Service - November - Recycling continues

Recycling was really successful this month. The Recycling and Sustainability group was able to collect recycling materials from all rooms and the collected materials were transported to the recycling centers every session. The team worked committedly and collaboratively to finish all tasks in a organized and timely manner. This month, me and Jenn as leaders implemented a new method of making teams and setting tasks. From our experience in the last two months, we knew that all students have become acquainted with each other. However, some specific student combinations are able to work more efficiently relative to other group combinations. Thus, we planned and initiated a group programme that specified student groups that would be sent to specific buildings for collection. This new plan was helpful as it reduced the time required for students to get organized into teams every session and it also helped students to become familiar with the buildings they visited. Hence, we used our earlier reflection on areas of growth to develop this new scheme which has made our teams' work more efficient.

I feel that this month has been one of the busiest and successful in terms of meeting our aim as a community service group. We were happy that there was no hindrance due to the weather this month and hope that the work continues in the same positive manner next month as well.

Below are photographs of our visit to our two main recycling centers. The initial photos have been taken at the recycling center on Pannipitiya road.

Unloading the collected recycling materials from the pickup truck.

Weighing a bin with paper.

Weighing another bin with paper.

Jenn and Hyung Suk wait while the paper and cardboard are weighed.

Photo of some of the cardboard outside the recycling center.

Jenn unloading cardboard.

Weighing cardboard.

Receiving money for sold paper and cardboard.

 The photographs below were taken at the Narahenpita Road recycling center.

Akila looks on as the recycling material is weighed.

Me standing next to bins full of paper for recycling.

I am now looking forward to recycling next month!

Action - November - Badminton!

November has been action packed for me. I played lots of Badminton matches, both singles and doubles, out of which most were against experienced players and some against players at the same level as me. The matches were all of a wide variety as I won some comfortably and also lost some with a tough fight till the end. I enjoyed all these matches as they helped me to challenge myself both physically as well as mentally. It has been an overall successful month for me in terms of action. Most of my badminton skills have improved in this month, however, I have now identified a new area of growth for myself. After observing my game play and reflecting upon it, I have realised that I tend to experiment too much with my service when under pressure. Even though variation is important in the game, some risky and very new serves tend to be less accurate and hurt my chances of gaining an advantage in the game. Thus, the opponents are able to overpower me/my team later. Now, my aim is to think in a balanced manner and to rationalize my decision of trying a new service that could be risky. Before trying a new serve, I will analyze a few factors such as the opponent's, i.e. the service reciever, position at the time, his/her reach, i.e. a player's ability to move to play differently placed shots usually determined by his/her height and agility, and his/her experience level as a player in order to judge the possible types of responses. Please note that it is more preferable to make the opponent play defensive shots and thus create pressure in order to gain points through their enforced errors, such as hitting the shuttle into the net or outside the court, or earning points through successful attacking shots, such as well-placed smashes, drop shots and cross-court overhead clears.

Other than this, I attended all my sessions punctually and consistently and played all matches with complete dedication and active participation till the end. I am now looking forward to an action packed December in which I can improve in the newly recognized areas of growth!

P.S.

Dear readers, I was unable to take any photographs of the action this month as my camera broke. I will add more photographs of my games, and maybe videos as well, as soon as it is fixed.

Recycling - October - Rainy sessions, soggy cardboard!

Recycling has been really busy this month. With challenges posed by the rainy weather, the group worked in a committed manner. The weather was also a hindrance as lots of cardboard left outside the recycling room got wet even though I personally took initiative to move the cardboard into the room during school lunch times. In addition, we were only able to visit the scrap dealers to sell collected recycling materials once out of four sessions due to the rainy weather. To resolve issues of cardboard loss due to rain, I am deciding of implementing a new plan (starting this November) which involves maintenance of materials left outside the room by the students in the Recycling and Sustainability group outside the service sessions held after school on Thursdays. This will require collaboration within the team and more perseverance from some regularly late or absent students.

