Introduction

SMK La Salle 

Community Service Initiative is a module that helps on the development of personal and social responsibility skills in an individual This will enrich an individual’s intellectual, ethical and interpersonal skills. Community Service is a form of service learning. We as students will have opportunities to understand our surrounding community with the basic knowledge and skills.

On the first day of class, I was both curious and surprised that what would be needed to do for this module as I was not very sure how exactly the module is structured. The first thought was a clean-up for our mother nature such as the forest or around the neighbourhood. Our lecturers, Mr Chandra and Ms Pauline introduced the module and I understood the learning objectives and the outcomes of this module.

I recalled we were introduced to a programme called the Highly Immersive Programme (HIP) on the first day of class. This programme aims to improve the English proficiency of selected primary and secondary students through sharing, learning and support. We were assigned to 8 groups with 3 to 4 students in each group and had 8 visits for this project.

This project was indeed very fun and the learning objectives were also achieved. I hoped the students also enjoy and find this project useful in the very near future.

Read and discover the journey that I had experience during my time in SMK La Salle! It was sure an unforgettable experience!

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” - Helen Keller

Week 1 - 1st Visit (12/9/2018, Wednesday)

1st Visit and 1st Group Photo 

            It was the first day of our visit to SMK La Salle! I was both excited and nervous at first. My group consists of 3 members, Gordon, Jody and myself. We gathered at Taylor’s University and started our journey to SMK La Salle. We carpooled and discussed on what will we need to do when we reached the placed. I felt it was a smooth carpooling journey and we reached SMK La Salle around 12pm. 

All of us gathered at SMK La Salle’s hall first for a short briefing by Mr Chandra and Ms Pauline on what we were supposed to do on our first visit and things to expect from the SMK La Salle students. Some questions came into my mind like “Will we be able to attract the attention of the students to participate in this project?” and “Will there be awkward situations?” However, when I arrived there, I understood that the situation was the opposite, the teachers and students there were humble and cooperative.

Playing Bingo 

Playing Human Knot

We were assigned to our respective classes (Group 3) as planned earlier and did a few ice breaker games such as “Human Knot” and “Bingo”. I felt it was a good start to show teamwork by working together. We all had a great time. After the ice breakers, my group settled down and we decided to introduce one another such as name, where you are from, favourite food and hobby. We got to know the students and I realised that we got a visible progress on the student’s English proficiency. We explained the purpose of this project. 

Although we had challenges such as 1 or 2 students were still hard to engage, we discussed the draft of the characters and script for the drama. I was sure it would be a good start and the outcome was a satisfaction

“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” - John F. Kennedy

Short briefing at the hall 

Discussing the script and characters

Getting to know the students 

Week 2 - 2nd Visit (19/9/2018, Wednesday)

             It was the second visit in SMK La Salle and it was my turn to drive to SMK La Salle. I was a little worried at first as I wasn’t very familiar of the road to SMK La Salle but with the help of “Google Map” and my friends, we were able to reach there on time. After the usual briefing, we were assigned to our respective classes and I was no longer nervous towards the students.

Script Discussion

            We started off with some ice breaker games such as “Battle of the Chairs”. I believed all of the students even us Taylor’s students enjoyed the game as there was a lot of enjoyment. After the ice breaker games, we sat down in a group and discussed on our drama.

I was thinking whether did the students remember our names, so we asked the students to see if they did. I was a little sad when they didn’t remember my name at first as my name wasn’t a common English name like my teammates, Gordon and Jody. So I decided to let them know my English name, Celine. Indeed, they remembered.

I was relieved as all the students participated in the activities and there was a progress in the script writing as the dialogues were drafted out. We also re-defined the roles of the students in the drama as well. Another than that, we also noticed the students had a slight improvement of the English proficiency compared to the first week.

“A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning.” – Brad Henry

Ice Breaker Games

Group Photo of the students 

Week 3 - 3rd Visit (26/9/2018, Wednesday)

Students practising the 1st scene 

            Another week had passed and it was another a visit to SMK La Salle. This was the 3rd week of the project. I felt the atmosphere was a little different this week as some of the students were more initiative and more active compared to last week. I noticed some of the students started to accept this project and started to get closer to us by talking to us even more.

            Although some of the students were still not initiative yet, this is probably some of them were not very fluent in English. I tried my best to make them feel comfortable with us, Taylor’s students and not feel like teacher and student relationship. Instead, I treated them as friends. The draft of the script was written by the students. I was very impressed with the script although there were a few small English grammar mistakes. We started off with the 1st scene of the script as a warm up. It was indeed enjoyable seeing them act. I even felt that they are even braver than me in acting.

            We called it a day after the 1st scene. I was in charge to type the script out, correct the English proficiency on the script and print hardcopies for the students on the next practice.

“Change is the end result of all true learning.” – Leo Buscaglia

1st Scene of the drama

Week 5 - 5th Visit (10/10/2018, Wednesday)

The weekly routine is here, this marks the 5^th visit to SMK La Salle. I had printed the scripts for each student in Week 4 and told them to bring it along every week. Unfortunately some of them did not bring and had to share from 1 of the students. I was a little depress as I rushed the script and printed for the students although I had other assignments to do.

