Environment week report

Environment Week at HFSI

HFSI

From the 6th to 10th July the Lower Secondary students of Hiranandani Foundation School International, Powai celebrated Environment Week. This celebration aimed to enable students to get in touch with nature.

Grade VII students prepared short videos on the importance of the natural environment and the need to save it. To this end, students recorded the natural environment around them, the parks in their area and mini-gardens in their balconies and terraces. They spoke about the significance of nature in their lives. Twin brothers Kushal and Vatsal performed in poetic dialogue and urged their schoolmates to not be disheartened by the doom of climate change, instead, to act. Nayancy Gupta, the Greta Thurnberg of grade VII, put forth a list of guidelines for each of us to follow. She encouraged us all to reduce our use of private vehicles, switch to paper bags and cloth bags and stop littering. Her classmate, Aryan Karthigeyan explained the meaning of sustainability and its relevance to us city-dwellers.

Students in Grade VIII celebrated the environment in a slightly different manner. They planted seeds and learned how to nurture them. They got their hands dirty, literally, in the process of tilling the soil. They used different methods; some used tissue paper and some soil. They loosened the soil, layered it, potted and repotted until their beans took roots. They were thrilled when they saw the first shoots grow. Having cared for the plant in a very real way, these students built a permanent connection with the plant and continue to nurture it.

Finally, students of both grades were so moved by this activity that they have shared their personal experience with their friends and families. And so as an experiential learning activity organically turned into awareness-raising, Environment Week at HFSI became a success.