 

Grade 10 and grade 11 students taking initiative at service.

A photograph from the sole visit to the scrap dealer this month.

 

I also developed a new and important skill of writing an article on the subject of "Recycling awareness for a sustainable OSC community" addressed to the school community. Due to the importance of the topic of recycling awareness, I am reiterating it below:

 

Recycling @ OSC

            Have you ever wondered what happens to the objects you dispose? Well, the useless and discarded waste is turned into a fresh and dynamic product! In this rapidly changing world, new discoveries and inventions in the field of science and technology have done the undoable. The three step technique called ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’ is the rule that governs a new business of reincarnation – the reincarnation of non-biodegradable waste!

The Recycling and Sustainability Group @ The Overseas School of Colombo is a service group in the school’s Community Service program that collects and sorts used paper, cardboard, plastics and several metals into their respective material groups during weekly sessions held afterschool on Thursdays. These items are then sold to scrap dealers in the Battaramulla region. They, in turn, supply these to recycling agencies located in Sri Lanka, India and China.

             Often times, recycling of used materials is thought to be the only step towards creating an environmentally-friendly cyclic waste management system. Consequently, the rates of consumption of many items continue to increase. Thus, the OSC Recycling and Sustainability service group aims to raise communal awareness regarding the importance of reducing consumption of non-biodegradable materials and promoting their reuse wherever possible in order to avoid wastage. For this purpose, cardboard trays made from cartons have been distributed to all rooms in the school for the purpose of collecting ‘reusable’ paper. Similarly, in order to increase efficiency in recycling of non-biodegradable waste in the school, the OSC Maintenance Department has initiated a new program to better waste segregation on the campus. In accordance with the school’s strategic plan for 2010-2015 aimed at creating a green environment, separate sets of bins have been allocated for ‘Plastic’, ‘Paper’ and ‘Food’ waste collection.

The success of this initiative to promote sustainability and an eco-friendly waste management system in the school relies on the response of the OSC community. It is important that all members of the community make efforts to scrupulously follow the new waste disposal system. In addition, independent actions such as minimizing avoidable consumption at home, refraining from printing as far as possible and using electronic means instead, and selling old newspapers and other discarded items to scrap dealers for recycling would surely reduce the community’s ecological footprint.

Dhyani Ywahoo rightly said that “You can tell how high a society is by how much of its garbage is recycled.” Hence, it is vital for everyone in the community to play their part. So, the next time you are disposing a waste item, be ‘waste wise’ and remember ‘3 R’s for waste avatars.’

Other such articles can be accessed on the Recycling and Sustainability blog.

 

Some photographs of the recycling group at work can be accessed from the facebook page maintained by the OSC CAS student news service.

 

I am now looking forward to a less rainy November so that the service can proceed without any hindrance.

Badminton - October - Focus on backhand!

I have been involved consistently in my self-initiated badminton sessions during October. I attended all the sessions with commitment and perseverance despite pressure due to academic assessments. This month I played more doubles matches relative to singles matches since the courts were booked completely. However, they were active sessions as I played many consecutive matches against opponents of different experience levels. I have become a strong intermediate level player as I have a wide variety of offensive and defensive shots which are both orthodox and unorthodox, good service variations, quick movement skills on the court and am improving my strength in smashes and my response reflexes.

These months my main focus has been on improving my backhand strength, i.e. make my backhand overheard shots stronger. The backhand is important in a badminton match as it is crucial for defence as well as offense. It is useful for covering the whole court efficiently while also for playing cross court rallies. Thus, by identifying this area for growth last month, I have now worked on it and continue to improve. It is important to note that this is an on-going process and requires extra work-outs. Hence, my goal for November will be to take part in excercises that focus on muscle building. Similarly, consistent play will enable me to improve stamina.

 

I am looking forward to more action next month!