Nevertheless, we started off with some games as usual and got started with the discussion on the props and costume. We briefed the students about the costumes that would be needed and encouraged the students to make their own costumes if possible. I noticed some of the students were starting to get excited.

This time the rehearsal was outside the classroom at the hall. I believed it would be better for the students as they would have more place for rehearsal. However, my thoughts were too narrow. Some of the time the students got a little distracted by their friends at the hall who were playing. We managed to gather the students and continued the practice.

After the short rehearsal outside, we were assigned to do a rehearsal inside the auditorium. I find the rehearsal so far was going well as expected. However, 1 or 2 students are still not very keen in participating in the drama, despite the encouragement from us and the students. We tried to explain and encourage the students but at that point of time I hoped that they would be interactive and participate in the drama with all of us.

“Learning never exhausts the mind” – Leonardo da Vinci

1st Discussion on script

Students waiting in the auditorium for rehearsal.

2nd Discussion on script and costumes

Week 7 - 7th Visit (31/10/2018, Wednesday)

Props are ready! 

This was the last day of rehearsal until the very big performance day! We all had 1 week of break. We’re 2 weeks away from the actual performance day. It was a little of a rush as there were some last minute changes. This is because 1 or 2 students did not appear for few of the practices before this. According to the other students, they might be absent on the performance day. We had to change the script and characters. I felt it was a little bit messed up as previously they did the rehearsal in full. 

However, I was also glad and relieved that most of the costumes are being made by the students themselves! I’m impressed! Some of the students were excited to show us their hand-made costumes, some were still in the progress and we lend them a helping hand in completing their costumes. I felt it was an enjoyable moment as everyone was working together to get the costumes done. I also could see the teamwork and corporation among the students compared to the first week.

Preparation of costumes

Furthermore, we were called to the auditorium for a last rehearsal. After the rehearsal, I realised that after the change of script and characters, the sequence was a little messy. After that, we went back to the classroom and straighten the whole play with the students. However, there was not much time left to practice and the rehearsal was not as perfect.

Moreover, Gordon and Jody had to coach the emcees for the event for a while and I was left with the students. The students were tired of rehearsing and asked me whether they could play their game. I wanted them to rehearse but they carried on with the game instead. I believed I could have done better in displaying leadership towards the students.

“Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never ease to grow.” – Anthony J. D’Angelo

Final Rehearsal

Helping the students with the props and costumes

Week 8 - Final Performance (14/11/2018, Wednesday)

Today is the day! The final performance day! After weeks of preparation, I felt my team was more confident and ready to perform. All of us arrived early in SMK La Salle for the big day. We also briefed the students on the performance arrangement, encouraged them with confidence and most importantly have fun. However, only 5 of the students came for the final performance instead of the full team. We had to make some last minute changes to the performance. I was a little disappointed at first but my team managed to perform and all in all it was a great experience!

The event started around 12.30pm with the welcome address by the emcees and around 12.45pm with the performance by the groups. My group was the 3^rd group to perform, I was feeling a little nervous for my team as it was only part of the team performing. However, on the positive look, I felt my team did their very best! The overall performance from other groups were good as well. Everyone did a great job!  

After the performances, the exciting moment was the prize giving ceremony. Although my team got consolation prize, I believed we did our best and enjoyed throughout the journey. A speech was given by Ms Pauline. Another speech was also given by the headmaster of SMK La Salle, Puan Chan. She thanked all of the Taylor’s students for coming, the teachers and students in SMK La Salle and gave a token of appreciation to Mr Chandra and Ms Pauline.

Lastly, the event ended with a photo session, everyone had a great time. There were also food and drinks for us after the event. Although it’s time to say goodbye but memories will stay within us. I was happy and glad that the event was successful.

“Put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts. This is the secret of success.” – Swami Sivananda

Final Performance Group Photo with the students 

Consolation Prize

Final Performance 

Token of Appreciation to Ms Pauline 

Token of Appreciation to Mr Chandra 

Conclusion

All in all, I had a great experience throughout the whole journey in SMK La Salle. I learned and gained unforgettable experience from our visits here in SMK La Salle. With this experience, I realised my communication and teamwork skills improved.

Another than that, I also understood the importance of teamwork and team effort in achieving goals, in this case, to make the final drama performance a successful one. Before participating this project questions were in my mind as I wondered whether were we welcomed by the students or will the students be interactive with us? This cleared my mind in the end of the performance as everyone’s hard work was paid off.

Furthermore, I felt the challenges such as from not knowing the students on the first day until the last day of the final performance was not easy at all! Never came to my mind that being a mentor to the elementary students in SMK La Salle would be great responsibility. Ensuring the students practise, encouragement and also having the interest in completing the tasks given.

Lastly, although there were some challenges faced throughout the 8 weeks, I enjoyed the time spent with my friends, lecturers and the students in SMK La Salle. I hope there will be similar projects such as this Highly Immersive Programme (HIP) in the future.

“Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence.” - Colin Powell

Group Photo of lecturers and students from Taylor's University