School Assembly Presentations
1. Organized and presented four class assemblies with Grades 5 & 7 around environmental/spiritual themes using songs, chants, circle story telling, drama and poems.
2. Screened a short documentary 'Give Us a Life Please' showing the dangers of toxic waste and other environmental pollution on Indian children's health.
3. Arranged the purchase, introduced and displayed 'Herbotique', a herbal, multi-purpose floor wash and cleaner and the chemical cleaners our school has been using up to this time with a full-explanation of the environmental and health effects of both. Arranged for empty containers to be available at the Tuck Shop so teachers and staff can purchase it by using our bulk order.
4. Arranged and anchored a student-led visual presentation to educate the school body about garbage separation.
5. Organized and presented a four-day 'Climate Change Week' to help inform the entire school body about this global threat and how it is connected to our daily lives. Five sets of six posters especially created for schools by TERI were placed on notice boards around the school including in the staff room. Four extended morning assemblies, each of 45 minutes duration, covered the following:
(Saturday): First clue of 'Climate Change Challenge' Treasure Hunt) was given at the end of the morning assembly. Attention was drawn to the 20 'True or False' statements placed on the walls around the assembly hall and to the posters around the school.
(Monday): Screening of a narrated Power Point Presentation introducing Climate Change and highlighting its cause and effects.
(Tuesday): Screening of a video 'Global Warning' which focused on the possible effects of Climate Change on various regions of India.
(Wednesday): 'Quiz Results Day'. a. Students were asked to raise their hands regarding the truth or falsity of the statements placed around the assembly hall giving reasons for their choices based on information they had obtained from the posters, power point presentation and video. b. Students were asked to name the twenty locations around the school campus where Climate Change Challenge clues had been placed and to state the reasons these locations had been chosen. (All were directly connected to climate change in a positive or negative way (e.g. copy machine, school vehicle, a tree, garbage bin, compost, fans, solar panel etc.). A power point presentation was shown with photographs of the locations and the answers to confirm the student's findings and to suggest positive alternatives in cases where the location was having a negative impact.
(Thursday): a. Six two-minute home videos made by students, families and individuals were screened. These videos were downloaded from the treehugger.com site in response to the site's solicitation of videos for their The Convenient Truth competition depicting actions individuals are taking to combat Climate Change. b. Ten students from Grade 8 read out their personal solution for combating climate change in our daily life.
6. Organized and facilitated an outdoor performance by Grade 7 of The Web of Life where students take on the role of various living things and weave a web of connections using string. Added to this well-know activity by having students weaken the web by throwing garbage, spraying pesticides and cutting trees and restore it by picking up garbage, spreading compost and planting seeds.
7. Assisted Class 9 students in the screening of the documentary 'Slow Poisoning of India', a film about pesticide use and in organizing a discussion and Q & A session based on organic vs. chemical farming.
8. Held a screening of the documentary 'How to Save the World', a film about biodynamic pioneer Peter Proctor who recently moved to India to encourage the spread of this form of farming. (Presented at morning assembly to the entire school).
9. Held a screening of two documentaries: 'Way to Go', a film about car use in India and the development of public transportation systems and 'Cycle Cities', a film about 'People-Friendly' cities in Europe and South America. These films were used to illustrate the concept of irrational and rational development. (Presented at morning assembly)
10. Held a screening of the video 'The Story of Stuff' showing the connection between our over- consumption habits and the social/environmental problems this causes. (Presented at morning assembly)
11. A student-led (Grade 9) showing of the documentary 'The Slow Poisoning of India' was shown depicting the dangers of pesticides in our food, air and water. Students compiled and presented positive data about organic farming to offset the negative findings depicted in the film.
12. A student-led (Grade 7) showing of the Meatrix animation series, depicting the hidden truths behind meat and dairy production with presentations by students on alternatives.