 

Given below are a few photographs from my badminton sessions that took place this month (I am wearing a red shirt.)

 

Stepping forward to play a cross court shot.

Hitting an overhead smash.

Playing a cross-court clear backhand shot.

Smash!

Reaching out to respond for a drop shot.

Hitting an overhead shot.

Playing a backhand shot. This has been one of my main focuses for improvement.

The importance of backhand to cover the complete court.

Me (on the other side of the court) reaching and responding successfully to the opponents dropshot.

Hitting an overhead clear.

Playing an unorthodox drop shot in order to vary shot speed (Shot created by myself)

Reaching for a short cross-court smash hit by my opponent.

Playing one of my favourite smashes - The drop shot smash.

Creativity - ¡La Guitarraǃ

After spending much time in the summer to learn reading music notes, I have now become quite fluent and am able to play music without numbering/labeling. Also, I practiced playing the guitar quite regularly in August and September. This was partially because of my excitement to play my first personal guitar (I used to share my brother’s guitar earlier).

In my classes during these two months with Mr. Netaji, I started to learn two new classical songs. These were: an anonymous waltz tune and ‘Speak Softly Love’, i.e. the theme from the movie series Godfather. Other than these, I have been practicing my previous notations and many strumming songs. While practicing my previously learnt strumming techniques, bass notes and riffs, I have also started to learn songs of my choice from the internet for my personal interest. Thus, I am planning my own activities by taking initiative for my own learning. Using internet sources such as YouTube have enabled easy access to and easy learning of many unknown helpful aspects through which I improved my sound quality. Thus, I became aware of many areas of improvements and possible amendments through instructional videos. I intend to continue my guitar sessions as such with minimum interruptions and accompany them with regular practice at home.

Service - Recycling commences :)

The Recycling and Sustainability service programme at OSC has been quite successful in its initiation. Jennifer Andersson (http://jennand94cas.blogspot.com/) and I were chosen as co-leaders for this activity and we have been working under the supervision of Mr. Ian Lockwood for this first month, i.e. September. 

The following students will be taking part in Recycling and Sustainability for Semester 1:

Aagney Menon

Akila Liyanage

Amrit Dayanand

Greta Rocchi

Hyung Suk Cho

Ji-Yul Ha

Malaika Salman

Nathan Omprasadham

Patrick Hofbauer

Shikhir Sapra

Yoon Jae Hwang

Ysobella Grieve-Darcy

The first session was held on 6^th of September. On the day, a previously planned introduction and many organized ice-breakers were carried out to start the activity in order to promote group bonding and community service spirit. No recycling material was collected that day, and in its place, an inventory of recycling boxes was conducted in the whole school. Thus, groups were created based on random chits picked out of a basket. 5 pairs and 1 group of three were formed such that the co-leaders would alternately participate in the collection of paper. The other co-leader would maintain the recycling room and organize collected recycling material for transport to the recycling center. By the end of the day, I developed new skills of addressing students with a formal introductory speech by overcoming the challenge of speaking in front of a group as a leader, and guiding the students by leading as a role model.

Many changes such as adding a lock to the recycling room and attaching a rule sheet describing the aim of the service and the recyclable materials to the room differentiate this activity from last year, and ensure an organized and systematic system of functioning.

In the most recent session on 27^th of September, Jenn and I visited the recycling center together for the first time this semester and sold approximately 122 Kg of paper and 30 Kg of cardboard that had been collected over the duration of a few weeks. We earned a total of SL Rs. 910. Visiting the center has echoed the local and global importance of the activity to me. The service not only helps to implement and encourage the ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’ system within the school community, however, on a local level it benefits the recycling centers which act as middlemen between the consumers, i.e. the disposers, and the recyclers, i.e. the processing and recycling companies. On a global level, the whole cycle is not only eco-friendly; however, it is the simplest solution to resource depletion related problems. David Morris aptly said that “The case for recycling is strong. The bottom line is clear. Recycling requires a trivial amount of our time. Recycling saves money and reduces pollution. Recycling creates more jobs than landfilling or incineration. And a largely ignored but very important consideration, recycling reduces our need to dump our garbage in someone else’s backyard.” Furthermore, on a personal level, I have been inspired by the ethical implications of this activity to see the usefulness of so called waste. As a result, I have decided to contribute old newspapers and other recyclable materials from my house to the school service instead of disposing them as waste.

