHOOLS DO TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE.
St Margaret’s – Community Service Endeavours
Which community services are you and your school involved with? St Margaret’s and Berwick Grammar School are involved in many Community Service endeavours. These include visiting Insight School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Marnebek School, Riding for the Disabled (RDA), Melville Grange Retirement Home and cooking soup for St Vincent de Paul’s Soup Kitchen, just to name a few.
STUDENT REFLECTION JESSICA ELFICK, YEAR 9 STUDENT (picture left)
In Year 9, I have participated in visiting Insight School for the Blind and Visually Impaired every fortnight and have on occasion helped to make soup for the St Vincent de Paul Society.
What is your involvement with these services? When visiting Insight School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, I assist the children in their school activities which usually consists of either cooking or gardening. I enjoy learning about each child individually and what their strengths are, although they may be impaired through their vision, each of them have such incredible talents. One student can improvise music on any instrument, another that can tell you exactly what kind of train is going past – including the number of carriages! Some love to read, some love to cook and some love video games.
They each have fun personalities and my favourite part of visiting Insight is definitely meeting and working with the children.
How do you think you benefit from charitable work? I benefit through charitable work in many ways. Personally, Community Service has made me more independent and has increased my selfconfidence – working with the children frequently has made me feel at home. I also think you benefit from charitable work because it makes you feel happier and counteracts negative feelings.
Not once have I been working with the children and worried about things outside the School. It brings in so many positive feelings.
TEACHER’S REFLECTION
MRS ANNE HUTCHINSON
Why help various charities/places in the community? Over the years, our Year 9 program at St Margaret’s and Berwick Grammar School has seen students help in the community in so many ways with the main aim always being to ‘give back’ to the community of their time, energy and enthusiasm.
For further information, please contact: St Margaret’s School
Phone: 9703 8111 or visit www.stmargarets.vic.edu.au
Beaconhills College Pakenham and Berwick
Which charities are your school involved with? The Cancer Council (Relay for Life), SolarBuddy program, The Heart Foundation, FeedMelbourne/FareShare, Vinnies Soup Van, 4Cs – Pakenham, WAYSS, Casey North Community Information & Support Service, fundraising for schools in East Timor, Bangladesh and orphanages in Vietnam, Salvation Army, Les Twentyman Foundation, Urban Seed, Red Cross Blood Bank and Year 9 Common Good Days which raise money for a range of charities.
Bruntha and Dinthi, Year 9, cooking muffins to donate to Vinnies Soup Van. (pictured)
Why did the school choose those charities? Active involvement in community events and fundraising to help those who are less fortunate has been part of the Beaconhills culture for a long time. The College is keen to give back to our communities at a local, national and international level through direct fundraising and more importantly taking personal action.
What other fundraising activities happen throughout the year? This year Beaconhills became part of the SolarBuddy project which sees solar powered lights delivered to children and families living in developing countries to help end energy poverty.
Students built a solar light in class and wrote a personal letter to go with it. Some of the lights were delivered personally by Year 10 students when they visited Dato Rua in East Timor this year. Beaconhills students have visited and volunteered in East Timor for many years as part of the Beacon Explorers program.
How do the students benefit from charitable work? “Making a solar buddy felt amazing knowing they were going to unfortunate children that have poverty environment issue.” Kayley Payne, Year 8.
“I thought SolarBuddy was an absolutely amazing experience that really showed how lucky we are to have such amazing energy sources.” Ella Smith, Year 8.
“Although it may not seem like much to me, it might seem like everything to another person.” Antony Bakens, Year 8.
For further information, please contact:
Leigh Parry, Communications Co-ordinator
Phone: 5945 0264 or email: Leigh.Parry@beaconhills.vic.edu.au
30-34 TOOMUC VALLEY ROAD PAKENHAM, VIC, 3810
www.beaconhills.vic.edu.au
Fundraising Activities and Giving for the Wider Community
Minaret College Year 9 Students: Laela Hamimi, Amina Aamir, Leila Ibraimi and Semin Osmani.(pictured)
What are the charities/fundraising/giving to the needy that you are involved with? Laela Hamimi of 9A: I am involved with the ‘Be The Change’ committee, where we fundraise and spread awareness for a particular cause. Our most recent cause was the ‘Plight Of Yemen’ campaign. Amina Aamir of 9D: Currently, I am involved in a charity event for the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.
Why did you choose to involve/volunteer yourself for the above? Laela Hamimi of 9A: I would like to bring a longlasting effect upon my wider global community, and improve the situation of those who are less fortunate.
Amina Aamir of 9D: I choose to volunteer for the above because they are in urgent need of our help, and it is our duty to help them. I want to benefit this world.
How do you feel you benefit from these charitable works? Leila Ibraimi of 9D: I feel like I benefit from these charitable works as I get to see the real problems people are going through and get that chance to help them. I also benefit as I get to see how fortunate I am and to be grateful for what I have. Semin Osmani of 9D: I feel very happy being in these charitable works and it makes me think twice about what I have and to never take what I have for granted.
