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Learning The Importance of Giving
During Term 2, the Grade 5 & 6 students’ IPC unit has been 'Growing Up'. The focus of this unit is learning about human development, families, and relationships.
During this unit, each student was given a “baby” in the form of an egg that they had to bring with them in their daily travels and care for to ensure that the egg didn’t break. Needless to say, the students learned valuable lessons in childcare as several eggs were cracked, some even on the first day of the assignment.
As the teachers searched for an excursion opportunity linked to the learning in this unit, they arrived at the idea of having the P5/6 students visit a Catholic orphanage, Pondok Si Boncel. The initial purpose of this trip was for students to gain a deeper understanding of how some children grow up without their families. This excursion, however, evolved into a much more profound learning experience about the importance of giving to others.
The Grade 5/6 team decided that, since this excursion would be near Christmas, it would be very meaningful for them to receive an individualized Christmas present. The teachers then requested a detailed list from the orphanage, including the name, age, gender, and clothing size of each child. These details of 77 children, were then passed onto our RPA Service Leadership Team, who in turn wrote the information of each child onto a paper angel.
Families, teachers, and staff from the RPA community were then given the opportunity to “adopt” these angels and provide gifts for each specific child. There was an overwhelming response from our community and all 77 of the angels were swiftly adopted. As the gifts were brought to school the following days, it was touching to see handmade cards, with personalized messages along with gifts of clothing, toys, and school supplies. Numerous general donations of toys, diapers, toiletries, school supplies and food were made for the orphanage as well.
On Friday, December 1, the Grade 5&6 students visited Pondok Si Boncel orphanage and delivered the gifts. Additionally, the students prepared two games to play with the children, "Wipe that Smile off your Face" and "Hot Potato". The RPA students then watched two performances by the children, before visiting the babies and young toddlers. At the end of the excursion, the donations were officially presented to the orphanage.
It was fantastic to see how a unit about growing up led to an even greater lesson about giving. We are very thankful to our generous school community for all of their donations, as well as to our students, teachers, and staff who helped organize the angels and donations and also wrapped countless gifts. The success of this campaign proved to be a fantastic learning experience in Habit 6: Synergize.