By planning our weekly sessions meticulously and meeting at least once before every session, I feel that we, i.e. the co-leaders and Mr. Lockwood, have collaborated very well to pace the activity and completely set it on track for achievement of major goals through the year-long journey to come. The students enrolled in the service this year are active and diligent participants, and with their collaboration, Recycling and Sustainability can be successful in achieving its long-term goals while also spreading the message of eco-friendly and sustainable living to the school and local community.

Readers, you can follow Recycling and Sustainability @ OSC on http://recycling1011.wordpress.com/.

Given below are a few photographs from the recycling service sessions of this month. (Photographs by Mr. Ian Lockwood.)

The hard-working recycling group! (Some members diligently at work are not seen in photograph.)

Preparations for the first trip to the recycling center.

Me addressing the recycling group.

My introductory speech on the 6 September, the first recycling session.

Commencing the ice-breakers.

The recycling group students at work.

I am now looking forward to replicate, and where possible, improve, the work we have done till date for the coming future. :)

Action - Sports Day!

It was an action packed day today. As a member of the GREEN HOUSE team I was involved in two major sports, i.e. basketball and soccer. It was surely a challenge for me as I had not played these two sports in a long time. Thus, I did a small stretch and jog routine to warm up and waken my whole body for the upcoming exciting sports session. The first sport I took part in was soccer. In the two initial matches, I played as a defender. The following matches, I moved up to be a mid-fielder and a successful striker by scoring assisting various goals and scoring one myself as well. By playing collaboratively with my team members and maintaining an unbending perseverance to participating and playing with my best efforts, I was able to make many new friends and interact comfortably with all. The sport tested my physical stamina as well as my mental ability to stay in the game.

Basketball was much more challenging, and personally much more fun. It was very tiring initially as I was unorganized and had not maintained a consistent position. Following the advice of a teammate, I collaborated with my team to maintain a strong defensive and offensive formation. Thus, not only did this new skill enable me to contribute more usefully in the final 3 matches, however, the team played more efficiently and was able to convert most attempts into baskets! I was very happy since I had assisted many of my team’s baskets and successfully added a couple 2 pointers myself.

These sports were followed by an athletic team challenge. In this, the house team with the most laps in a certain period of time would win the modified baton-relay. I ran 2 laps out of the many laps run by my team. In the end, I was very happy with my effort as I had performed well in collaboration with my team.

Green House came third out of the four houses in the Secondary school! Even though the results were quite surprising, I was impressed by having an increased awareness of my strengths and weaknesses in sports. Over time, by punctually and regularly attending my weekly badminton sessions, I have developed the ability to adapt as a sportsperson in a variety of situations. Thus, I was successful in being a useful member to my team by collaborating and assisting effectively. However, I feel that my physical stamina can be improved marginally by maintaining my regular badminton sessions, and also, by adding other sports and some work-out routines to my time-table. This can be achieved and thus, I will be attempting to find as much time as possible out of the rigorous IB Diploma academics to work towards my goals while still maintaining the crucial balance between extra-curricular activities and studies!

Given below are a few photographs of me enjoying the day in a sporty fashion. (Photographs by Harshini Karunaratne. Thank you!)

Me juggling the ball into play after defending a shot.

Moving in to defend the ball.

Me attempting a 2-pointer.

My teammate following through with a shot after an assist from me.

Moving into the position for defence.

PREPARED TO SAVE THE DAY BASKET!

Defence!

Me playing as the 'lone defender'.