PYP Exhibition is conducted by Grade 6 students, where a lot of students, teachers, and parents help mentor the students and guide them throughout the process. I volunteered to mentor as well, as I thought this would be a new experience for me. I was assigned to mentor a girl, who was confident enough to choose to do this presentation alone. Our topic was Life Below The Water. The first thing that came into both our minds was how pollution by humans affect the organisms in the water. With that thought, we had various meetings for more than 3 weeks, where we both discussed, researched and found out a solution. We found out a solution to go to the beach to clean it and spread as much as awareness as we can, which will stop people from polluting the water. And so, we went to Dumas Beach on a Sunday morning, which is the ideal time for us to find a large audience. We, a group of 4-5 people, cleaned a part of the beach and talked to various sellers and asked them to spread awareness too. Apart from this, I was constantly communicating with her to check and review her progress until the final presentation day. We communicated with each other well. I even reviewed her presentation and her Ted talk 2-3 times, so that she was able to deliver her presentation well.
The learning outcomes achieved:
L1. Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth
During this entire process, I realised that I am good at guiding people and taking up responsibilities. From helping student decide the big idea of implementing the solution, I was able to guide student and be there for her whenever she needed me. And so, it helped me develop my leadership and mentoring skills as I was able to lead and keep student on the right path.
L6. Engagement with issues of global significance
Water pollution has always been an issue for all. Any action by an individual can contribute to stopping worsening the situation. And so, our action to clean the beach and make people aware all around helped. Since then and even because of the actions of Surat Municipal Corporation, the beach is cleaner and more people are aware of the harm that is caused by disposing of waste near water. This has made them use dustbins to dispose of the garbage rather than throwing it on the ground. It has helped bring a change in the cleanliness of the beach as well as the water.
L7. Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions
Whatever I suggested or said had an influence on the student I was mentoring. So, I was always careful that I passed on the right learnings and did only ethical actions. Even after we had collected the garbage in eco-friendly garbage bags, we tied it properly and disposed of it in proper garbage bins. Leaving it anywhere would have been a waste of this entire action. We made sure that people saw this and got inspired from what we are doing and that is why we had to make ethical choices while disposing and collecting the garbage so that others, as well as the student, learned the right thing.
Overall, it was an eye-opening experience. I could see how enthusiastic the girl was to take actions against saving the life below the water. It gave me the motivation to do the right thing as well. Since then she is going to the beach every Sunday to clean it with her family and we are able to see the changes in the way people dispose of waste at the beach. It feels good to be a part of doing something good for society.
Pictures of going to the beach to clean it:
Videos of cleaning the beach:
https://youtu.be/NNFReAlOUqQ
https://youtu.be/wkFSElTeygc
https://youtu.be/QVMySY7N8io
Video made by the girl along with her friends on the entire process:
