Awards for student-led efforts like food donations, kindness tree
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When Covid-19 showed no sign of letting up in June last year, Utkarsh Choudhary, 12, and Mathangi Gowri Sankar and Nityasri Brinda, both 13, worried about low-income people facing food shortages.
The trio from DPS International School, together with seven others, decided to collect food from their schoolmates to donate to food charity Food From The Heart.
Over several weeks, the team collected 135 packets of rice, 138 packets of beehoon and 183 packets of biscuits, and other food items like cooking oil, instant noodles and canned food. Food From The Heart said the donations would go to an aged-care facility.
Utkarsh and Mathangi are in Secondary 1 while Nityasri is in Secondary 3. Their group was among 75 schools and over 1,300 students and teachers recognised at a virtual awards ceremony on Tuesday for promoting kindness. Organised by the Singapore Kindness Movement, the Annual School Kindness Awards aims to cultivate kindness in schools and recognise students and teachers who champion kindness in their communities.
At the event, Education Minister Chan Chun Sing said: "The long shadow of Covid-19 has undoubtedly challenged many of us. Some among us are stressed, anxious, frustrated and even burned out.
"I am heartened that many Singaporeans like you have chosen to look beyond yourself, to show care, compassion and kindness to people around you during this extraordinary period."
Among the other winners was a team from Singapore Chinese Girls' School, which ran an Instagram campaign to promote kampung spirit. Illustrations with two mascots were used to get people to do simple acts of neighbourliness, like holding the lift door open for others. Team leaders Nicole Emily Thomas and Lim Zi Xiu Jazzy, both aged 15 and in Secondary 4, said the project was inspired by a desire to counter the lack of interaction due to the pandemic.
Another award winner was Secondary 1 student Asher Koh, 13, who started a "kindness tree" at St Hilda's Primary School when he was in Primary 6. Schoolmates can pen notes about kind acts they had done, seen or received on "leaves", which they then paste on the tree.
Singapore Kindness Movement's general secretary William Wan said: "Kindness that's sparked by one can spread to others, creating a ripple effect that leads to a stronger school and community."