What other fundraising activities –that you know of – happen at your school? Leila Ibraimi of 9D: Other fundraising activities that have happened at my school are: The Battle for Burma, The Homeless Drive, The Good Friday Appeal, The Pink Hijab Day (for women with breast cancer) and many more.
Semin Osmani of 9D: Other fundraising activities that I know of happened in the school was a fundraiser for the Somalian, the Plight of Yemen, the homeless drive, the Battle of Burma. Halal food drive was also another fundraiser that occurred in school.
For further information visit www.minaret.vic.edu.au
Haileybury Berwick’s Mission for Social Justice
Which charities are your school involved with? Haileybury is involved with a wide range of charities across the girls’ Pre-Senior and Senior School. Our Pre-Senior Girls have had the opportunity to support a program called KOGO, Knit One Purl One. It is a volunteer organisation that supports people in need by providing knitted items, such as blankets, beanies, scarves and toys.
The Senior Berwick girls support the One Girl foundation, which provides scholarships for disadvantaged girls in Africa; Sierra Leone and Uganda. Additionally, we campaign for the Polished Man project raising money for trauma prevention programs aimed to help children who have been subject to abuse.
Why did the School choose those charities? The School recognises that we are extremely fortunate and advantaged to live in a safe, comfortable and free environment in which we can be happy and healthy.
Unfortunately, this is not the case for many people around the world. In recognising this, the girls hope to contribute to the change that will aid those, especially girls alike, who endure struggles that we could never imagine possible in our own homes and lives.
Middle School Boys Fundraiser.(pictured)
How do the students benefit from charitable work?By involving ourselves in these charities, the girls are exposed to the harsh realities of others, which ultimately allow us to recognise our role in giving back to the community – especially when we have the ability to do so. Additionally, this allows us to see the many ways in which we can create change for the better, but also the value in doing so; opening our minds and developing social justice skills.
What other fundraising activities happen throughout the year? Throughout the year, the School enjoys getting involved with external charities too! For example, the Senior School participates as a group in Connor’s Run to support the RCD fund. Also, we support the international school in Dili (Timor-Leste) by hosting BBQ’s in and out of school grounds to raise money.
Which charities are your school involved with? The Berwick Pre-Senior Boys, for the ‘2018 Stay Warm This Winter’ campaign, put together packages filled with warm clothes, scarves, hats, gloves, blankets, and amenities such as toothbrushes, toothpaste for those who were forced to sleep rough on the streets this winter.
Further, the Senior School boys have continued their pledge to social justice through the Smith Family. The annual Smith Family Run was held once again this year, and the boys mobilised for this noble cause, running around the front oval at Berwick to demonstrate our dedication to and raise awareness about those who are less fortunate than ourselves. From the ‘Run for Change’, we have been able to raise over $2000 and, as a result, were able to again sponsor 4 students in need, providing them with the resources to create their own opportunities in life.
Moreover, we also have a large commitment to the Narre Warren Transit Soup Kitchen, a short drive away from our campus. As frequently as possible, groups of students travel down to the venue to help prepare and serve food, and provide much needed groceries to members of the community, many of whom would go hungry without the provided services.
Why did the School choose those charities? As students who are fortunate enough to receive a privileged learning experience, we often take the resources and facilities afforded to us for granted, and can easily lose sight of our fortunate circumstances. As such, our commitment to the Smith Family aims to supplement the education of those less fortunate than ourselves in our local community, ensuring that we remain aware of those needing assistance to do things such as doing assignments or researching online, things we often do without a second thought.
Moreover, this sentiment is further exemplified through our work in the Transit Soup Kitchen. By ensuring that students have the opportunity to tangibly assist, and have a genuine impact on the underprivileged in our local area, we uphold our responsibility to assit others in our community.
How do the students benefit from charitable work? Through our charitable work, the students are reminded of the many privileges they are fortunate enough to have, and necessarily, the responsibility they bear as members of the community to assist those less well-off than ourselves. The ability to have fun through events such as the Annual Smith Family Run, with the knowledge the efforts are for a good cause, provide a sense of fulfilment to the boys who are more than happy to give back to the community.
More specifically, those who volunteer at the Soup Kitchen are always humbled by the experience, and the authentic gratitude reciprocated by those at the venue, being able to see the genuine faces of those who need help the most.
What other fundraising activities happen throughout the year? In addition to the annual Smith Family Run and the volunteering at the Soup Kitchen, there are various other means through which we aim to raise funds. Namely, this years events such as Termly Food Days, our Berwick-Quad parties, and the exhilarating and enthralling Annual Downball Tournament, we have supplemented the funds raised through our main events. It is through these various endeavours, that we are able to make our greatest contribution to assist. We have pledged to purchase and install two 8kw split systems to keep those dependent on the ‘Transit’ services warm in the winter, and more importantly, cool in summer, where temperatures can rise in excess of 40C.
We hope that through this contribution, we can make a tangible difference to lives of many who are disadvantaged, and assist Pastor Keith in this noble drive to help the needy.
HAILEYBURY
138 HIGH STREET, BERWICK VIC 3806
Phone: 9904 6007 or visit www.haileybury.vic.edu.au